Bruji News

Although Pocketpedia is not available anymore, there are still a few ways to get your Pedia collections onto the iPhone and iPod Touch. They are not as ideal as Pocketpedia but are valid options nonetheless.

1 – HTML export

Use one of the iPhone optimized templates such as “iPhone” or “iPhone Grouped” from the HTML export feature to export your collection from the Pedias. Upload the export to a server and access your collection through Safari on the iPhone and iPod Touch.

These iPhone export templates have an index, for quick searches, and are optimized for the smaller screen. You can find another iPhone-optimized export template on our Extras page for download as well or if you have some HTML experience, write your own. Take a look at the Help file under ‘Export > Customizing HTML templates’ for more information.

2 – PDF sync

Use the Print or export feature in the Pedias and then create a PDF of that print or export.
For the Print feature, press the ‘Print’ button on the first dialogue and then press ‘PDF’ on the second window. Save the preview as PDF.
For the Export feature, export the collection and when the preview opens in your preferred browser, choose ‘Print’ and save as PDF as described above.
Then use a free program such as Evernote to sync the PDF over to your iPhone.

SmallCovers print template, in PDF format viewed in Evernote on the iPhone

ListThick print template, in PDF format viewed in Evernote on the iPhone

Of course, if all you want is a list of your titles as a quick reference then a simple text export from the Pedias will suffice. Just use any free notes app for the iPhone/iPod touch to import the text file and you’ll be good to go.

We managed to talk with an Amazon representative over the phone about Pocketpedia2 and although thrilling to finally have a two-way conversation it proved to be neither enlightening nor productive. Amazon made it clear that they are not okay with Pocketpedia2, even though it censors their data. We were told that even the most common of attributes, the title, cannot be synced to a mobile device.

In order to put Pocketpedia2 back up we would have to block all information from Amazon. Entries would need to appear as “?” or not at all on the iPhone. This would not only cause a terrible confusion but also make Pocketpedia2 useless for most users. Since the Pedias do have a number of data sources we understand that Pocketpedia2 would still work for users who gather their information elsewhere or enter it manually. However, given the popularity of Amazon as a search and the support issues we would encounter with users unaware of the restrictions we have chosen to keep Pocketpedia2 off the App Store until the time when we can produce, without limits, an iPhone app we can be proud of. So for those of you that were able to acquire a copy of Pocketpedia2 during its short life at the App Store, be sure to keep it safe.

As expected, the reasoning behind the exclusion could not be discussed. The likelihood of a change in the terms that would allow Pocketpedia2 to exist could also not be discussed.

Tomorrow is an exciting day for Apple followers and likely all computer enthusiast. We have no doubt that tomorrow’s announcement will also be classified as a mobile device by Amazon. The devices of the future are being built by Apple and Amazon doesn’t want to be the provider of data for those devices. All we’re lacking now is an open, rich and international data service.

Sadly, here we go again. Amazon has informed us this morning that we have to “cease displaying [Amazon's] content and links to [Amazon's] site on [our] mobile application and accessing the Product Advertising API through [our] mobile application.”
Of course, once again there is no email address to respond to directly so our reply sent through the Contact Us link on the Amazon page will very likely get lost in the maze of their company or otherwise take a long time to reach someone who might be willing to send us a response. As a software company we understand the need for a support desk system, but it leaves us awe struck that they have no direct communication with a representative, especially when their signature is “Associate Account Specialist”.

But what’s even worse is that they obviously haven’t bothered looking at Pocketpedia2: there ARE no links to Amazon anywhere in the application. It’s impossible to access the site through the program. And as for content, we have explained that the Pedias block any Amazon data from being synched over save for the cover image, title and director/artist/author/platform (so it wouldn’t seem like your Amazon added items just went missing). We’ve offered that we’d pull this information as well if that would allow us to keep Pocketpedia2 going but don’t hold your breath…

Of course we have also asked for an explanation or reasoning once again on why mobile apps specifically are singled out under the Associates Operating agreement. Keep your fingers crossed and maybe this time we’ll receive a response. This is starting to feel a bit like talking to the Queen of Hearts.

We know that many of you wrote to Amazon last time Pocketpedia had to be pulled from the App Store. We’re very grateful for your support. We know that Amazon is not our only input method to catalog your collection (we are routinely impressed with the number of people that painstakingly enter all the details manually). This was the main reason we released Pocketpedia2, an Amazon-stripped version of the original Pocketpedia. However, while we get a dialog going with Amazon we have no choice but to pull Pocketpedia2 from the App Store for the time being.

Stay tuned. Hopefully, there will be a solution to our problems through communication with Amazon or at least some answers from “earth’s most customer centric company”.

In conjunction with the death of Pocketpedia2, Amazon once again killed our access keys and we’ve had to apply for new ones. These are part of the latest version release so make sure you download version 4.5.5 of the Pedias for your searches to continue without trouble.

For the remaining days of 2009 we’re running a Full Pedia Bundle promotion that is just too good to miss: all four Pedia programs for just $39!

If you know someone who’s interested in the Pedias or you’re looking for a gift for that special Mac user in your life, this is the perfect time to head over to our holiday page and get a bundle of joy!

Happy holidays to all and best wishes for the coming year, Conor & Nora

Gamepedia user April King wrote a very cool HTML export template for the program. Not only can you sort its columns on the fly, it also has a lightning-fast live search included.
On top of that it has a details view and several links to outside sources (Google and Amazon). Do your Gamepedia database a favour and download this template now.

You can click on any of the column headers to sort the template.

The details view that appears when you click on the title link.

We’re very excited to announce that Pocketpedia2 has passed its App Store review and is available once more for download through the iTunes Store.

Pocketpedia2 is free but to avoid the fate of the previous Pocketpedia there have been some changes to the functionality and features. There is no more Amazon search but the sync is now two-way so you can manage your collections on the iPhone and have it all sync up when you get back to your Mac.

Please note that you need the latest version of the Pedia programs, version 4.5.4, to sync your data to Pocketpedia2.
From now on, this is our official iPhone app. The old Pocketpedia will keep working on your iPhone but it will not sync with the latest version of the Pedias, 4.5.4.

Now that the program is out once more we’ll start work on adding more features from the long list of ideas we have. Thanks to everyone for their patience and to all our beta testers for their great work. We hope you enjoy Pocketpedia2!

If you have a lot of Blu-Ray discs in your DVDpedia data base and would like them to really pop in Full Screen view and Coverflow, take a look at this interface addition created by one of our users. It’s a photoshop file that you just layer over your existing cover images and voilà, a beautiful Blu-Ray library appears!

There’s also an image file for a regular DVD cover overlay, sent in by another user, which is a nice addition to make your cover images all appear uniform.

With the announcement that Snow Leopard’s release date is set for Friday 28th we are releasing version 4.5.2 of the Pedias, fully Snow Leopard compatible. The Pedias needed just minor tweaks to become Snow Leopard ready. All required changes where of a cosmetic nature (for example, reflections drawn incorrectly in the cover flow) but we also took inspiration from Snow Leopard to do a little cleaning under the hood to make our code faster and easier to maintain.

Although the changes to Snow Leopard seem minimal from the outside I would recommend the upgrade. We have been running the beta for quite some time and it’s made our work more enjoyable. It was a great move by Apple to sit down and polish the OS X that we love and cherish; to give it that final shine. As developers we can see a listing of all the bugs we have submitted to Apple over the years and with Snow Leopard the greatest number of them have been marked as fixed. Including the one that made our support work the trickiest: IMAP messages in Mail not being marked as replied to after a draft is saved. On Friday that won’t be a problem any longer.

I’d even venture so far as to say that every Apple application we use has been improved with Snow Leopard. The interface stays the same and our PowerPC friends won’t have to feel left out, but for all Intel Mac owners get ready to have your computers improved substantially. While you wait around for Snow Leopard to be officially released, be sure to get your latest copy of the Pedias, of course with more improvements and fixes than just Snow Leopard support: Bookpedia, CDpedia, DVDpedia and Gamepedia.

Dear Mr. Bezos,

Recently we had to remove our iPhone and iPod Touch program Pocketpedia from the iTunes App Store because it synced Amazon information from our desktop applications to a mobile device and also allowed the Amazon catalog to be searched from a mobile device. The Amazon Product Advertising API provides reliable access to a wealth of information that benefits my company as a source of data and your company by encouraging more sales. We are unable to find a reason why this API service should explicitly exclude use on mobile devices.

Let me tell you a bit about our applications, in the hopes of changing your mind. The Pedia programs (DVDpedia, Bookpedia, CDpedia and Gamepedia) are used to build personal media catalogs. Users create a list of items they own, those that they have lent out and those they wish to buy in the future. It allows them to get organized and keep track of both past and future purchases. As you can appreciate, having their data on the go is a great reference and convenience.

It’s our belief that Pocketpedia does in no way compete with Amazon Mobile or SnapTell (which you recently acquired). They serve different markets: Pocketpedia is a home reference application while yours are shopping applications. Even if they did compete I don’t see a reason to suppress them as the winner will always be Amazon selling the final product. And iPhone users can only benefit from more options in the App Store. Of course you’re in a better position to decide what’s best for Amazon but from the outside the clauses excluding mobile devices seem like a losing situation for all: Amazon, customers and third-party developers.

Both clauses mention that written approval can be obtained to use the Amazon data on a mobile device, yet I can’t find a single app that has received this approval. In the hopes of positive changes at Amazon I would like to suggest that these clauses be dropped. If this is not possible, I formally request that Bruji as well as our competitor Delicious Monster (who have also run afoul of the mobile clause) be given permission to sync Amazon data to the iPhone and iPod Touch. Moreover, if Amazon is feeling kind, we also request the use of the Product Advertising API directly on the iPhone to search and add new items.

I write this as an open letter because getting a meaningful conversation going with Amazon has been impossible for both my customers and me. Your support system does not allow replies to emails sent directly from your Associates Account Specialist. Messages filled out in the Amazon contact page only get canned responses without explanations. The Amazon customer service has lost its touch in the last few years but more worrying is that Amazon has become increasingly closed, controlling and unfriendly. I know that our users have been writing to Amazon in the past week to register their dismay about the loss of Pocketpedia and I would like to be able to give them positive news thanks to their efforts.

Hoping for change,
Conor Dearden

When Amazon forced us to pull Pocketpedia from the App Store this morning they also killed our access key to the Amazon Web Services which affects our desktop Pedias since the programs all use the same key. Silly us, we should have used a different key. But we didn’t forsee that mobile app access might become a problem when we released Pocketpedia over a year ago.

This means the Amazon search does not work on any Pedia program other than the latest version, 4.5.1. So make sure you are running this latest version of the Pedias to avoid any trouble with the Amazon search. (Use the built-in ‘Check for Updates’ command found under the program menu to check you’re up to date.)

The only upside to all this is that by August 15th we would have had to change the Amazon access key anyway because Amazon’s new policy of forcing all requests to carry a signature is going to take effect on that day. Those users still running version 3.6 because of Panther and Jaguar compatibility would have had no Amazon search from that day on which is why we tried to delay adding a new key for as long as possible.