Delicious new tools for Library 2

 

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Posted on 28 May 2008 at 10:29

Delicious Monster has unveiled the long awaited Delicious Library 2. Three years in the making, the new version introduces one-click web publishing, new categories and iTunes syncing.

Delicious Library provides a single repository for cataloguing digital and physical media. Its standout feature is its ability to read a barcode via a webcam - such as a Mac's built-in iSight - and then download and catalogue all the data relevant to that particular DVD, CD, game, book or even clothing.

With version 2 that information can now be published on the web with a single click. The software comes pre-configured for building web pages and publishing them on .Mac, but it can also create a page for iWeb or publish to a local folder, or via FTP to a web server.

Users can publish all or part of a collection and chose from templates or design their own.

Collections are now organise using an industry standard SQL database, significantly reducing save times (in large collections, from minutes to less than a second) and enabling the new version to store an unlimited number of items. And these can be organised into new categories: tools, toys, software, gadgets and apparel join version one's books, music, videos and videogames.

iTunes collections - shelves in Delicious Library's vernacular - are now automatically synced with iTunes' own library - editing a song's info in iTunes updates it in Delicious Library "seconds" later. The result, say the developers, is that Delicious Library 2 is the easiest way to publish an iTunes collection to the web.

Other new features include improvements to the Cover Flow interface; smart shelves using almost any attribute; the ability to browse other users' published libraries from within the application; and improved support for Bluetooth barcode scanners.

Delicious Library 2 requires Leopard and costs $40 ($20 to upgrade from version 1) from delicious-monster.com; a free demo is available. For Tiger users, version 1 is now available at $20.

The alpha release of version 2 secured the award for Best Mac OS X Leopard Application in last year's Apple Design Awards, version 1 having scooped the Best User Experience gong in 2005. Last year's judges said that it "set a new standard for user experience and redefined user expectations". Certainly since it first appeared in 2004, Delicious Library has had a significant impact on Mac application design, an impact that has not been universally welcomed.

Mac developer Paul Kafasis of Rogue Amoeba coined the phrase "Delicious Generation" to describe applications he said "are heavy on the marketing buzz and light on substance".

Author: Simon Aughton