SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Oct. 5, 2010 – FileMaker, Inc. today announced that over 500,000 free templates have been downloaded from the Bento Template Exchange since its launch in June 2009.

Bento by FileMaker is the popular personal database software for Mac, iPhone and iPad. The Exchange makes it easy for visitors to try Bento for free, and to browse, install and use a huge variety of real-world templates contributed by Bento users.

The Bento templates show how Bento can organize virtually any information in business, education and home settings. The more than 700 templates illustrate the virtually unlimited uses for Bento, ranging from Sales Funnel Management and Simple Home Inventory to Teacher Lesson Plans and Psychotherapy Session Notes. Among the most popular templates are Contact & Customer Manager and Project Manager.

“People get a database because they have a job to do. The template exchange provides 700 ways to accomplish whatever task you have in mind.” said Ryan Rosenberg, vice president of marketing and services, FileMaker, Inc. “A half-million downloads from the Bento Template Exchange shows that lots of people are finding this true.”

Downloading and using templates is simple and rewarding. The Exchange provides easy instructions on how to download and import templates along with easy steps for sharing your Bento templates. Bento templates may also be used with Bento for iPhone and Bento for iPad (sold separately on the iTunes App store), if they are synched with Bento 3 on the Mac.

FileMaker Go for iPad Take Your Data With You [Review]: “

FileMaker recently released FileMaker Go for the iPad and iPhone. I’ll be taking a look at the iPad version only today, because based on my experience with technology in the Enterprise the larger format screen that the iPad provides is the way to go. I think that version will be better received by business users since the iPhone screen is much to small to use on a regular basis or at least it is for me. It’s good in a pinch, but for real work I prefer the iPad as primary and the iPhone as backup.

FileMaker Go will not work by itself since you need to have FileMaker Pro, which is now at version 11, to create databases that you will use with the iOS app. FileMaker Go will allow you access and edit the information in the database you created with FileMaker Pro on your Mac or PC.

What is it?

FileMaker Go is akin to a portable version of FileMaker Pro that allows you to access your FileMaker databases remotely. It just doesn’t have all the features of its larger sibling.

I’ve used other portable iOS databases like Bento and it’s companion with the same name on the Mac for simple databases containing reference materials and lists. Bento is great for novices and intermediate users, but once your database skills grow up FileMaker Pro on the Mac is the way to go.

I previously used FileMaker Pro during a Configuration Management project at NASA. So I dusted off my old FileMaker Pro database skills and went to work on a small project to give FileMaker Go a good test.

FileMaker Go was able to access the database I created to track information about iOS with FileMaker Pro over my local LAN or the internet using either 3G or Wi-Fi. The time it took me to set up this connectivity was minimal thanks to good instructions from FileMaker. I favored the wireless means of connecting to my FileMaker Pro databases in order to share with multiple users in the field or office, but I could have also used iTunes file sharing, e-mail, popular file sharing sites, or the internet. However, these latter options are geared more towards single-user databases.

What’s good about it?

Gaining access to your databases is important so pick the method that suits you best. Once you have access configured to your database it will open in FileMaker Go and look exactly like it would when you open it in FileMaker Pro. Just make your edits or view records. The changes you make will show up in your hosted database later when you get back to your desk, server, etc. All of this makes FileMaker Go a joy to use.

FileMaker Go for iPad was recently updated and now supports the ability to add photos to a database, convert records to PDF, and the ability to save a copy of a database. You can also share the results these new features generate as attachments in an e-mail. I found the PDF feature to be especially handy.

What’s bad about it?

FileMaker doesn’t offer a universal version for the iPhone and iPad. You have to buy each app separately and that means an extra $19.99 for the iPhone version. The iPad version costs $39.99.  So total iOS device coverage will set you back $60.00. While this doesn’t effect the operation of the iPad app it does have some impact on your wallet.

If cost is an issue there are alternatives like Bento for the iPhone or iPad from FileMaker which only costs $4.99 for each version. Additionally, you could consider Handbase for iPhone or iPad from DDH Software that sells for $9.99 for each version. Unfortunately, there are no universal versions of Bento or Handbase either.

It’s disappointing that vendors are not taking better advantage of the universal app format especially when apps compliment each other as closely as these obviously do. It would make app management and deployments a lot more simple if you had only one app to pick for all your platforms.

Conclusion

If you use FileMaker Pro databases and you want to remotely access these databases or have them with you on the go then FileMaker Go is an app that you need. It works well enough to make it worth your time and investment. The iPad version of this app reminds me again how useful my iPad can be for personal and business use.

Cult of M ac rated

★★★★★

Company: FileMaker, Inc.
Compatibility: iPad; iOS 3.2 or later
List Price: $39.99
Buy Now: FileMaker Pro Go for iPad is available from the iTunes App Store.

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(Via Cult of Mac.)