Bento update, new featuers

FileMaker has announced Bento 1.0.1, an update to its mobile personal database for managing contacts, coordinating projects, and tracking bills, as well as the launch of its Bento Template Exchange. Bento for the iPhone (and iPod touch) offers users a portable database to store information ranging from birthdays to home expenses, and provides 25 pre-designed templates to start. Bento mobile can sync with the desktop version or work as a standalone, and includes integration with the address book, dialer, Safari browser and e-mail in-box. The newest version of Bento adds compatibility for the iPhone OS 3.0, and is said to resolve customer-reported issues relating to data entry, stability, and data displays.

The Bento Template Exchange is a pre-designed database form that offers users a complete template without any of the information fields filled in. Users can then customize the template to better fit their needs or fill it in with pre-existing data stored on the computer. By accessing the Bento Template Exchange users can browse through, download and import templates from 15-different categories, and submit bento templates for other people to download and use.

Bento for the iPhone and iPod touch is available for download from the App Store for $5, while Bento for the Mac requires Mac OS X 10.5.4 or higher and is priced at $50.

by MacNN Staff