Agendus Professional v11 Released

Posted By: Ryan Tuesday, June 20, 2006 11:37:46 AM

iambic has released Agendus Professional Edition v11 for Palm OS today. This latest version of the Agendus personal information manager has been optimized to handle the dynamics of everyday life to provide a level of proactive personal assistance that so far has only been available from a "real-life" assistant, not a Treo smartphone or PDA.

"In this release of Agendus, we really focused on features that build upon the interrelatedness of things, such as people to people, meeting agendas and action items to actual meetings, and even the myriad of things you need to track when traveling, including keeping the time zone straight," said Adriano Chiaretta, chief operating officer at iambic, Inc. "It's all about helping you be more productive and make better use of your time. And what better way to do that than leverage something that you're already carrying around with you -- like your Treo smartphone."

Agendus Professional for Palm OS Version 11 has has improvements for managing your contacts.

  • Contact Networking allows you to link contacts together by identifying relationships (assistant, co-worker, friend, relative, etc).
  • The Contact Network Smart Build feature automatically creates contact relationships based on criteria such as past events, name, company name and other information pulled from the your data.
  • When you are using Contacts, in addition to Compact and Expanded viewing modes, there is now a Networking mode, that lets you "drag and drop" one name onto another to create a relationship on-the-fly.

Being More Productive -- Meetings & To Dos:
In order to make the best use of your meeting time, it is helpful to have readily available a list of topics that you need to cover. The new Agenda Walkthrough feature helps facilitate this by providing an easy way to create that list, track what actually happened and which items are to be moved to subsequent meetings. This Walkthrough feature can also come in handy for trips to the store and for helping you with your everyday errands.

Agendus for Palm OSImprovements were made in the Tasks/To Do part of Agendus. It now supports Outliner/Mini Project Tracker, which means that you can use your desktop computer to quickly type in the various tasks you are tracking. When you perform a Hotsync, those tasks will appear in your Treo. Also, in Task mode, the Hierarchy view now shows percent completion.

Agendus for Palm OS Version 11 now provides seamless and complete integration between mobile and desktop environments. Features such as icons, To Do hierarchy and contact relationships, can be synchronized from Agendus on your handheld to your desktop, through Agendus for Windows Outlook Edition and Agendus for Windows Palm Desktop Edition.

The user interface has always been an area of focus for iambic. With this release, you now have browser-like capability to go back to previously viewed screens. Also, in calendar mode, there are now sixteen views to choose from, with the "Today" view including up to six upcoming calendar, task, call and alarm related items. Rescheduling a meeting or To Do, can be accomplished quickly by dragging and dropping the item onto its new day/time.

Just in time for your summer holiday, iambic has made travel tracking in Agendus for Palm OS Version 11 much more robust. It is now even easier to connect specific flight, car rental, and hotel information to your itinerary. Plus, transportation options have been expanded to include your own car, train and bus. If you are a frequent traveler, you can save trip templates for future use.

Version 11 also ties in the Agendus Over-The-Air (OTA) capability to travel so that you can retrieve weather information for your destination with one tap from the Edit Trip screen. The addition of Time Zone support is great for travel or when dealing with clients in other parts of the country.

Agendus for Palm OS Professional Edition, Version 11 is available with a free trial and can be purchased for $39.95 USD. For information on upgrade options, visit iambic's site.

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What happened to Pimlico?

Storkdude @ 6/20/2006 3:32:16 PM # Q
Looks like Action Names finally won. I would like to see the ability to show 5 icons vs only 3 in the 320x480 monthly view.

RE: What happened to Pimlico? RIGHT HERE, BABY!
The_Voice_of_Reason @ 6/20/2006 4:04:44 PM # Q
Get serious. DateBk is what productive ADULTS continue to use, as usual. But if you want to pay for the "honor" of beta testing yet another buggy, poorly-written piece of schlockware from iambic, go right ahead and install Agendus. I, on the other hand would rather use DateBk3 than any version of Agendus.

By the way, I just registered the following domain names:


www.agenndus.com
www.agenduus.com
www.iambac.com

For no special reason.


TVoR

RE: What happened to Pimlico?
Hitman1 @ 6/20/2006 6:09:09 PM # Q
Right on, Datebk5 is what professional people use. I for one cannot live without it on my palm device and just cannot imagine a plam os device owner without it.

RE: What happened to Pimlico?
Storkdude @ 6/20/2006 6:35:58 PM # Q
The Action Names/ Dakebk debate was pretty hot a few years ago just like the Palm vs Clie debates. Such zealots! Datebk 5 had a steeper learning curve than AN, and I never used it much because of it. AN has had some pretty frustrating bugs, and they seem to gouge the customers as badly as M$ for upgrades. Pimlico always had great support. We all remember when Iambic registered domains that Pimlico would have wanted and we all cried foul play. Iambic doesn't have much of a rep around here. Still AN functions as my secretary and the latest is very stable on my TX. PalmGear shows 98K downloads for Datebk vs 300K for AN standard and pro. Not 100% accurate but probably good enough to show which way the wind blows.

I just feel horrible for all those apes in Georgia who will have to go to bed without their evening 'nanas.

RE: What happened to Pimlico?
Clemau @ 6/20/2006 9:03:58 PM # Q
Pimilco is alive and kicking I think.... Actually Datebk6 is already out and it has some nice improvement like support for the location field etc... I have been using it for about 1 month and it is a nice step up from Datebk5. I will definitely be upgrading.

On the other hand, I made the mistake of buying Agendus for my wife and it is horribly slow and un-intuitive (we both run Treo650)

Warning: Stay FAR away from Agendus
The_Voice_of_Reason @ 6/20/2006 9:35:33 PM # Q
With iambic's reputation for sleazy business practices, + their policy of constantly releasing buggy applications (with new features being added just so they can claim it's a brand new version and charge users for the "upgrade") they are a company best avoided.

PalmGear shows 98K downloads for Datebk vs 300K for AN standard and pro.

1) It used to be possible for a sleazy company to write a script that automatically "downloaded" a copy of an app from PalmGear just to raise the numbers. In fact, I remember when it was possible to re-download by clicking on a browser's "Back" button. Companies aren't stupid - if there's a way to manipulate people to increase sales, they'll do it. (Witness how many companies ued to release bogus "updates" to their software because they knew it would then be listed as "new" and get marquee listing on PalmGear's main page.

2) I would hope that by now anyone smart enough to use DateBk would also be smart enough to download it directly from http://www.pimlicosoftware.com/datebk5.htm rather than the dirtbags humanoids at PalmGear.

TVoR

RE: What happened to Pimlico?
mcd @ 6/20/2006 11:21:15 PM # Q
I have been using Adgendus for 4 years. It is much slower than it used to be, and I am getting tired of paying 10 bucks almost every year for an upgrade. Its saving grace is that it has a desktop software is exactly like the palm version. Does datebk have that? If it does, i will consider making a change.
DateBk Vs Agendus? No contest: DateBk wins.
The_Voice_of_Reason @ 6/21/2006 1:08:02 AM # Q
I have been using Adgendus for 4 years. It is much slower than it used to be, and I am getting tired of paying 10 bucks almost every year for an upgrade. Its saving grace is that it has a desktop software is exactly like the palm version. Does datebk have that? If it does, i will consider making a change.

There is no desktop component I'm aware of but it syncs perfectly with Outlook or Palm Desktop, etc. The developer of Datebk (C.E.S. Dewar) provides the best support in the industry and has done so for all the years the app has been around. The developer's responsiveness to questions and feature requests sets the standard all developers should aim for. (I especially remember the countless hours Dewar spent tracking down the "issues" that NVFS and Palm's dumba$$ "Data Mangler" patch inflicted upon the Palm community.

Here's a quote from the DateBk site showing hoe reasonable they are with upgrade fees. And remember, they only release a brand new version every couple of years, once the number of new features added dictates that a truly new version is needed. Bug fixes/maintenence releases are always free to all registered users.


"DateBk6 is priced at $27.95 with an upgrade price of $12.95 for existing, registered DateBk3/4/5 users and $20 for existing, registered weekview users. DateBk6 may be a free upgrade for registered DateBk4/5 users who registered AFTER 12/31/2004. Not all major upgrades are guaranteed to be free. However, in those cases where there is an upgrade cost, there may be, for a limited time following the release, a free, automated upgrade system which you will be able to use IF you can provide the specific information in the Pimlico registration database (check with the Pimlico Home page to see if such an arrangement is still available)."

RE: What happened to Pimlico?
justauser @ 6/21/2006 2:51:30 AM # Q
Agendus is getting slow - painful on launch. But they're packing a lot into it these days, and I'm liking some of these linking features. Despite the speed, I personally find it one of my better apps.

As for Datebook; I checked Pimlico's web site and found they're still showing a Palm m505 for their screen shots... Makes you wonder if they've dropped the ball just a little...

RE: What happened to Pimlico?
Simony @ 6/21/2006 3:57:24 AM # Q
I believe it was old Ben Franklin who said:

'Don't throw stones at your neighbors, if your own windows are glass.'

Accordingly, helpdesk jockeys, who spend most of their graveyard shift posting here at PIC, should not accuse others of sleazy business practices.

Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their profits.

RE: What happened to Pimlico?
ChiA @ 6/21/2006 4:47:29 AM # Q
justaluser said
still showing a Palm m505 for their screen shots... Makes you wonder if they've dropped the ball just a little...

Yea, makes you wonder about Palm too with its old external aerial designs. It makes you wonder if Palm has dropped the ball or just too busy holding onto its balls!

Yea, Pimlico software may have pics of m505 on their site but they're putting their effort into what matters - maintaining and improving the already great feautures and reliability of Datebk. Just for the record, Datebk 5 seemed to be updated Feb 06 and v6 is in beta.

As for iambic, I once made the mistake of getting Tinysheet only to find that it turned my Palm into a cross of HAL 9000 with Charles Manson - it took psychotic pleasure in reseting and taking my data with it! I've had a similar experience with some of their other software.

Pay iambic for the stress and aggravation of beta testing their software? No thank you - I'm no masochist!

RE: What happened to Pimlico?
joad @ 6/21/2006 2:06:46 PM # Q
Well, the m505 was arguably the last decent PDA formfactor that Palm produced, so why NOT use it?

I've used ActionNames/Agendus since it first came out (actually liked the layout on the Newton, though the Palmpilot came out around that time). Tried using Datebook3... many times, but never had the patience to make the switch as I got pretty hooked on the flow of Agendus. Though Iambic's registering a deceptive URL with their competitor's name was really sleazy.

Gotta agree with the prior post about Iambic adding something or another and calling it an "upgrade" rather than a bugfix. They're about the only company up to version "11" on a Palm software product! At least they got a little more honest and just started sticking it to people with "software assurance" (or whatever) fees as an option.

I'm hooked, and they'll probably get another $10 bux from me this year just to stay current. But I recommend others starting out try Datebook first, as I trust Pimlico will give you much better support over the long run.

RE: What happened to Pimlico?
justauser @ 6/21/2006 9:51:00 PM # Q
m505? – come on! At least it could be an m515. Or if we're limited to an OS4 device of that era what about a Sony PEG-NR70V? At least it'd have a better res than 160x160

A lot of people swear by Datebook so I assume it's got it all. I've trialled it (not recently but several times) and I personally prefer Agendus. Better GUI IMO.

Without excusing the bug/fix side of Iambic's past new releases, let's not lose site of the fact that they are adding heaps of neat features. There are one or two new features in this release that may tempt me to upgrade from v10. I'll probably wait till they release 11.1 (which will kill 90% of the bugs). But while they keep adding features I like, I'll keep upgrading.

RE: What happened to Pimlico?
joad @ 6/25/2006 5:00:54 PM # Q
Yup - you're right, I meant M515. It's been a long time.

That formfactor was slim as the Palm V, used USB, Universal connector, *real* metal case, non-proprietary Secure Digital card, etc. Garbage 160x160 screen, but that could've easily changed. Instead they went with the fat, moving cases of the 'Tungsten' line.

getting OT here...

RE: What happened to Pimlico?
ChiA @ 6/26/2006 8:04:36 AM # Q
joad said m515 ... Garbage 160x160 screen

I thought Palm specifically put a better screen into the m515 because of all the complaints about the m505?

I must say the m505 screen was actually nice to look at in sunlight - the problem was you had to switch the backlight on to see it properly under any other lighting conditions!

Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the President.
- President Theodore Roosevelt

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Wait til the .3 release.....

hgoldner @ 6/21/2006 10:39:35 AM # Q
As a long time user and huge fan of Agendus going all the way back to its 'pre-'Agendus' branding nearly 8 years ago, I warn those who are considering adopting Agendus for the first time to avoid any iambic .0, .1 or even .2 releases.

My experience with the last 3-4 versions of Agendus were terrible until they got the .3 release out. I have discussed this online and via email with the folks from iambic and they just don't get it that rushing buggy software out the door to keep the income stream going is a lousy business model (for anyone but Microsoft).

I think they call that deltatesting, don't they?

Harold

RE: Wait til the .3 release.....
utahutes1 @ 6/21/2006 1:47:27 PM # Q
That's the joke with Agendus and the way Iambic runs their business. It's all about speed to market (at the cost of quality) so that they can continue to gauge customers with continue upgrade fees.

I've used both Agendus (ActionNames before that) and DateBk5 and now DateBk6 and I PERSONALLY feel that DateBk6 is best for me. Both are good programs, but after having beta tested DateBk6 (on my Life Drive) for about 3-4 months now), it is FAR more stable in beta stage than any actual release of Agendus ever has been.

I would HIGHLY recommend all Agendus 10 users to check out DateBk6 from Pimlico BEFORE paying yet another upgrade fee for Agendus (and try it for a few weeks to get used to the changes). You just may like it better.

RE: Wait til the 0.9999 release.....
The_Voice_of_Reason @ 6/21/2006 4:40:00 PM # Q
Well said. (Both previous comments.) I hope readers think twice about Agendus after seeing comments like these from people who have no ulterior motive to lie.

TVoR

RE: Wait til the .3 release.....
joad @ 6/25/2006 5:15:43 PM # Q
Looks like the GUI is getting better on DB6, hopefully it can improve to near the level of Agendus.

Very true about Iambic rushing things out of Beta - I've never (to my knowledge) lost data because of it, but some of the issues in the .00-.01-.02 releases IMHO should have been obvious with mild testing. Luckily, the bugs haven't ever locked me out of using my PIMs - but Iambic's registration labrynth *has* at times.

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Good Mail sync only app

linds @ 6/21/2006 4:36:25 PM # Q
I am looking for a good mail program only for syncing with my outlook account during hotsync.

I tried agendus mail but I can only sync my inbox and not the sub-folders I have created.

Does anybody know of one? or if I am missing something on Agendus Mail? I have v5. I have a palm T3 and am using Windows XP with outlook xp.

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Vast Differences

Moose Man @ 6/21/2006 4:40:11 PM # Q
Datebook 5 (and 6 still in beta) is a very good calendar application.

Agendus is the only Contact Manager application that still uses the native databases.

Contact Manager versus Calendar program - it's unfair to compare the two applications.

And Iambic has a policy that allows for one user to have 3 codes for 3 different devices with only one purchase. CESD does not - to my knowledge.

Brief comparison:
Agendus Datebk5 or 6
Has Contact/Network Linking No
Hiearchial Task with Completion % No
Hyperlinking of web sites in Contacts No
Trips Features No
Builtin Weather No plugin only
Contact History No - shows links only

Both programs have a shareware timetable for trial before you buy. So to call a company "sleazy" is unfair in my mind when you get to try it before you buy it. Both are good program but they do serve a very different purpose.

And here is one for you - I'm a registered user of both and a member at the Iambic Forums - there are several programs out there that I've purchased (had to because they do not have shareware usage) that I can't get help on or from. I've been asking Standalone when Dateman would be updated.....for nearly 3 years now and they still don't have a timeline for it. (I'm also a registered user of it - although I can't use it on any of my lastest devices - for 3 years).

So if you want to compare the two products - be advised that they are so vastly different that it's simply unfair to do so. If you deal with Contacts more than anything - Agendus is the way to go IMHO, if you deal strictly with your own calendar then DB6 might be a better choice. But if you want powerful features such as Contact linking, hiearchial tasks, quandrant tasks, Trip features, multiple calendar views, builtin email (professional version only), and well I could go on........

But since both are "shareware" - try both for yourself and then decide.


A Palm wannabe fanatic

RE: Vast Differences
juangjy @ 6/21/2006 9:11:04 PM # Q
...And Iambic has a policy that allows for one user to have 3 codes for 3 different devices with only one purchase. CESD does not - to my knowledge....

For Datebk, you can use the same registration code on all your devices if you don't change your sync ID.

RE: Vast Differences
cnegrad @ 6/21/2006 10:46:10 PM # Q
Moose man said, "to call a company "sleazy" is unfair in my mind when you get to try it before you buy it."

Any company (Iambic) that intentionally grabs domain names of it's competition's products is S L E A Z Y. Any company (Iambic) that charges as often as it does for it's minor upgrades is S L E A Z Y. Any company (Iambic) that intentionally releases software long before major reset loop bugs are fixed is S L E A Z Y.

-cnegrad

RE: Vast Differences
The_Voice_of_Reason @ 6/22/2006 10:43:58 PM # Q
Any company (Iambic) that intentionally grabs domain names of it's competition's products is S L E A Z Y. Any company (Iambic) that charges as often as it does for it's minor upgrades is S L E A Z Y. Any company (Iambic) that intentionally releases software long before major reset loop bugs are fixed is S L E A Z Y.

-cnegrad

Amen.

RE: Vast Differences
Moose Man @ 6/24/2006 1:30:04 PM # Q
This issued occurred over 5 years ago and Iambic openly apologized for grabbing up the domain names.....

As to releasing software with major reset loops - as far back as I can remember and most definitely v9, v10, and v11 have no known reset loops as you describe. There are minor issues with the software that unfortunately are not resolved in favor of getting more users on the platform to find all of the bugs. There is a very small group of "beta testers" which results in issue that are not discovered until more users participate.

Iambic also has an open public forum which unlike CESD, does not require that you provide your email address to Yahoo to register. V11, I was testing it in late April as an Alpha and there was never a reset loop on my T5, Que 3600 or Que 3000.

One must assume that since you apparently don't use Agendus - how would one know if there are vast reset loops being registered?

A Palm wannabe fanatic

Reply to this comment

Good Product,, Shame About The Company

johnsm @ 6/22/2006 11:35:49 AM # Q
As a registered user of both Datebkx & Agendus, I find myself using Agendus more & more. I guess this is because my use is more conatct based.
This is a shame because Pimlico is clearly a moer principled & responsive developer. If only Datebk included some of the contact-based features that Agendus provides, I would gladly swap.
In the meantime I am sadly committed to the product that serves me best.

PS..who the h*ll is this Voice of Reason person - does he/she have a life, or is their sole purpose revolve around polluting these "forums" with comments designed to excite others?

Who the h*ll?
Storkdude @ 6/22/2006 3:21:07 PM # Q
Nobody knows. One of biggest questions left to be answered on this site. Some think he is a powerful insider who used to work for Palm back in the days before VFS cards. He seems to have alot of insight into Palm's (lack of) business model. Some think he is an acne-laden disgruntled help desk worker at a mental hospital. Some postulate he is a she. He/she is easily the most controversial/ entertaining/ infuriating voice here--sort of like Howard Stern. I know from TVoR's posts he has an affinity for old Clies and Samsung OS4 Palmphones. He has some special like for Diane Hackborne (sp?) and second-rate datebook applications ;) People here would love to know who he is.
RE: Good Product,, Shame About The Company
hkklife @ 6/22/2006 5:02:39 PM # Q
"People here would love to know who he/SHE is."

;-)



Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Treo 700P

RE: Nice hair, shame about the face
The_Voice_of_Reason @ 6/23/2006 12:23:54 AM # Q
"People here would love to know who he/SHE is."

;-)


Here's how to find out:

Go to Google's headquarters.

Introduce yourself to Dianne Hackborn.

Ask to borrow her Samsung i500.

Open up her "Address" application.

Scroll down to the entry, "

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