TechPulse 360

A Filemaker Bento database can now be created, edited and synched from a Mac and now an iPhone

A year after releasing its personal database for the Mac, FileMaker unveiled today a portable version for the iPhone and iPod touch.

With Bento, the goal of Santa Clara, Calif.-based company is to let consumers and small businesses easily create databases – contacts, To Dos, expenses, recipes, event planning, etc – right from the iPhone.

Handbase and FMTouch dominate iPhone database market

So far, the most popular databased for the iPhone were from DDH Software (Handbase, $10) and FMWebschool (FMTouch dubbed the “Filemaker in the pocket”, $70).

“We want Bento to be the best business application for the iPhone. It integrates with iPhone applications such as Contacts, Safari, Phone Dialing, Mail and Google Maps for a truly integrated iPhone experience,” said Ryan Rosenberg, vice president, marketing and services at FileMaker in an interview with TechPulse 360.

Filemaker Bento is iPhone’s cheapest database

While the $5 Bento for iPhone is not a replacement for the $50 desktop version – as it lacks custom form and relations creation -, its good enough for most personal databases, and is also capable of synchronizing – peer-to-peer using Apple’s Bonjour protocol – with Bento desktop.

“You don’t need Bento desktop to create a database on an iPhone, and the iPhone version does not replace the desktop version. The combination of the 2 is the best of both world,” adds the Filemaker executive.

In our conversation Rosenberg also hinted to a day when Bento would be able to synchronize with Apple’s cloud, Mobile Me.

The quiet Apple subsidiary sold over 15 million units of its databases – Filemaker Pro, Filemaker Server and Bento – and was profitable every quarter, since being founded in 1998.