FileMaker has announced the release of Bento 3, the next version of its database program for the Mac, available for purchase immediately. The upgrade comes just a couple weeks shy of a year from the debut of Bento 2.

Changes in Bento 3 include:

• iPhoto integration, allowing you to use your images directly from iPhoto without an export/import step
• Share Bento libraries over a local area network (however, you can't share over the Internet)
• Grid View, which allows you to see multiple images and forms all at once
• Simple List field
• Library folders
• New security options including database passwords and encrypted fields
• Group e-mailing
• The ability to print blank forms
• The ability to add an image box for static images

There are also additional tweaks to existing features, and 10 additional templates available for use.

Bento costs $49, but current users of Bento 1 and 2 qualify for a $20 rebate for a limited time. Customers who purchased Bento 2 between August 30 until October 14 can upgrade for free. A family pack of five licenses is $99. An upgrade to Bento for the iPhone and iPod touch [iTunes link] to resolve any compatibility issues with Bento 3 will be available soon.

Bento 3 requires OS X 10.5.7 or above, and can be run on G4 (867 MHz or faster), G5 and Intel processors. 512 MB of RAM and 1GB of available hard drive space is recommended. A 30-day trial version of Bento 3 is available.

FileMaker will host a Twebinar, described by the company as a combined Webinar and live Twitter session, at 11 a.m. PDT to discuss the new features in Bento 3.

FileMaker issued an update to their Mac database application Bento this morning. Bento 2.0v5 is a bug-fix release, with no new features added to the application.

According to the download notes, Bento 2.0v5:

• Resolves an issue related to duplication of Address Book and iCal information when synchronizing with Bento for iPhone and iPod touch. They've also posted details on removing duplicate entries.
• Resolves an issue related to library icons when importing library templates. This issue was originally reported as fixed, but Filemaker has updated the release notes and now indicates that it is NOT a fix in this build.
• Resolves an issue related to importing Bento databases to FileMaker Pro

The download weighs in at 76.1 MB, while the expanded disk image is a full 127.9 MB in size and replaces the existing Bento installation. FileMaker also notes that this release includes the changes that were delivered in Bento 2.0v4, which added compatibility with Bento for iPhone and iPod touch as well as improved performance of the application.

It suddenly occurred to me that my needs for software have changed.

It was while I was browsing for a native Mac application for monitoring weight loss that I realized that little out there would suffice if it couldn't sync with my iPhone. While there are several popular online sites for tracking diet and exercise, I wanted something that would sync with my Mac and that I could maintain from both my desktop and iPhone without having to go through a third-party website.

I didn't find that hoped-for software, but I did discover Bento.

I've had a love affair with bento lunches since I began Japanese studies in 2000. They're still my favorite lunches to pack, and the concept behind them is simple: A compact way, yet attractive for those who put the time into it, of carrying a lunch. Everything is tucked away in its own compartment and it's easy to access.

FileMaker took this concept of bento lunches and used it to make Bento, a database application that works hand in hand with your Mac that we've covered quite a bit and also now has an iPhone version. It is supposed to be a database program for the rest of us -- you know, those of us who open up a spreadsheet in Excel or Numbers and suddenly go cross-eyed and immediately move onto something else ... or just never bothered using a database program in the first place.

"After all," I thought once upon a disorganized time, "I will never use something like this on a day to day basis."

FileMaker, Inc. provided one of the surprise announcements of the last couple of weeks with the introduction of Bento for iPhone and iPod touch. Designed a both a standalone database management application and companion app to the Mac version, Bento for iPhone is an inexpensive, well-designed, and usable app for collecting, searching, and displaying information.

TUAW has been able to put Bento for iPhone through its paces both as "just" an iPhone app, and as a synchronizable add-on to the desktop Bento. Check out my review of the app by clicking Read More.

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.

When Filemaker introduced Bento, the 'relational database for the rest of us,' at Macworld Expo this year, the response from the marketplace was pretty solid; as of August, the $49 multipurpose data organizer had been downloaded over 400,000 times. Still, the product was a clear 1.0 with a lot of room for new features and improvements; that's what Filemaker is looking to deliver with Bento 2, announced today and on sale immediately.

The big shift in B2 is the enhanced interaction with the data sources that contribute to your Bento collections. Need to include Mail.app messages in a layout along with contact info? Drag-and-drop them in, easy as can be. Want an RSS feed or your iCal data too? No problem. You can also sort and search your data in an iTunes-esque "Smart Collections" mode that should be familiar to novice users.

One of the top requests from Bento 1 users was for better spreadsheet integration, and Filemaker has added copy/paste support and improved import/export for Excel and Numbers; spreadsheets can be sorted and tweaked with ease, especially in the new split table/layout view. Surprisingly (to me anyway), AppleWorks import capability was also near the top of the feature request list; it's been added as well.

Bento's look has been revved up with 10 new themes; new in v2 is the ability to directly edit the layout of a database without switching into a layout-specific mode (just drag the field titles around). Address views now support AIM/iChat directly, and Google Maps integration is built-in. If you have rich media content that needs to travel with your database, you can embed it by option-dragging it onto the layout (a conventional drag creates a relative link to the media on your hard drive). Printing has been enhanced with new report modes, and the option to save a 'clone' template (no data records, just the schema and layouts) has been added.

Filemaker's customer research has been demonstrating a wide and diverse audience for Bento, from pilots and fashion boutiques to eBay mavens and goat herders. It's a pretty good bet that if your needs include a light, single-user and simple database app, Bento will be a match for you.

Bento 2 is $49 for one license and $99 for a family pack; through 10/27, it's available exclusively at the Apple Store or via store.filemaker.com. Bento 2 is a Universal Binary and requires Mac OS X 10.5.4 or higher.

If you entered one of our snazzy back-to-school giveaways in August you might want to check your email (and junk mail folders) today. We've sent confirmations to everyone who won. Congratulations to you, randomly-selected recipients!

Here's a look at what we gave away:

• Ten licenses of Searchlight, the OS X and iPhone search tool
• Three copies of Bento, a personal database solution
• A big bag of goodies from Dr. Bott
• A Dymo DiscPainter
• 200 premium disc conversions from Ripstyles
• A bunch of games from Freeverse

We'll update this post with the winners once everyone has responded.

We've covered the personal database app, Bento, a few times in the past, and Brett mentions it in his "Collecting and Organizing Information" post, but our friends at venerable FileMaker want to give you a chance to try it yourself. So we're giving away three boxed copies of Bento today! Use it to store your school data, search and organize that data and link to documents elsewhere. It integrates with Address Book and iCal, for you savvy folks.

To enter, just tell us what you'd pack in a real, physical bento (yes, food, but what kind of food?). Leave your comment and you're entered, with the usual restrictions applying (see below). Good luck!

• Open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older.
• To enter, leave a comment telling us what you would put in a bento.
• The comment must be left before August 20, 11:59PM Eastern Time.
• You may enter only once.
• Three (3) winners will be selected in a random drawing.
• Prize: One copy of Bento from FileMaker ($49)
• Click Here for complete Official Rules.

Bento is the end user database software from Filemaker that was released as a beta a couple of months ago. We took a look at Bento in November. If you're coming from Filemaker Pro development, you'll find Bento a bit limiting, but the number of users who could potentially find it useful, like teachers, coaches and busy families, is large.

Filemaker recently made version 1.0v2 available. Changes include

• Support for 5 additional languages
• Stability fixes

Bento requires Mac OS X v10.5. A single license can be purchased for $49US (this update is free for those who own Bento 1.0).

Having run through a couple of beta releases, it's now prime time for FileMaker's consumer-level organizer DB: Bento is shipping today in advance of Macworld Expo. The "database for soccer moms" product is $49 for a single user license, $99 for a family pack. We've got screen shots from Bento in our gallery for your perusal.

Note that Bento requires Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, so if you were planning to deploy it to your uncle's aging eMac, you might want to reconsider.

Filemaker have released a new beta version of Bento, their easy to use database application (we took an early look at Bento last month). I've been playing with it for a while, and I'm enjoying it.

I use Filemaker Pro at work, so I miss some things like defining my own relationships, scripting, etc., but Bento is quite useful for the project that doesn't need all the power of Filemaker Pro. You truly can get a database up in minutes for your soccer team, organization, or inventory.

This current beta will expire on February 14, 2007 (It's always a shame to break up on Valentine's Day). Filemaker notes that you should not manually delete any of your current Bento files before applying this update; The new version will update everything automatically.

When you've been creating and selling the same application for 20 years -- the most successful database on the Mac platform, and a contender on Windows -- and you're a wholly owned subsidiary of Apple, Inc. with plenty of customers in business, education and SOHO markets... well, what do you do for an encore?

FileMaker Inc. has a pretty good market with the namesake app, but as the Mac universe grows to include more families, independent professionals and first-time switchers, the full power and cost of a relational database may be more than these new Mac users need (and might actually be more scary than appealing, despite FM's legendary ease of use). Time for a light, personal-organizer version of that FileMaker power -- an iData, if you will. It's coming in January, for Leopard users only, and it's called Bento. (That's Backup.app on the left and Butler on the right. Hi, I'm Mike, and I'm a Cover Flowaholic.) Bento will cost $49 for a single-user license, with a $99 family 5-pack option.

The idea of the bento box -- one-stop lunching, with compartments for the individual bits of yummy -- gives you a basic sense of the product. With contact, calendar, tabular/relational data and media file embedding, Bento can serve as a basic organizer or a reasonably savvy database, with a lot of room in the middle. For those with long memories who are saying "Hey, wasn't there already some Mac databasey-thing called Bento?" -- yep, that was the name of OpenDoc's native file format (thanks Christina for the tip).



Bento's time-limited preview version is available now for download; it expires in February after the on-sale date. We got a brief advance look (more details below) and there's a screenshot gallery for you to enjoy, but you'll best grok Bento by getting a copy and playing with it.