[General]...by Matt Petrowsky
Data collection made easy
Businesses crave time savers
At the beginning of last week Claris sent out their official press release announcing the Newton version of FileMaker. This may not be too impressive for those of you that never forked out the high dollar price tag for a Newton, but it will affect all of us down the line. When Newton was first released it was up towards $700 and finally became affordable at about $150 for a Message Pad 100. Now that Apple has announced the new Newton 2.0 OS for the Message Pad 120 it seems ideal for Claris to make the announcement of the Newton version of FileMaker.
If you have heard little about Newton, or don't get any of the magazines that have reviewed the new Newton 2.0 OS, scheduled for a December release, then here is a little bit of info for you. (MacWorld December issue has the most information I have found thus far on Newton 2.0 - you can also find news about Newton information from a digital news letter called NewtNews) This is also PC relevant in some ways - Newton is a technology not only for the Macintosh. While the Newton Companion will not initially support Windows 95 it has applications available to a cross platform environment.The Newton 2.0 system has been completely turned around and is getting industry rants and raves for the improvements that have taken place. The first Newton caught a lot of flak from those that first purchased them. Most of the reasons pointed to the poor handwriting recognition and then sluggish performance. Later down the road a company called Palm Computing came out with a more than successful product called Graffiti, which gave the Newton more than hope. In terms of an organizer nothing else I could find could compete with being able to search 100+ names and addresses and come up with a list to choose from.
My own personal experience with a Newton is from purchasing one in Singapore while visiting friends. Over here in the US they were in between $400 and $500 still, and I was able to pick one up for about $320. Unfortunately, I thought it was a MP100, but it turned out it was an Original Message Pad - So now I have a good piece of history. Working with the Newton was what most of the industry had said it would be. Sort of like playing with a $300 toy. But there was, from my personal view, more power behind its abilities. I would use my Newton to store digital signatures taken from the completion of consulting projects. This eliminated the need for printed forms. Only problem was getting the data and digital signature, which was a picture, into my FileMaker database. That was about 8 months ago. Now enter the Newton FM solution from Claris. Here is the Official Press Release found on the Claris Web Site. Give it an overview and then I will close with some comments about what you can expect to do with this wonderful solution.
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Press Release:
November 1, 1995
CLARIS ANNOUNCES FILEMAKER PRO 3.0 COMPANION FOR NEWTON 2.0
Power and simplicity of the #1 Macintosh database, used by
over 1 million users worldwide, to be extended beyond the desktop
SANTA CLARA, CALIF., November 1, 1995 -- Claris Corporation today announced FileMaker Pro 3.0 Companion for the Apple(r) MessagePad 120 with Newton 2.0 bringing one of the first mainstream desktop software applications directly to the Apple MessagePad. The company said that the new application is expected to ship in 1996 and that no pricing has been set at this time. The software package for Newton 2.0 will be supported by FileMaker Pro 3.0 for Macintosh, the next version of the world's most popular Macintosh(r) database, which is scheduled to ship with easy-to-use relational capabilities next month. Delivering true Newton-to-desktop data management, FileMaker Pro 3.0 Companion for Newton will let users capture subsets --or collections -- of FileMaker Pro 3.0 desktop-based records and fields on the Apple MessagePad 120 for updating anywhere. Later, new or modified records can be returned to the original host FileMaker database for synchronization to insure database integrity.
"FileMaker Pro database users in any industry -- from medical workers making patient rounds to an architectural project manager at a new building site -- will be greatly enabled with FileMaker Pro 3.0 Companion for Newton," said David Larson, vice president of worldwide customer marketing, Claris Corporation. "Individual workers and users within workgroups will get better economy, extensibility, and unprecedented mobility from their FileMaker Pro database applications with this exciting new product."
Legendary FileMaker Functionality Anywhere Users of FileMaker Pro 3.0 Companion for Newton will enjoy much of the same functionality found within FileMaker Pro 3.0. Specific features provided by FileMaker Pro 3.0 Companion for Newton include the following:
FileMaker Pro interface and functions: Users will be able to browse, sort, query and print downloaded data as well as perform Look-Ups from other FileMaker Pro 3.0 Companion databases that may also reside on the Apple MessagePad 120. Other typical functions such as auto entry, pop-up lists, check boxes and radio lists will be available in FileMaker Pro 3.0 Companion for Newton.
Desktop Connectivity and Database Creation: Provides live connection to desktop and network based (Macintosh and Windows) FileMaker Pro databases and the ability to download subsets -- or collections -- of these database records to the Apple Message Pad 120. In addition, Apple MessagePad 120 users can download simple FileMaker Pro layouts without records to create new databases directly on the Apple Message Pad 120.
Synchronization: Direct record-level synchronization from FileMaker Pro 3.0 Companion to desktop-based FileMaker Pro 3.0 databases. Communications: The new product completely supports all basic communications functionality provided by the Apple MessagePad 120 with Newton 2.0 (beaming, faxing, and mailing).
Password Protection: FileMaker Pro 3.0 Companion for Newton will provide the same database security provided by FileMaker Pro 3.0 for Macintosh and Windows.
FileMaker Pro Companion for Apple MessagePad 120 with Newton 2.0 will be disk-based and will require FileMaker Pro 3.0 for Macintosh. The software is designed to operate with the Apple Message Pad 120 with Newton 2.0 and any Macintosh or Power Macintosh (standalone or networked via AppleTalk, IPX/SPX or TCP/IP) but not with standalone versions of FileMaker Pro 3.0 for Windows running on PCs with Windows 95.
For more information on other Claris products, customers may call Claris Corporation at 1-800-3-CLARIS or (408) 727-8227 or visit ClarisWeb, the Claris Internet home page at http://www.claris.com.
Claris Corporation is a leading worldwide vendor or Windows and Macintosh applications for business, education and home, and is a subsidiary of Apple Computer, Inc. with headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif.
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1995 Apple Computer, Inc., and Claris Corporation. All rights reserved. Claris and FileMaker are registered trademarks of Claris Corporation. Apple, Macintosh, MessagePad and Newton are registered trademarks of Apple Computer. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.
Press Contacts (Press Only):
Kevin Mallon
408-987-7227
Internet: kevin_mallon@claris.com
Steve Ruddock
408-987-7202
Internet: steve_ruddock@claris.com
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So what does all this mean? Well let's put together a scenario. I work for a national company that has a need for data collection. If we look as what the TCP/IP support of FM 3.0 implies. (Being that most everything else within the world of TCP/IP deals with both local and long distance digital communications.) There are some very big assumptions that we can make here. I am out in the field sometime in 1996 and have my Newton 2.0 set up with a FileMaker version. I collect the data and then get back to my host computer and hook up my Newton. I then connect to some sort of host database somewhere else on the Internet via a TCP/IP connection and download my data.
WOW! Is all I can say. What are the implications of this ability in terms of data collaboration? Sales forces will no longer be in the dark on little pieces of information. There will be an efficiency level that has jumped lightyears ahead of what we have now. And all this by 1996! Hopefully you can sense the excitement here. This will affect not only the corporate world but the individual business person. Being a home based business myself, I would be able to collaborate with clients that I may serve that are hundreds, if not thousands, of miles away. And all this with a little device that I can hold in my hand!
Look forward to more Newton FM information as it comes down the pike. As for now let your imagination run wild, because 1996, whatever the release date turns out to be, will be here before we know it. Developers and users of FileMaker Pro will be able to create databases that are needed by many of our small, medium and large companies. This opens doors to many of the developers out there that don't feel that they can create that winning vertical market solution. Just knowing FileMaker well enough will offer pathways into money making areas that were previously open only to programmers and developers of proprietary Newton software. My prediction is that ,while it may seem slow, this little application will make waves of tremendous proportion. With the improvement of an already functioning technology (Newton) and the addition of a widely accepted standard (FileMaker) we are surely going to see some sparks fly!
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