British developer Devon Technologies Ltd. on Wednesday released the third of four updates to its major applications. DevonAgent is a search utility that ties into the catch-all information organizer DevonThink, and version 1.5 adds such new features as scheduled search runs, which collect information from Web searches at set times and summarize it in an e-mail, and a search set editor that enables users to define, edit and save search parameters.
In addition, DevonAgent 1.5 offers a revamped user interface, complete with a simplified preferences dialog box and a search window similar to the one found in iTunes. Its search sets can now also contain RSS/RDF/RSD/Atom news feeds, and users can now write their own XML-based plug-ins that integrate specialized search engines pertinent to their fields. This update also includes its own download manager as well as the ability to switch to full-screen mode for intensive searches.
Devon Technologies has also made DevonThink Personal Edition 1.9.2 available. This update adds an option for opening groups within the current window as well as support for DevonAgent 1.5 and more QuickTime, XML and plain text file formats. Performance has also been enhanced and several bugs were fixed.
Both applications require Mac OS X v10.2.7 or v10.3 and are available as a bundle for US$65. DevonAgent is $35 and DevonThink Personal Edition is $40; upgrade pricing, if any, was not mentioned. Devon plans to publish a Professional Edition of DevonThink, which will include extra features, but a release date has not been announced.