Version 5 is here and of course everyone wants to know, what's new? The short answer is LOTS! We encourage you to read the full release notes for each app: DVDpedia, Bookpedia, CDpedia and Gamepedia. But here's an overview to get you started:

• Special Update Pricing - Users who purchased the programs after October 1, 2010 get version 5 completely free. All other users can run the new version five times before a new serial number is required. Use the 'Upgrade' button under the programs' Registration menu command to receive the update discount in our store.
  
  Prices for the upgrade are: US$12 for one program, US$24 for two, US$29 for three and US$36 for all four programs.



• Doghouse - The new, dedicated media server for the Pedias with support for all languages and countries. Doghouse is built by Pedia users uploading and sharing their data with other Pedia users so the more you share, the better it gets! If you think you have a good eye for detail and enjoy checking and fixing things, consider becoming a moderator for Doghouse to help us keep the database in good shape.



• Amazon sign-up - Amazon searches are not turned on by default anymore. You have to sign up for them in the program's Preferences/Sites. Click on the 'Amazon Settings' button and the question mark for more information about this. As you probably know, we've had a few hiccups with Amazon in the past but this new sign-up solution should take care of issues and can even make you money!



• New search sites - In addition to Doghouse, the programs have all received some major updates to their web search options. They all include access to Wikipedia and Freebase now as well as other media-specific sites such as MusicBrainz for CDpedia, TVRage for DVDpedia and BoardGameGeek for Gamepedia.



• More fields - The programs have been expanded to support further media with specific fields: TV series for DVDpedia, board games for Gamepedia and comics for Bookpedia. In addition to these fields each program has also received eight new custom fields: two check boxes, two date fields, two multi-value fields (the blue bubble fields) and two regular text fields.



• Half star ratings - This has been on our to-do list for a long time and we're very excited it's finally here: half stars for the "My Rating" feature. Click on a star to select it and click it again to make it a half star.



• Trackpad Gestures - Swiping and pinching have become second-nature to anyone using an iPhone or iPad so it made perfect sense to us to include gestures in the Pedias as well. Swipe to move back and forth in the CoverFlow view and Add/Edit window. Pinch-to-zoom in the Grid view to select the size of your cover image display. (Make sure you turn these gestures on in the System Preferences first.)



• Filtering - A very useful new feature, found in both the Details view and the Statistics now. Click on a value to filter your collection by it and find similar entries. For example, click on a director or a genre to see how many other movies you have in that same category. The filter links display depends on the Details template you choose but usually they are distinguished either in italics or a different color.


Even though we've released 5.0 today, we're already back at work on the next free update. And of course, next up: iPhone and iPad apps!