Newsletter December 2010

Hi,

This is Alwin, with the last Collectorz.com newsletter for 2010.

This was a great year for Collectorz.com. Okay, it started out a little rocky
(won't go into that anymore), but we all worked hard and got through stronger
than ever. Thank you all for sticking with us and supporting us!

In this newsletter, I'd like to tell you about our plans for 2011.
But first, the Berlin video! For our 10-year anniversary, Syts and I
took the entire team away for a weekend, on a trip to Berlin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KcdgOA4jsU

* Barcode Scanner Sale (valid through December 31, 23:59 EST)

Our Scanner Sale is very popular and stock is shrinking fast.
Sytske has been able to order a new batch of 1,000 CueCat's, but for the C37
and OPN-2001, the next scheduled delivery is in January, so it looks like
these will be out of stock before the year ends.

Make sure you don't miss out on this deal and secure *your* scanner now

** Our plans for 2011 **
======================================
In 2010, we released 12 new products and 4 major upgrades. For 2011, we're
planning 4 huge projects to finally act upon the 4 most common requests:

* Project 1: Comic Collector 5 for Mac OS X

We're currently aiming to release this long awaited Mac edition on Feb 15.

Preview Club members get instant access to the Preview Page, which always has
the latest sneak preview screenshots (updated by Dinh and Mark today!).

BTW: We will try to release v5 for Windows on the same day: Feb 15.

* Project 2: Major upgrades for the Mac editions of Movie/Book/Music Collector

As soon as the Mac edition of Comic Collector has been released, our Mac OS X
programmer Dinh will start on major upgrades for the other 3 Mac programs.
These new versions will be created from the ground up, and will finally bring
the Mac OS X editions fully up-to-date with the Windows editions.

Of course, this is a *huge* project and will keep Dinh busy for at least the
first half of 2011, maybe longer. But it will be worth it.
(Having seen the current Comic Collector for Mac build, I think that the new
Mac apps will probably look better than their Windows counterparts...)

* Project 3: Adding, editing and camera scanning capabilities for mobile apps

These are the most frequently requested features for the CLZ mobile apps:
- "Please let me add movies/books/etc... to my collection and wish list"
- "Why can't I make simple changes in my mobile apps, like status and rating?"
- "I would like to use my phone's camera to scan barcodes"

All great suggestions and it's even possible to implement them.
BUT: none of the above make sense without two-way syncing between your mobile
app and your desktop software (for Windows or Mac). I mean, what use is adding
or editing on your CLZ app if you loose the changes with your next export?
And two-way syncing is where it gets complicated ... and time-consuming...

However, next year we will sink our teeths into this big but exciting project.

BTW: Pim is now working on a small (and free) update for all iPhone apps.
ETA Jan/Feb 2011. Here's what's new:
- More fields and folder options (same as iPad editions)
- New Cover Flow view
- New HTML-based detail pages (like in the iPad and Android apps)
- Support for syncing data over USB via iTunes
- Better support for the retina display
- Better support for multi-tasking

Once this "small" update has been released, Pim will start on Project 3.

* Project 4: [undisclosed]

We are already working on this one, but I cannot reveal what it is yet.
Because there's a small chance we can't make it happen, and if we can,
it's hard to predict a possible ETA. But this too is something that many users
have been asking for for many years. More information will follow ASAP.

That's it. Thanks for reading this long news update!

Merry Christmas and a Happy 2011!

Alwin Hoogerdijk
Collectorz.com - http://www.collectorz.com
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/Collectorz (over 11,000 fans now!)