Affiliate Disclosure
If you buy through our links, we may get a commission. Read our ethics policy.

FileMaker releases Bento 3 with iPhoto integration

Bento, the database application for Mac OS X, was updated to version 3 Tuesday, bringing new features, security options, integration with iPhoto, and more.

The latest version from FileMaker, which is a subsidiary of Apple, is now available for purchase, with the company calling the product a "breakthrough." For the first time, Bento integrates with iPhoto, allowing users to store information about photos and link them with contacts, projects, events, and other information within the software.

"Think of Bento 3 as a powerful, easy way to bring together all of your key Mac information and photos," said Ryan Rosenberg, vice president, marketing and services, FileMaker, Inc. "With Bento 3, we’re providing new ways for you to view and interact with your information so you can organize contacts, projects, events and even more details of your life."

Bento 3 costs $49 for a single license, or $99 for a five-license family pack. Users of Bento 1 or 2 can receive a $20 rebate for the upgrade. In addition, those who bought Bento 2 after Aug. 30 are qualified for a free upgrade. However, Apple authorized reseller MacMall is offering the single license version for $43.99 and the family pack for $89.99. The $20 rebate also applies.

Bento was released by the Apple software subsidiary FileMaker, Inc., in 2007. It is a multipurpose application designed for organizing information from a variety of sources. Version 2 debuted in late 2008.

According to FileMaker, new features in Bento 3 include:

Photo integration

  • See all your albums listed in the Bento Libraries pane automatically - no importing required.
  • View your iPhoto information inside Bento in the new Grid view, Table view, Form view or Split view.
  • Add additional fields and forms to store more information about your photos beyond what iPhoto stores.
  • Link photos to contacts, projects, events or other data stored in Bento.

Grid view

  • View any library in the new Grid view to show a grid of images or thumbnail views of your forms.
  • Customize the Grid view to display additional information under each thumbnail that is most relevant to you, like phone numbers or email addresses for all your contacts.
  • Create and view your own customized thumbnail forms. For example, say you have 40 products that you're selling. You could create a form where you have an image of the product next to the part number and price to see multiple product “cards” together on one screen.
Bento 3

Related data field - now with image thumbnails

  • See thumbnail images of a media in your Related data fields (formerly called the Related records list).
  • For example, you can link a list of guests to an event - and see a picture of each person.

Additional features are detailed at the official Web site. A free 30-day trial is also available.

Bento 4
Bento 1



59 Comments

benroethig 21 Years · 2768 comments

The filemaker brand needs to go away and Bento needs to become part of iWork.

dr millmoss 16 Years · 5382 comments

Does anyone have any experience with moving Filemaker databases to Bento? Can it even be done?

gqb 18 Years · 1933 comments

Version 3 of Bento and still no integration with iWeb. Unbelievable.
I think Filemaker is starting to make the mistake of thinking its a 'media company'.
Bad move guys.... Bento is a database... start making it function like one instead of thinking its iTunes or iPhoto.

gqb 18 Years · 1933 comments

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr Millmoss

Does anyone have any experience with moving Filemaker databases to Bento? Can it even be done?

You can move your data over fairly easily, but reports etc have to be created from scatch using Bento's own tools.
Its a nice little product, but don't expect it to be Filemaker.

gazoobee 16 Years · 3753 comments

Quote:
Originally Posted by GQB

You can move your data over fairly easily, but reports etc have to be created from scatch using Bento's own tools.
Its a nice little product, but don't expect it to be Filemaker.

Yeah, the trouble with Bento has always been that it's a database for "the average person," but that the average person doesn't really think they need a database, and wouldn't know how to make one work even if they did. So the kind of people smart enough to do interesting tricky things with it would rather just use FileMaker, and the kind of people who are targeted by Bento, end up using dedicated programs instead.

Bento would be excellent for that custom address book you always wanted, but the average user hasn't the skill to make it and the kind of person who does have that skill would not bother. Bento would be great for Mum's recipes, but she probably already uses "recipe keeping software" from some minor software company that produces only that product.

I think it will take a long time for Bento to catch on but it's still a good product. A lot could be gained on both sides by integrating it into iWork as others have mentioned. It would drive sales of FileMaker as well as iWork.

Getting rid of FileMaker as a brand would be a big mistake though. After all the years of work they put into it, FileMaker is finally a brand that people can take seriously in databases and they should ditch all that effort to re-represent the company through a silly "consumer oriented "product? That would be a really dumb move.