Newsletter July 2009

Hi, Alwin here. With what should have been the July newsletter...

Forgive me for being late again, things have been crazy around here.
Last week we did 3 major releases in 3 days: Movie Collector 6.3 for Windows,
Movie Collector 3.0 for Mac OS X, plus the most important launch in Collectorz.com history:
Movie Collector Connect.

But it seems that Connect is also the most commonly misunderstoodCollectorz.com product :-(
We keep seeing emails and forum posts from people who are very upset about Connect,
apparently concluding that Connect is a replacement of the Windows and Mac application,
being angry that we are forcing them to "go online".

My fault of course, I should have been clearer about this from the start.
I guess I have been too focused on telling you about its cool features :-)

Anyway, let me be absolutely clear now:

Connect is a new and *optional* service that is placed *next* to the Windowsand Mac edition.
It is a new online service that can *optionally* be used asan add-on to the "offline" editions.
It can also be used as a complete stand-alone online cataloging service, so we
will also be offering it as an *alternative* to the Windows and Mac editions.
Most importantly: it is *not* a replacement of the Windows and Mac editions.
The regular "offline" software won't go anywhere.
We will keep supporting, maintaining and improving the Windows and Mac software.

With that out of the way, here's what I have for you today:
* Movie Collector Connect is live!
* Movie Collector 3.0 for Mac OS X
* What's Next?
* Meet The Collector: Steve Chance

** Movie Collector Connect is live! **

Our new service "Movie Collector Connect" is now live!

Here's quick reminder of what Movie Collector Connect is:
* An easy way to share your movie list online, on Collectorz.com servers
* Browse your movies from any online mobile device
* Stand-alone, web-based movie cataloging service, running in your browser
* Sync your data back and forth between Movie Collector and Connect.
(requires version 6.3 for Windows or version 3.0 for Mac)

Browse our public demo collection here:
http://connect.collectorz.com/users/demo/movies

Special offer for newsletter subscribers, 1 year membership for just $19.95:
http://collectorz.com/cyc.php?app=movie

(regular price: $29.95 set up fee, plus $39.95 per year)

Want a quick test drive first? Sure, no problem.
Just register for a trial account here and I'll let you try Movie Collector Connect for 30 days:
http://connect.collectorz.com/register

** Movie Collector 3.0 for Mac OS X **

It took a long time, but it's finally here: Movie Collector 3.0 for Mac OS X:

* Synchronize with Movie Collector Connect
* Export to the Clz Movies app for iPhone and iPod touch.
* New Super-Easy Add Movies Automatically screen,
now only using the Collectorz.com movie database for movie information and images.
* Support for TV Series, Episode Lists and multi-disc DVD boxes.
* And more... Check out the full list plus lots of screenshots here:
http://www.collectorz.com/movie/upgrademac.php

** What's Next? **

What can you expect from us next? What are we working on now?
Here's quick list, but as always: no promises! If a new cool idea comes up,
we may postpone it all and implement the cool idea instead :-)
* Dinh is working on 1.1 updates for all iPhone apps.
V1.1 will bring smartersyncing (just updates), sorting options, extra fields, better support for long titles, etc...
* Ronald has started work on Music Collector 9. I can't disclose what it will
bring yet. But it's going to be a big upgrade, that's for sure.
* Robbert, Sven and Mark are working on some improvements and additions for
Movie Collector Connect. Work on Book Collector Connect will start soon.

** Meet The Collector: Steve Chance **

"Hi, this is Steve,

I started about 35 years ago collecting VHS movies and as time moved on and movies started coming out on dvds I started on collecting them. Right now I have a little over 3000 dvds.
As you can tell I'm a big movie collector and when time permits I get to watch them.

At first I started with one dvd book case and then two and then three, soon I had dvd book cases throughout the house. When we moved , and boy that was a job of packing up nearly 2500 dvds, I decided I was going to have just one room filled with book shelves so I could centralize all my dvds. As I unpacked them and stock the shelves I had a bunch of empty dvd cases so I could leave a few empty spots as I put them in order. That way as I added new ones I wouldn't have to reshuffle the whole book shelf just to add a new one.

Using your software to keep my movies in order was a huge help. keep up the good work and I"ll keep adding, thanks, Steve Chance."

Enjoy!
Alwin
Collectorz.com