For the over one million Quicken users that own Palm Powered(TM) handheld computers, tracking your finances just got even easier. With the growth in the availability of low-cost entry-level handheld devices such as Palm(TM) and Handsprings(TM) handhelds, even more consumers will now have access to an ideal way to manage and track their key personal finance information anytime they want and anywhere they go. Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) and LandWare today announced the availability of Pocket Quicken(R) 2.0 for the Palm OS(R) platform. Packed with over 100 new features and enhancements, Pocket Quicken represents the most comprehensive handheld personal financial application available for Quicken customers. Pocket Quicken's excellent connectivity to the desktop instantly mobilizes consumers' financial data with a press of the button, enabling on-the-go access to account balances, credit limits, transaction histories, exchange rates and more.
"We are very excited to welcome Pocket Quicken 2.0 to the Palm Economy, "said Alan Kessler, general manager, Platform Solutions Group, Palm, Inc. "Pocket Quicken's new seamless transfer of transactions both to and from the desktop provide the Palm Powered handheld owner with a far greater level of functionality than before."
The Official Mobile Quicken Companion Offers Financial Clarity with A Single Tap
Pocket Quicken, recently recognized as the Best of PC Expo 2001 for small business technology by Smallbusinesstechnology.com, is the true mobile companion to Quicken desktop software; no longer do consumers need to be tied to the desktop to keep key financial information complete, accurate and organized. The set-up process is simple; with just a single press of the HotSync(R) button, Pocket Quicken seamlessly transfers Quicken information to the handheld device. Full account details, transactions, categories, classes, currencies and memorized payees are all available on Pocket Quicken. Pocket Quicken 2.0 is so easy to use, current Quicken customers can be up and running within minutes.
Pocket Quicken's account list provides a succinct overview of a person's financial situation. Not only will it show the bottom line, but also the transactions that got the consumer there. It even provides alerts when accounts are overdrawn. The account list is flexible, allowing consumers to sort by preferred accounts, account names or types. Two taps provide an instant report of credit card balances, assets, liabilities, investments, cash in hand and more. Additionally, Pocket Quicken provides convenient access to important financial account information such as contact names, phone numbers, notes, credit limits, ending and current transactions.
Financial Activity and Easy Transaction Entry at Consumers' Fingertips
Pocket Quicken 2.0 transfers transactions to and from the desktop without the consumer needing to learn complicated import or export procedures. Data transfer is simple, fast and reliable with just one push of the HotSync button; no other handheld application offers this level of connectivity to the Quicken desktop. This two-way data synchronization is controlled by the consumer: they can decide which accounts to synch between Pocket Quicken and the desktop version of Quicken, and they can chose how many days or weeks of transactions they would like to synch between the two applications. Upon synching data, consumers who open desktop Quicken will see the new Pocket Quicken transactions, and can approve the entire list of new transactions for any particular account or approve transactions one at a time.
Special attention has been paid to minimizing the space required by transactions stored on the handheld. As a result, Pocket Quicken can quickly access several years of financial activity using a fractional amount of the handheld's available memory.
With Pocket Quicken, the monthly receipt-typing chore is now a thing of the past. Pocket Quicken 2.0 utilizes Quicken's QuickFill and Memorized payee list to record day-to-day transactions with as little as two strokes of the stylus. Just start writing the payee's name and a new transaction is automatically created with all the details filled out. And consumers can easily assign up to ten categories for each transaction. The AutoFill and popup lists make it quick and easy to enter information, and there is no double entry required at the desktop. Also, the category names are completely synchronized with the categories the consumer has in their Quicken desktop software, so any custom-named categories in Quicken will also be available in Pocket Quicken 2.0.
New Budgeting Features Keep Consumers In Touch with Their Spending
One of Pocket Quicken 2.0's most compelling new features is its ability to use transactions to maintain budgets. Completely separate from the budgeting functions in the Quicken desktop product, Pocket Quicken's budgeting feature provides a quick and easy way to track how much a consumer has spent on different items. The result: consumers will always know where their money goes and how much they have left to spend. With just a couple stylus taps Pocket Quicken will compare income and expenses on a weekly, monthly, quarterly or yearly basis, helping people stick to a spending plan. This feature is also a great way for consumers to track and organize their business expenses by trip, client, job and more.
Foreign Currency Support
New to Pocket Quicken 2.0 is the ability to maintain accounts and transactions in foreign currencies. For example, Pocket Quicken allows a consumer to record a hotel bill paid in Swiss Francs or gifts purchased in New Zealand dollars with their American credit card and automatically takes care of the conversion. An extensive list of currencies, including conversion rates, is automatically downloaded from Quicken each time the customer presses the HotSync button, and Pocket Quicken conveniently places the original amount in the memo field for future reference.
Additional Enhancements to Pocket Quicken
There are several other enhancements to Pocket Quicken, including:
-- A new security feature prompts Pocket Quicken users to enter a
PIN when viewing account information. Even if the handheld is powered off while Pocket Quicken is running, the consumer will be prompted for a PIN upon powering-up the handheld,
-- Support for color Palm OS devices, including showing numerals in red for overdrawn accounts and loans,
-- The option of showing either the current balance or ending balance when viewing accounts, which can be helpful for consumers who have already entered future transactions into Pocket Quicken or Quicken, and
-- A built-in calculator to facilitate those on-the-fly calculations.
Pricing and Availability
Pocket Quicken is available now, and can be electronically downloaded at http://www.landware.com/pocketquicken/. Any consumers who have purchased Pocket Quicken 1.0 after May 15, 2001 qualify for a free upgrade to Pocket Quicken 2.0. The product retails at $39.95, and special upgrading pricing is available for registered owners of Pocket Quicken 1.0. Pocket Quicken 2.0 requires Palm OS 2.0 or later and HotSync Manager 2.1 or later. The application is approximately 205K RAM on the Palm OS handheld, and an additional approximate 90K RAM is required for each 1000 transactions stored on the handheld. Pocket Quicken 2.0 supports all Windows-based Canadian and US versions of Quicken (99 and later).
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