I was contacted by a customer yesterday who was having trouble installing PocketBible for Android on her Kindle Fire HD. When she first contacted me I don’t think she realized her Kindle was even an Android device, and she certainly wasn’t familiar with the concept of installing third-party apps except through the app store built into the Kindle. The instructions below got her up and running right away. You may not have a Kindle Fire HD, but the instructions should work in general for any Android device.
You need to make sure you’ve enabled “third party apps” on your Kindle. Go to Settings and look for “Device” (it may be in the “More…” menu). Look for “Allow Installation of Applications” and turn it on. You’ll get a warning message but that’s OK – they’re just trying to scare you into only buying software from Amazon. 
Once you’ve done that, just go to the Web browser on the Kindle and type in this:
http://LPB.cc/Android
PocketBible should automatically download. On some devices, you’ll be prompted to install the app but on the Kindle you may have to tap the notification number next to your name in the upper left corner of the screen. You will then see a list of notifications. One of them should say something like com.laridian.pocketbible or pocketbible.apk and “download complete”. Select that one.
You’ll be asked if you want to install PocketBible and it will ask if you want to allow PocketBible to use network communications and some other things. Choose the “install” button and when it’s done choose “open”.
Once PocketBible is installed you can choose it from the carousel like any other program. The PocketBible icon will look “blurry” but that’s OK — Amazon uses low-resolution icons for third-party apps because they’re upset that you didn’t give them any money to run the software on their device, so they want to make you think there’s something less than professional about our app. Don’t worry about that.
What is your ideal size for a mobile device?
I own an iPad and iPhone. I haven’t even held the mini let alone considered purchasing one. However, I have been drooling over the Galaxy Note to replace my iPhone for many months (so long in fact that the Note I wanted has become the Note II). Bottom line, I want a bigger phone. From Twitter to PocketBible, I like the bigger screen size of my iPad yet I don’t want to lug it around everywhere. So the solution in my mind has been to get a bigger phone like the Note.
Today I came across this article on ZDNET by Matt Baxter-Reynolds, “Has Apple redefined the tablet as an 8-inch device?” where he explains how he fell in love with the iPad mini and ditched his iPad. He makes a case for this middle size device becoming the new norm with the popularity of devices like the iPad mini, Google’s Nexus 7 and the Kindle Fire. He’s got me thinking about getting a mini to replace everything!
What do you think? Could you live with one device for everything? What is your ideal mobile device size?