Fifth Public Beta of DEVONthink Released

DEVONtechnologies has released the fifth public beta of version 2.0 of all editions of its information manager DEVONthink as well as of the smart note-keeper DEVONnote. The fifth public beta of DEVONthink 2.0 and DEVONnote 2.0, again, brings lots of new and promised features as well as many detail enhancements and bug fixes.

The latest public beta adds a completely redesigned iPhone web application to DEVONthink Pro Office that not only lets the user search all shared databases remotely but also browse them in typical iPhone-style. It is also possible to add new notes to the global inbox on-the-go. While running inside Safari on the iPhone, the brand new web application, served automatically by DEVONthink Pro Office when an iPhone connects to its embedded web server, imitates the look-and-feel of a native iPhone application.

DEVONthink Pro and Pro Office install their global inbox in the Finder's sidebar as well as in all 'Save As' dialog windows so that users can now save documents directly to DEVONthink. The sidebar has been enhanced, sections are collapsable, and groups can be added to the favorites. Smart groups in the sidebar search all open databases, new search predicates prepare DEVONthink for the forthcoming tagging support. Finally, searching supports the 'Ignore umlauts' and 'Fuzzy' options again.


"The new iPhone web application as well as the seamless - and hack-less - addition of DEVONthink's inbox into the Finder's sidebar and all 'Save As' dialogs again shows our commitment to deliver high accessibility and tight integration without sacrificing our core strengths: making premium artificial intelligence technology available to all Mac users", says Eric Bohnisch-Volkmann, President of DEVONtechnologies.

Pressing the Space bar opens a Quick Look panel for selected items. The properties of RTF/RTFD and PDF documents can now be edited, and so can web archives also in DEVONthink Personal. Automator support has returned to DEVONthink Pro and all workflows have been updated. All editions also come with many internal changes, performance and stability enhancements, and bug fixes.

The version 2.0 upgrade addresses a large number of feature requests from the active user community and modernizes almost every aspect of the applications. These public betas are still incomplete but the already existing functionality is stable enough for sharing with the public. Smart tags, PDF annotations, enhanced image editing as well as the ability to upload files through the web interface are not implemented yet but will be delivered one after the other with each subsequent update. The user interface of all editions will be further polished, too.

New features of version 2.0 include but are not limited to: the ability to open multiple databases simultaneously (DEVONthink Pro), all advanced Boolean and proximity operators (as known from DEVONagent), wildcards and unlimited complex search terms, smart groups, unlimited undo/redo, an inbox, a trash can, and the support for almost all common file formats. The new Finder-like sidebar facilitates working with multiple databases.


DEVONthink 2.0 imports and displays Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), OpenOffice and iWork (Pages, Numbers, Keynote) files as well as Skim PDF packages and all other files that support or are supported by Mac OS X 10.5's QuickLook. Using Spotlight importers and plugins for indexing DEVONthink can also search files that it cannot display due to the lack of QuickLook support (Spotlight does not need to be active). Metadata, e.g. from PDF files, email messages, or Office documents is imported, indexed, displayed, and can be selectively searched, e.g. using smart groups.

DEVONthink 2.0 allows to create documents from templates and DEVONthink Pro Office 2.0 shares databases with other users on the local network or over the Internet via an interactive web interface based on the latest web technologies. RSS, RDF and Atom news feeds can be added as self-updating groups to any DEVONthink Pro database and so integrate live content with local documents. The independent 'Sorter' panel lets the user add data to your databases even when DEVONthink Pro is not open. Tabbed browsing and editing as well as Cover Flow simplifies working with large numbers of documents. A PDF sidebar allows rearranging and deleting pages.

The new database engine incorporated into DEVONthink 2.0 not only speeds up working with large databases but also stores all files in their original file format, e.g. Microsoft Word files and email messages. Files are no longer converted when imported and can be edited using external applications. In addition, all documents can be accessed from outside DEVONthink using a standard URL. This highly improves workflow integration with third-party solutions such as iCal, OmniFocus Daylite, Bookends, or Endnote.

DEVONthink Personal 2.0 and DEVONnote 2.0 inherit the three pane view formerly exclusive to the Pro editions as well as separate document windows and the full screen mode. In addition DEVONthink Personal is no longer limited to 10,000 images.

Availability and Pricing:
The public beta releases of DEVONthink Pro and Pro Office 2.0, DEVONthink Personal 2.0, and DEVONnote 2.0 require Mac OS X 10.5 or later and can be downloaded from their website. DEVONthink and DEVONnote can be test-driven for free for 150 hours of non-continuous runtime until they need to be properly licensed. The public beta releases run without registration until May 31, 2009, before they need to be replaced by new betas or the final 2.0 releases.

DEVONthink Professional Office sells for $149.95 (USD), DEVONthink Professional for $79.95 (USD), DEVONthink Personal for $49.95 (USD), and DEVONnote for $24.95 (USD) in DEVONtechnologies' online shop. DEVONthink Pro Office and DEVONthink Pro are also available with the Internet research agent DEVONagent as bundles.


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