Architosh Staff ([email protected])

15 Mar 2002

 

VizMotion offers unique FileMaker to Palm Synchronization software

FileMaker in Design Practice

Architosh has been featuring more FileMaker news recently due to a number of inevitable pressures in the market. Not the least of these is that FileMaker will likely be a clutch application which...will or will not...keep you on the Mac platform in the distant future. In fact, FileMaker's influence in the AEC space is key to Mac users in the AEC space, even if they don't use it now and have never touched a database app before. Why...you say?

The reason why FileMaker is key to you is because of the inevitable market forces at work in the 'wireless' world. We're talking not only Palm OS-based PDA's and hybrid smart phones like the Treo, but future products running Java on Nokia and Motorola devices. There are two key points here that need to be made:

1. Wireless devices will become your main computing device in the future from the point of view of "communication [email, text messaging,etc.] and web services".
2. FileMaker will be a major "wireless' software provider in the not too distant future. They are making major plans now have recently released FileMaker for the popular iMode phones in Japan.

This discussion warrants major expansion, but suffice it to say here, that the problem centers around getting your key data (contacts, memos, to-do-list, timecards, etc.) to participate in the 'wireless' world. If you haven't noticed, not too many enterprise wireless companies making software or devices are supporting Macintosh connectivity just yet. Which brings me to FileMaker and the Palm connection.

Today Palm is the Mac platform's only major wireless market play. BlackBerry is hot, Java Nokia phones are going to ship in the hundred millions in 2002/03 and PocketPC is gaining steam. But who is out there supporting the Mac?

With FileMaker and Palm-OS devices Mac users have a seriously rich future in the 'wireless world'. [More on that later]. Even better, Palm currently has a commanding lead and advantage over Microsoft's PocketPC platform and Java rivals like BlackBerry. We encourage Mac users to be aggressive in their knowledge of wireless and support Palm, FileMaker and other Mac-supporting 'wireless' ISV's and OEM's.

FileMaker and VizMotion

One of the things we will be able to do -- and want to do -- in the future is take our most important data with us everywhere. As an architect this might include, for starters, your 'calendar' or 'office calendar', your office's 'contacts', your project's 'correspondence', your project's 'research', your project's 'to-do-list' and even your 'time & expenses' related to the workplace.

This will become very possible now with FileMaker, FileMaker Mobile 1.0 and any Palm-OS based device. The trick is getting it all to work with your shared network databases so it is not just "your stuff" but the "office's stuff".

Enter VisMotion and their product line. VizSync Address Book allows your whole office to connect a "multi-user" FileMaker database of "contacts" information with the native Palm Address Book application -- on multiple Palm devices. Why the native address book app? Because you want to utilize the built-in functionality of that application, especially as Palm-OS devices support more voice functionality like the Treo and Samsung phones do.

If you really want to see why the native Palm apps are so important to plug into from FileMaker, take a look at the Handspring Treo's interactive demo.

VizMotion also has products which synchronize FileMaker Pro databases to the Palm's native Date Book and Memo Pad. And a FileMaker calendar database would be a good fit into the Palm's Date Book as well.

FileMaker and the Big Lead with Architects

FileMaker is the "Architect's Database App". And this doesn't just apply to architects but all technical (project-centric) design professionals. So if you haven't figure out why this is all so important yet, then you are likely behind and "unaware" of the significance of these apps and technologies going forward.

Resources

New FileMaker Website, resources and Mobile 2.0 news