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Archive for the ‘Palm Pre’ Category

Bits of God Software releases Simple Bible Pro for HP webOS

Posted on: July 26th, 2011 by Michelle Stramel 16 Comments

Simple Bible Pro Screen Shot Bits of God Software has released Simple Bible Pro for HP webOS. This first release of Simple Bible Pro currently reads most Laridian Bibles. For those of you who have moved to a webOS device, this means you will be able to access Bibles you purchased from us for other devices on your new webOS phone or tablet. The ability to use other type reference books is planned for a future release of the program.

Simple Bible Pro is a true “offline” Bible study app for your HP webOS phone or tablet. Once you order and download the program and at least one Bible you may use Simple Bible Pro anywhere without the need for an Internet connection. Other features include bookmarks with categories, notes, highlights, searching, keyboard navigation, auto-scroll, Words of Christ in red and passage sharing.

UPDATED 10/9/12: The webOS platform is no longer viable and Simple Bible Pro is not available from the HP Store nor will be supported going forward. However, you can buy Bibles for existing copies of Simple Bible Pro (although we are unable to offer support for these).

Simple Bible Pro for webOS Status Update

Posted on: June 11th, 2011 by Craig Rairdin 2 Comments

Bits of God Software has posted an update on their progress on Simple Bible Pro for webOS. As you recall, Simple Bible Pro reads Laridian books, so customers who have upgraded to a webOS device will be able to access books purchased for their previous devices on their new webOS device.

Get all the details here.

Update on Simple Bible Pro for webOS

Posted on: February 6th, 2011 by Craig Rairdin 2 Comments

We just got an update from Bits of God Software regarding their progress on Simple Bible Pro, their webOS BIble program that is going to be compatible with Bibles and other content from Laridian. With this announcement from them and the upcoming announcement on February 9 of new products from HP/Palm, this is an exciting time if you’re a fan of webOS.

Here’s the news from Bits of God Software:

As it stands we have a working beta. Simple Bible Pro can accept your Laridian customer account, login, download your purchased Bible content from Laridian, and present it for reading. We are currently working on the layout as well as tweaking some of the features such has highlighting, notes, bookmarks and search. As many of you have hoped, we are keeping the layout as similar to Simple Bible as we can.

So, you have all this Laridian content, you’re a fan of Simple Bible and you are wondering when Simple Bible Pro will be released. It’s always tricky to speculate on release dates in the software business. We never know what roadblocks life or the software may hand us, thus messing up our timetables. With that in mind, we’d like you to know that we are planning a beta test of Simple Bible Pro starting in March.

We have a short list of people who have requested to be beta testers. However we are currently accepting applications for more. If you are interested in participating in the Simple Bible Pro beta test, please send us an email at info@bitsofgodsoftware.com. Tell us a little about yourself. Be sure to include information about your technical savvy, what webOS device you are currently using and your history with webOS, Simple Bible and Laridian Products. We don’t plan to invite more than a couple dozen users to the beta test. Please don’t be upset if you are not contacted to participate.

Palm Pre / webOS Update

Posted on: October 13th, 2010 by Craig Rairdin 8 Comments

I was doing some blog housekeeping this afternoon and realized we hadn’t updated you on the progress on Simple Bible Pro for quite some time.

Last time I wrote on this subject we had a “Memorandum of Understanding” with Bits of God Software regarding our work together on this project. Since then, that has developed into a full-blown contract that commits us to providing Simple Bible Pro users access to their download accounts on our server so that they can download any Bible or reference book they have purchased from us and use it in Simple Bible Pro.

The guys at Bits of God Software are doing all the programming. We have regular conference calls and email exchanges in which we provide them with the reams of technical information that is required to interface with our server and read our files. Actually, it’s not that tough and only takes a couple dozen pages to explain. But it takes time to implement and test, and that’s what the Bits of God Software guys are working on.

The plan is to implement Bibles first and get that version of Simple Bible Pro into your hands as soon as possible. From there additional types of reference content will be added, and more advanced features will be implemented. I imagine there will be a number of frequent updates in the first couple of months the program is available so that these features can be rolled out as they’re added.

You can read more about what’s going on at Bits of God Software here.

Laridian’s Palm Pre Plans

Posted on: October 19th, 2009 by Craig Rairdin 104 Comments

We’re announcing today that we’ve signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Bits of God Software to be the exclusive provider of Bibles and other reference materials for an upcoming version of the popular Simple Bible application for the Palm Pre. Once completed, this will give current Laridian customers who have chosen the Palm Pre as their mobile platform access to the Bibles and reference books they already own for other platforms. It will also give new Simple Bible users immediate access to one of the largest collections of Bible-related content for mobile devices. The new program from Bits of God Software, currently referred to as Simple Bible Pro, will allow users to download new Bibles and reference content directly into the program from their account on Laridian’s site.

As we’ve said here before, programming for the Pre is a whole new challenge. Our existing code that runs on Windows Mobile, iPhone, Windows desktop, and Palm OS really gives us no leverage on the Pre. With that in mind we sought a partner, and when it comes to Bible software on the Pre, the guys at Bits of God are the best. We’re pretty excited about partnering with them.

Our current agreement is “an agreement to agree” so there are many details to be worked out yet. We’ve agreed in principle on most of the more difficult points of our relationship, so we don’t anticipate any problems. The important thing is that it looks like current PocketBible and MyBible customers will have a migration path if they choose the Pre, and that Simple Bible Pro will get a jump start over other Bible software on the device by having access to Laridian’s growing library of content.

MotionApps and Palm Updates Address Pre Issues

Posted on: June 30th, 2009 by Craig Rairdin 26 Comments

Class Certified MotionApps and Palm have both released updates for the Pre to address compatibility issues. Further details can be found here: Classic v1.1 release is now complete.

Laridian’s MyBible 5, DailyReader, Memorize! and CountEm are all Classic Certified.

Laridian, Classic and Palm Pre

Posted on: June 5th, 2009 by Craig Rairdin 46 Comments

Class Certified Here on the eve of the launch of the Palm Pre, we are pleased to announce that all four of our Palm OS programs have been Classic Certified by MotionApps. MyBible 5, DailyReader, Memorize! and CountEm are all Classic Certified. The Classic Certified Logo serves as a seal of approval letting you know that you can use the Classic Certified application with confidence.

While we have worked with MotionApps to obtain Classic Certification, we have not yet seen a Pre or experienced our products running in Classic. While we expect most of our product features to “just work”, there may be some differences or issues.
For instance, since the Pre does not use the familiar Palm HotSync, installation to the Pre for use within Classic is different. Likewise, data synchronization with PocketBible for Windows may not be supported or may require some extra effort on your part.

Since these products are designed for the Palm Operating System, some issues related to using our products under Classic may not be addressed.

In order to support installation to the Pre, we are now providing our Palm OS products in “.zip” format, in addition to the Windows Setup program and “.sit” formats that we have previously supplied. The .zip format allows anyone easy access to the Palm “.prc” and “.pdb” files that are installed to a device. (In fact, Windows power users may prefer the zip file and manual install when installing to an older Palm OS device as well.)

MyBible, DailyReader, Memorize! and CountEm were all updated earlier this afternoon to include the Classic certification. If you’ve previously downloaded our programs, you may want to download the updated versions made available earlier this afternoon.

Over the next few days, we’ll be updating our Web site with additional information on using and installing our programs with the Pre. Watch www.laridian.com/palm for details. And who knows, we may write another blog article or two.

Registered owners of MyBible 5, DailyReader, Memorize! and CountEm may download the updated, Classic Certified versions without cost. If you enjoy these programs in Classic, please consider buying additional Laridian content to use on your Pre.

Yahoo Pulls the Plug on Mobile Development for Platforms Other Than iPhone

Posted on: May 19th, 2009 by Craig Rairdin 13 Comments

Laridian VIP Ed Hansberry posts the following on InformationWeek.com: Too Many Mobile OS’s Limiting Development For Companies.

Ed writes, “…there are a bewildering number of platforms and variations within the platforms to develop for. Enterprises will take the easy way out and just stick to one platform and a precious few models. Software developers that are selling their apps will have to have enough penetration for each platform to make development worthwhile. Each platform requires its own development team or at least a dedicated development process that takes time away from other supported platforms…. While phone carriers may support six or more mobile platforms, I am not sure the software industry will.”

We’ve been talking about this problem for some time:

Palm Pre
On the Problems of Designing User-Friendly Software for PDAs and Smart Phones
The Hidden Complexity of the Cell Phone Market
When is a Smartphone Not a Smartphone?
…and any number of posts when the iPhone first came out.

Ed makes a good observation: There are at least six major mobile platforms. What if there were six desktop platforms? The software industry would be a significantly different place as companies tried to solve the huge problem of cross-platform development, multiple-platform development, and having enough market on any one platform to justify the incremental cost of maintaining or entering the market on that platform.

One thing you can say about Windows: By dominating the market Microsoft makes it easy for developers on desktop platforms. You can focus your development on one operating system. If you make it there you can consider Mac if you have enough users to justify the expense. Once you’ve covered Windows you have 80%-90% of the market. Whether you go for the 10%-15% represented by the Mac OS is a big decision, but at least it’s the only decision you’ll have to make.

For those of us writing software for mobile platforms there’s not only the issue of supporting a large number of platforms, but there’s the fact that the relative mix of market share on these platforms changes over time. Palm OS used to be our largest platform. Today the Palm OS is dead. Palm and Windows Mobile used to dominate the market; today iPhone and Windows Mobile hold the dominant share of customers. Deciding how we allocate development time and money is an ongoing process that changes a couple times every year.

Meanwhile Apple doesn’t make it easy to develop for the iPhone. I am having a major problem with getting the XCode programming tools to talk to my new 3G iPhone. The information at the Apple developer site is insufficient, and the developer forums they provide have numerous questions identical to mine that have gone unanswered for months. When you call “developer support” at Apple you get a guy in Great Britain who admits he has absolutely no idea how to solve the problem because he’s not a programmer and knows nothing about programming. He points me to the documentation, which is what I’ve been following to get me into the predicament I’m in.

It’s actually encouraging to see a major company like Yahoo make the decision to abandon all other platforms but the iPhone. (Actually, they’re supporting other platforms through customizations to their Web-based products.) It makes it easier for us to consider similar options.

Palm Pre Update

Posted on: May 7th, 2009 by Craig Rairdin 13 Comments

Several months have passed since the original Palm Pre announcement, and our original article on the Palm Pre. Please keep in mind that we don’t have any special “inside information” about the Pre, and that we have not announced any plans regarding software that we may or may not offer for the Pre.

As you probably know, the Palm Pre uses a new operating system called Web OS. Palm has announced that existing Palm OS programs, such as MyBible, are not compatible with Web OS. There have been differing reports on whether a Palm OS emulator, allowing programs such as MyBible to work on the Pre, would be included.

However, MotionApps is developing a product called Classic that will allow some “classic” Palm OS applications to work on the new Palm Pre.

MotionApps has announced that they are performing compatibility testing with some popular products. You can let them know of your own favorite products and perhaps influence which products will be tested for compatibility. To express your interest in using MyBible on a Pre via Classic to MotionApps, click here and fill out the resulting form. (Any information you provide is sent to MotionApps, not Laridian.)

Palm Pre

Posted on: January 12th, 2009 by Craig Rairdin 16 Comments

Palm, maker of the popular Treo and Centro phones and the venerable Palm OS organizers (also known as connected organizers and the original Palm Pilot), has announced a new phone, called the Pre. You can read about it here: www.palm.com

If you’re into technical details, you can find some here: http://developer.palm.com

While there are some nice Web pages and pre-ads (pun intended) for the Pre, there is surprisingly little information about adding programs to the Pre.

However, based on what we’ve read, this is what we “know” right now:

The Pre uses a new operating system
Palm will be making additional information available to developers “over the coming weeks and months”
Although it’s not been expressly stated, it appears that existing Palm OS programs will not run on the Pre
It will be possible to add 3rd party programs to the Pre
These new Pre programs are completely new, and not based upon existing Palm OS programs
These new Pre programs are more similar to Web pages than to traditional programs written in languages such as C and C++

So, if you’re a MyBible user or are hoping to be a Pre early adopter, what does this all mean? It means:

You should not expect MyBible to work on a Pre
You should not expect any existing Palm OS applications to work on a Pre
There will be confusion about which programs work on older Palm devices and which work on the Pre
No one can start working on programs designed for the Pre until Palm releases more information “over the coming weeks and months”

What do we think about the new Pre? On the one hand, it looks like another cool new phone. On the other hand, it looks like just another cool new phone. As a cool new phone, unrelated to the current Palm models except by name, it will require an investment to create a cool new program that will work on it.

As Palm releases more information about the Pre, we’ll have the information we need to evaluate if and when there might be a version of PocketBible for the Pre.