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FileMaker lays off 20 employees after discontinuing Bento
Apple-owned FileMaker, Inc. has sadly laid off 20 employees following the discontinuation of its Bento software last week, reports AppleInsider. The layoffs come after FileMaker released a statement noting that the company was discontinuing its Bento database software in favor of focusing on FileMaker. According to AppleInsider: Sources say Thursday's rumored job cuts are closely related to Bento's demise, adding California-based external representatives, sales engineers, and technical support staff were let go. The layoffs may extend further, however, as at least one person responsible for sales of the flagship FileMaker software is said to no longer be with the company. FileMaker has said that growth of its flagship FileMaker software on iOS was one of the reasons for discontinuing Bento, but with the layoffs and restructuring going on at the company it does seem that more is afoot. Before the layoffs, FileMaker was reported to employee 300 people. The company was formed in 1998 and grew out of Claris.
FileMaker announces Bento will be discontinued on September 30
FileMaker has released a statement saying that it's discontinuing its Bento database software in favor of focusing on FileMaker. Bento will continue to be available for the Mac, iPhone and iPad until September 30. Technical support, software updaters for the Mac client and forum moderation will be provided until July 30, 2014. The company said it will not replace it with a similar product and urges users to migrate to FileMaker Pro, offering a $120 discount for existing Bento customers until October 30. FileMaker says that growth of its flagship FileMaker product on iOS was one of the reasons behind shuttering Bento. Some Bento features, however, such as WiFi database sync between Mac and iOS clients, are not available in the flagship product. Bento was released for a public preview in November 2007, with version 1 hitting stores in January 2008. FileMaker unveiled the fourth incarnation of Bento in March 2011, and the software has been a TUAW favorite. If you want to pick up Bento while you can, the iPad version is US$9.99, the iPhone version is $4.99 and the Mac client is $49.99.
With Bento update, lack of App Store upgrades is front-and-center again
FileMaker released a meaty update to the iPad version of Bento on June 19, pushing it from version 1.15 to 4.0. But with this comes a move previously seen with Tweetie 2 before it became the official Twitter app: the original Bento was pulled from the App Store after a few hours of overlap, and replaced with a discounted Bento 4 until the end of July. While paying $4.99 for a $9.99 app is a good deal, it doesn't help those who paid $9.99 for the older version of Bento on June 18, June 16 or any time within the past month or so. Not only is the software instantly out of date, but with the original Bento pulled from the App Store, there will be no further support for it. This is something Instapaper's Marco Arment points out in a response to a Macdrifter article on it. "The other problem with this approach is that it makes it impossible to issue bugfixes or other minor updates to the previous version without making it available for sale publicly, which would lead to some new customers inadvertently purchasing the old version and being quite unhappy about it," Arment said. Indeed, the first review under the new Bento 4 for iPad is by someone who inadvertently purchased the older Bento during the brief period of time both apps were on the App Store at the same time. Arment and others point out that it highlights one of the biggest flaws still in the App Store: the inability to offer free upgrades to those who buy the previous version of an app within a certain amount of time after its initial purchase. When I bought my MacBook Pro on Tuesday, the Apple Store specialist told me that I would get an email with a code that will enable me to upgrade to Mountain Lion for free when it comes out next month. If Apple can find a way to do that for its major OS upgrades, surely it can figure out a way to do it in the App Store. FileMaker is going about this in the best way available to them. They're offering the new Bento for a reduced price for roughly six weeks, giving existing users a chance to upgrade at the lower cost. However, you have users that fall into the upgrade gap: they just spent $9.99 on original Bento and are now being asked to pay $4.99 more. Sure, that's not much money in the overall scheme of things, but it's a kick in the foot. What can someone do about it? AgileBits' (and former TUAW writer) David Chartier suggested to me on Twitter to file for a refund. If you've purchased the original Bento in the past month, it's worth giving it a shot. One customer who complained of this in FileMaker's forums was urged to contact FileMaker's customer support. You can try there or give it a shot with Apple. Try with the developer first, however, and see what they have to say. What should be done about it in the future? There's got to be a way for Apple to implement some sort of upgrade for recent purchasers of an app. One way could be to offer upgrade codes to developers. They would require a user to screenshot the date of purchase, send it to the developer, then get a redemption code for the upgrade. How would you implement App Store upgrades? Let us know in the comments.
New Bento 4 for iPad adds design tools for customizing database solutions
It's a bit hard to believe that Apple software subsidiary FileMaker has been marketing Bento for more than four years now. The Mac version of the personal database debuted in early 2008, and separate iPhone and iPad versions can be had on the iOS App Store. Today the company is jumping the iPad build from version 1.15 all the way to version 4, with new features to let users customize their libraries entirely on the iPad. Bento 4 for iPad is a completely new app, so it's an additional purchase for existing customers rather than a free update -- but it's only $4.99 through the end of July. Bento 4 for iPad still syncs with Bento for Mac (version 4.1, also out today) for loading libraries and collections, but the enhanced library design tools in the iPad version mean that plenty of users will be able to execute their projects, start to finish, on the iPad alone. Bento's Template Exchange is now directly accessible in the iPad app, so it's easy to download and work with a pre-configured solution that someone else has uploaded to the exchange. The exchange lists almost 600 templates in English and that many more in several other languages, covering organizational tasks from Action Figures to Wine. %Gallery-158590% Whether you start with a basic template or a fully customized one, the onboard design tools now allow you to create fields, reformat views and generally do all the setup tasks you'd have to do on the desktop with previous versions. In the prerelease demo I saw, the editing tools were fairly intuitive -- drag fields to locate them, tap to rename, etc. I expect there'll be a how-to video showing up on FileMaker's site in short order. You can also retheme your library from Bento's collection of color schemes, backgrounds and so on. Bento 4 also adds new views (Table, Split & Full Screen) and new field types including an encrypted field for sensitive information like account numbers, patient notes or passwords. Bento 4 for iPad is available today in the App Store for $4.99, going up to $9.99 in August. Bento 4.1 for Mac is a free update for existing users of 4.0 and is available at a special price of $29.99 through August.
Filemaker offers free holiday kits for Bento users
Filemaker has released free holiday-themed goodies for Bento users. The Bento Holiday Kit has templates for cards and labels, a party planner and a gift list. To take advantage of this, you need to have Bento 4 for Mac installed. A free trial is available for those who want to see the program in action. U.S. users can download the holiday kit here, and a version for UK users can download the kit here.
Scientists make magic auto-origami using ink and light (video)
We've seen nano-origami and robo-origami, but nothing quite as rapid and simple as this. Researchers at North Carolina State University have figured out how to neatly fold plastic using infrared light and an inkjet printer. Deep black lines are printed onto the plastic sheets, which then absorb the light and cause the material to fold without anyone having to touch it. The wider the line, the greater the angle of each fold, so it's possible to set, say, a 90-degree bend for a cube or 120 degrees for a pyramid. What's more, by giving the lines different patterns, folds can be made to work in specific directions, potentially producing the most perfect, most hygienic bento box that's ever contained your lunch. Click past the break to watch the folding unfold.
LunchCommunicator films your every single bite, saves relationships
Ever wanted to tell your loved ones how grateful (or ungrateful) you are for your packed lunch, but not keen on having an awkward face-to-face dialog about it? Well, now you can! A research group at Ochanomizu University, Japan hacked up a nerdy lunch box -- consisting of a Creative webcam and a Viliv S5 MID -- just for this purpose. The idea is that when opened, the webcam will start recording the box being prepared at home; and when it's opened again at work, it automatically starts playing back the preparation footage while simultaneously recording the diner munching away. Obviously, you can throw in the occasional "oishii" and "arigatō" while you're at it. Sounds like the perfect gift for newlyweds, if you ask us. Video after the break.
Bento for Mac 4.0 arrives with label printing and location features
The "database for the rest of us," FileMaker's Bento for Mac, has hit version 4 today along with revised builds of the iPhone and iPad editions. It's a little bit surprising to realize that Bento has actually been on the market for three years now; in this edition, the product team has added some key features to the personal data manager, and for the first time it will be sold via the Mac App Store in addition to boxed/download sales. The biggest improvement in 4.0 is a feature so obvious that I mistakenly thought it was already part of the product: full label printing support. Bento now includes print templates for more than 250 label sheets from Avery and DYMO, and it allows you to selectively include per-record images (like photos or QR codes for inventory stickers or conference badges). You can create custom label formats and include your label setups in a template for easy export. Overall printing controls are also souped up in the new version. Speaking of templates, Bento 4 makes it easier to share your database layouts with friends and colleagues or with the entire world. A new export feature (Template with Data) gives you a way to easily share a template pre-populated with your content; very handy for workgroups or family use. You can also do a one-button upload of your prized template (sans data) to the Bento Template Exchange if you think it's worthy/useful. For data entry on the go, Bento 4 includes a location field type that can be applied to any record. Once it's there, it can automatically populate your latitude and longitude at the time the record is modified, based on your Wi-Fi or GPS coordinates; this syncs/tracks with the iOS versions of Bento as well, so for mobile professionals (insurance/legal, real estate, civil engineering, etc.) who have a need to geotag their content, this seems like a winner. Another data type that's syncing with the iOS Bento versions is voice memos. These can be captured on the Mac or on iPhone/iPad, letting you easily associate short audio snippets with a record for future reference. I could see the combination of an iPad 2 and Bento working very well for a recruiter or casting director who might need to keep a picture, resume and voiceover sample in one record. There are more new features to explore, so check them out. Bento 4 is available immediately at a $29 upgrade price for existing users; it's $49 for a new single license, $99 for a family pack. The iPhone and iPad versions are $4.99 each, and they are indeed separate apps for the two device families.
New Bento templates aimed at students
It may seem like odd timing; with the US about to head into the unofficial pre-summer period with the imminent Memorial Day long weekend, the last thing on most students' minds is getting organized for next year. Nevertheless, today Filemaker is setting the Bento 3 Student Survival Kit loose upon the world. The linked set of free Bento templates includes layouts for organizing lecture notes, courses, group projects, special events and job searches (that last one seems timely, now that I think about it). The Survival Kit is part of the Bento Template Exchange, which offers scores of specialized layouts like the Family Organizer pack and the Mail Management tool. Bento's clean integration with the Mac OS X personal information apps means that students won't have to enter contact information twice, and they can track deadlines and test schedules in iCal with ease. The templates also allow for synchronization with the iPhone and iPad versions of Bento. Downloading the Student Survival Kit does no good, of course, without a copy of the Bento 3 database app; Filemaker is offering a 30-day trial copy to test out the kit, and the software retails for US$49 after that, or $99 for a family pack. It requires Mac OS X 10.6 or 10.5.7 and runs on both PPC and Intel machines.
iPad apps: defining experiences from the first wave
There are now over 1,348 approved apps for the iPad. That's on top of the 150,000 iPad-compatible iPhone programs already available in the App Store. When Apple's tablet PC launches, just hours from now, it will have a software library greater than that of any handheld in history -- not counting the occasional UMPC. That said, the vast majority of even those 1,348 iPad apps are not original. They were designed for the iPhone, a device with a comparatively pokey processor and a tiny screen, and most have just been tweaked slightly, upped in price and given an "HD" suffix -- as if that somehow justified the increased cost. Besides, we've seen the amazing potential programs have on iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Windows Mobile and webOS when given access to a touchscreen, always-on data connection, GPS, cloud storage and WiFi -- but where are the apps that truly define iPad? What will take advantage of its extra headroom, new UI paradigms and multitouch real estate? Caught between netbook and smartphone, what does the iPad do that the iPhone cannot? After spending hours digging through the web and new iPad section of the App Store, we believe we have a number of reasonably compelling answers. Update: Now includes Wormhole Remote, TweetDeck, SkyGrid, Touchgrind HD, GoToMeeting, SplitBrowser, iDisplay, Geometry Wars and Drawing Pad.
Bento for iPhone / iPod touch reaches sales milestone
While it's no big deal for a free game or social networking app to reach a million downloads from the App Store, it is definitely news when a brand-name productivity app sells 100,000 copies. Bento for iPhone / iPod touch [US$4.99, iTunes Link] reached that milestone today, according to a press release from FileMaker, Inc. Bento works very well as a standalone iPhone app, and becomes even more powerful when synced with the desktop version of the app (2.0v5 or 3.0 for Mac). The app comes with 25 pre-defined templates that can be customized to your needs, or you can create your own databases (Bento calls them "libraries") by opening a blank template and adding your choice from a selection of fifteen different field types. I've personally found the standalone app to be a lifesaver when I need to create a custom database for storing information on my iPhone. The FileMaker announcement should come as welcome news for developers who are working on more mainstream or enterprise-oriented apps for the iPhone / iPod touch platform.
FileMaker's Bento 3 announced, available immediately
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.
XSEED employee rewarded with adorable Little King's Story bento
Click to see full bento box. Warning: may cause incredible jealousy and/or hunger. Making a video game is no easy task. XSEED's Christine Nakashima had been working long hours on the Wii game, Little King's Story. Thankfully, someone noticed her effort! Her sister stayed up late one evening, making a Japanese-style "bento" box for Christine, featuring various characters from the game. Perhaps we have a bias for looking at adorable things ... and then eating them, because this looks far more appetizing than Little King Story's other food promotion.
Bug-bashing Bento 2.0v5 is now available for download
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.
Real World Bento: the formidable, personal database
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."
TUAW Review: Bento for iPhone
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.
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.
The Behemoth promises new game info in July, shows off artistic bento
Feeling obligated to update its blog, developer The Behemoth showed off some Castle Crashers bento (above), created by Anna the red, and stated that it would have more information to share about its third game in July.The Behemoth is teasing that its (currently untitled) third game will makes an appearance at San Diego's Comic-Con, taking place July 23-26. That's too bad -- we were hoping to see more of the Crying Sugar Cube Leprechaun at E3 in June.
Murloc bento box looks strangely tasty
A "bento" or "bento box" is a prepared meal in Japanese culture consisting of rice, some kind of meat (often sushi), and cooked vegetables. The big image above is a Murloc bento, put together by a WoW fan with some excellent culinary taste. The Murloc itself is made of cabbage, dyed tofu, and red and yellow pepper stripes, the hut to his left is made of Thai turkey meatballs and steamed cabbage, and the treasure chest is made of tofu and seaweed, while the sun and flowers are eggs.Very interesting. It's still a work-in-progress apparently (though considering that it's all food, it can't take too long to make, can it?), as the creator still wants to get teeth on the Murloc. But it looks pretty ready to eat as is -- the hut and the treasure chest, especially, look pretty delectable. [via PixelatedGeek, thanks, jessE!]
Show and Tell: Lunch in a box
We've spent a little time admiring amazing lunches before, but we haven't yet donated our weekly time in the community spotlight to the fine art of bento-making ... until today. Yes, friends, today we're going to make you hungry with these fantastic Nintendo-themed boxed lunches. Slice up some carrot and mold your rice into a ball, then head into our gallery and check out some amazing gamer bento.%Gallery-38877% Show and Tell is all about fan stuff, so long as it's Nintendo-related. We love to see your collections, your crafts, your frosted creations, your t-shirts and swag of all sorts.Just snap a few pictures, tell us what's up, and send it all to showmeit [at] dsfanboy [dot] com. We'll take care of the rest. Not a handy type, but found something neat? Send us a link instead.
