Filed under: Software, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, First Look
First Look: Bento for iPhone and iPod touch
iPhone owners who are searching for an easy-to-use database management app for their iPhones can stop looking. Today, FileMaker Inc. announced the immediate availability of Bento for iPhone and iPod touch (click opens iTunes), a US$4.99 portable edition of Bento for Mac.The app comes with 25 built-in templates for business or personal use, plus a blank template that can be used to create your own customized templates. Some of the included business templates can be used for issue tracking, time billing, and expenses, while personal templates include a diet log, recipes, vehicle maintenance, and home inventory.
Like the Mac app, Bento for iPhone and iPod touch is integrated with Contacts, Safari, Mail, and Google Maps. Additionally, Bento can be used to dial an iPhone. Databases can be synchronized wirelessly (via WiFi) with Bento 2.0v4 for Mac. This new version of Bento 2.0 for Mac is a free update that is available for download to all existing users today.
The video below features Ryan Rosenberg, VP of Marketing and Services for FileMaker, describing and demonstrating many of the features of Bento for iPhone and iPod touch. TUAW will have a full review of Bento for iPhone and iPod touch in the near future.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jeff T. said 9:29AM on 5-05-2009
About time they did something substantial for iPhone. Still, I need a full featured non-web based version of FM Pro for the iPhone. Sure hope we don't have to wait another two years for that version.
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vballas said 9:33AM on 5-05-2009
Second that !
Johnny said 12:23PM on 5-05-2009
Me too. Although web publishing is the way to go if you need to keep the data synched with a central database. I've tried several 'synching' solutions with FileMaker and it is a nightmare to incorporate. However, for stand alone databases, it would be awesome. Bento is nice for single users with simple needs, but not robust enough if you're already a FileMaker developer.
Richard said 10:40AM on 5-05-2009
With this app Filemaker is continuing their excellent Bento pricing policy in the sense that it is £2.99 in UK which at today's rate is $4.52!
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Rob E. said 10:30AM on 5-05-2009
I look forward to the full review. I haven't used Bento, but this does make me tempted. I've been looking at HanDBase as a way to get some database-type data on the iPhone. I'd love to see a side-by-side comparison. It seems like any truly useful database ap (for me, at least) will need to be able to get data from outside the ap itself. I'm not typing in all my entries on the pretend keyboard. HanDBase and Bento both sound like they'll do this, but with extra software. Price tag is higher for Bento, and it only works on a Mac, but if it's a better database application, it could be the way to go. It certainly sounds like it's better integrated with other iPhone services. But more important then that, to me, is how easy it is (or is not) share data with other applications. Importing/Exporting different formats would probably be key, because it's unlikely that I'll spend any amount of time doing data entry in Bento or HanDBase. I just need a way take information I already have and make it mobile.
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N. MS said 11:49AM on 5-05-2009
Just bought it and its great! Great integration with the "easy to use" Bento for Mac! A must have ...cheers from Portugal
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jonst52 said 1:27PM on 5-05-2009
HandBase imports/exports regular CSV and tab separated text files, not requiring another application. Bento, on the other hand, only synchronize with desktop Bento databases.
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Rob E. said 2:17PM on 5-05-2009
Good to know. I had been under impression that you needed the Desktop HandDBase client if you wanted to do any data transfers between the iPhone and the Rest of the World.
Dave said 1:52PM on 5-05-2009
Dear Bento,
I love you.
sincerely,
Dave
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Not Steveo said 2:04PM on 5-05-2009
Cool looking app. Video looks like the Sham-Wow video. They could have hidden the mouse when capturing the video.
This great product is scared with a sub-par video. It's very reminiscent to their wack-a-mole video. Here's a tip FileMaker, invest in some marketing strategy!!
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mabhatter said 5:07PM on 5-05-2009
does this mean we might get iWork for iPhone at WWDC?
Bento is the unofficial "Access-like" component of iWork. I'd venture the "other guys" at Apple have their part just about done too.
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Odineye said 7:02AM on 5-06-2009
I'll second that hope. I've been waiting for an iPhone version of iWork since the App Store opened.
They keep teasing us - with the remote controls for iTunes and for Keynote it keeps me thinking that iWork, too, is right around the corner.
Hian Zin Jong said 9:49PM on 5-05-2009
Shameless plug:
Coincidently, AppCreator Database Manager for iPhone and iPod touch has just been released today. It lets you import/export and even editing data in your web browser via WiFi.
See AppCreator in action at http://tinyurl.com/appcreator (YouTube link)
iTunes Store URL: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=314153944&mt=8
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Odineye said 7:13AM on 5-06-2009
I've downloaded this, and it seems to work more or less as advertised. It looks like it will be nice to use, for example, for having a client database on my phone that I sometimes need access to, but don't want in my personal address book. I was a little disappointed to see that checkboxes in the desktop app convert to "on/off" switches in the iPhone app. I realize that both essentially represent binary entry, but the solution on the phone is, well, inelegant.
On a different but related note - if they can manage the time and effort to design syncing to a completely different device, where is the option to sync the desktop libraries across multiple computers? Bento is a wonderful product, but this feature - very useful for multiple computer users - has been glaringly absent since version 1.
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Mitch Olson said 4:50PM on 5-10-2009
I have previously bought Zenbe & Handbase & today bought Bento & Appcreator.
Handbase: very fully featured, but I found syncing to be not very reliable (lost records) & their visual/interaction design leaves a lot to be desired. I dropped because of unreliability of syncing & ugliness
Zenbe: Simple. Nice syncing with website/service. Very simple but works well for what it is - a single field list manager
Bento: A bit disappointed. Expected more from these guys in terms of the interaction design. The general layout & some of the implementation like "collections" (tags) is not very well thought out. Doesn't have any view capability
AppCreator: Pretty impressive. Current favourite. Supports 1-m relationships. Lots of power. Smart in-build webserver so you can edit databases on your PC. Best database mgr on the iphone
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