What’s New?
Read company news as well information about new products and new BibleReader releases.
User Feedback – New Palm toolbar and more
May 16th
With the release of a new beta version of our software, we at Olive Tree are always curious to see what kind of user feedback we will have. The latest beta version of the Palm BibleReader was no exception. And with this reader, we were even more expectant, because there are some really neat features that we added this time, as you probably read about in an earlier blog post. Sure enough, the user comments have been coming in, and we wanted to share a couple with you. Here’s what one avid Olive Tree user wrote in to tell us:
Thanks for not leaving out Palm users on all of the wonderful new features that you have just released. The new beta is incredible. The new search options are second-to-none and the secondary toolbar is just AMAZING! I have never seen a company so dedicated to constant improvement of their products. I am so glad that I am a customer of Olivetree. Thank you for being so attentive to the requests of your customers.
Today we also came across an article recently posted on PalmAddicts that gives a good discussion of Bible software for Palm devices, and talks in particular about OliveTree’s BibleReader software, our frequent updates, and some of the new features we’ve just recently added. Here’s a quick look at what this article discusses:
Recently (in about the last 2 years), Olive Tree improved their BibleReader by leaps and bounds! So much so that it is now the most used Bible reading program on my Palm device … I carry 12 different translations of the Bible with me, including a French Bible. It has commentaries, cross reference links, life application notes and a dictionary … Navigation through the Bible and searches are very easy to do. There are a variety of choices for programming your hard keys for certain tasks while using BibleReader. They put a high importance on you being able to customize the program to do whatever you want … The best part about Olive Tree is that their basic reader and a few of the most basic Bibles come absolutely free!
You can read this full article at:
http://palmaddict.typepad.com/palmaddicts/2007/05/bible_software_.html
So if you’re a Palm user, why don’t you download our new beta reader and checkout these new features for yourself! 
~ K
New Customizable Toolbar on Palm
May 9th
We have added a secondary customizable toolbar to the Palm OS beta BibleReader. You can choose what buttons you want on this toolbar and where this toolbar should be placed. When you don’t want the toolbar visible you can even hide it using the blue arrow button on the top of the toolbar. We have had many requests for a popup highlighting palette so that you would not have to always go to the highlighting preference screen each time you want to change your highlighting color. You can now do this with the secondary toolbar. First, go to the secondary toolbar preferences (Menu->Preferences->Secondary Toolbar). Second, remove the buttons from the secondary toolbar that you do not want. Finally, select the highlight colors from the drop down list that you want and click on Add. Now you can use the secondary toolbar to easily highlight with the colors that you want and you can hide the toolbar when you just want to read text.
Help us test a new look for our website!
May 7th
We are in the process of testing some new features on our website, and are looking for some outside testing. The basic changes we’ve made:
- You can customize the website to be “device dependent” so that you can browse olivetree.com just based on your device and the features and products that will work for you.
- You can now build your own software bundle, and get discounts accordingly. This new discount system is already in place, and the discounts will apply to any purchases you make, once you turn on the testing mode for the site.
If you are interested in helping us test these exciting new changes, go to the link below and read the instructions there to get started. Please send all comments, suggestions, and feedback to beta02@olivetree.com.
http://www.olivetree.com/store/dd_beta.php
Looking forward to hearing from you soon!
~ K
A New Way to View Search Results
Apr 30th
We have added a new way to view search results on the new beta Pocket PC BibleReader which you can download here. You can now view your search results as a book on the main screen. Viewing search results as a book in the main screen has a number of advantages.
- Greek and Hebrew search results display in Greek and Hebrew fonts (see screen shot).
- You can more easily look at verses for the search results since you can work your way down the list clicking on the verse hyperlinks. You no longer have to reopen the search results list to find the next result you are interested in look at.
- There are options for how to display the search results. For example, you can choose to display the entire verse instead of just the context around the search result.
- There are no limits on the number of search results.
- You can open the search results as an eBook in your library and the search results will open to where you where last reading.
You can turn on search results in the main screen by selecting the “Display Options” button in the lower left corner of the search screen and then checking the “Display Search Results In Main Screen” checkbox. This screen also has the options for how the search results are formated.
In case you Palm users thought we were ignoring you with this new feature, don’t worry we are currently implementing this feature on Palm OS! See the screen shot (also notice the customizable secondary toolbar). These features will be in the next beta version for Palm OS This screen shot gives an example of some of the other formating options for the search results.
Words of Comfort, Strength, and Inspiration by Amy Carmichael
Mar 26th
For months I have enjoyed Amy Carmichael’s daily devotional Edges of His Ways on my PDA. The selections are penetrating and comforting expressions of the author’s genuine experiences of the Lord. Olive Tree has now added three more books by this endearing writer — If, Mimosa, and Gold Cord.
As a young woman called by the Lord, Amy Carmichael journeyed from Ireland to India around 1900. Born out of her many years of abiding in Christ in faithful service to the people of south India, a community of believers called Dohnavur Fellowship thrives to this day. Amy’s many books reflect her rich faith and love for the Lord and His Body, wrought through the fires of suffering.
If is a series of pithy conditional sentences that cut to the heart of what it means to be a Christian. This little book is all about the real essence of Calvary love, reminiscent of 1 Corinthians 13. As readers, we would do well to take each small portion and ponder it, confessing our lack of this genuine love and asking the Lord to be our All, as only He can be.
Mimosa is a the remarkable true story of a young Hindu girl who visited Dohnavur with her father and older sister, and, despite only a few minutes time in fellowship with Amy and others, received a personal revelation that God is love. For years little Mimosa had no further contact with Amy and Dohnavur, and she didn’t even know that the God she served and loved had a name, Jesus. Carried by God’s love through experiences of persecution, ostracism, toil, and personal loss, Mimosa grew closer and closer to her Lord; then, finally, as a grown woman, mature and wise, she returned to Dohnavur and told her story, to the astonishment of Amy and the rest. This book is so touching, and the story so beautifully told, that I have had trouble keeping a copy because I always want to give it away for someone else to enjoy.
Gold Cord is the story of Dohnavur Fellowship. A gold cord, in contrast to wood, hay, and stubble, is Amy’s symbol for the bond of love that unites this group of believers and, according to the author’s hope, extends to her readers.
I trust you will enjoy all of these wonderful writings by Amy Carmichael.
Bible Biographies by F. B. Meyer
Mar 21st
Did you ever wish someone could take you back to Bible times to view in detail the lives of outstanding figures in the Scriptures, like Moses, David, and Paul? F. B. Meyer has done that, and Olive Tree is happy to announce the publication for your PDA or smartphone of three new eBook Bible biographies by this outstanding writer and dear man of God. These include Moses, David, and Paul, and there are more on the way.
Having thoroughly enjoyed all of these books, I can’t say enough about how much I benefited from reading them. Every point the author makes is rooted in the Bible, and yet I found myself saying frequently, “I never thought of that before!” Surprisingly vivid descriptive details are interwoven with the narrative. Relevant historical elements are pointed out to enhance understanding.
Most importantly, though true biographies, these books are devotional in character. They draw a reader’s heart to Christ, and they help explain our experience of the Lord as it is portrayed in the lives of Moses, David, Paul and the other characters that surround them. It is not too much to say that these books are life-changing, for one comes away with a sweeter, deeper appreciation of the love and sovereignty of God viewed again and again in the lives of these saints.
Looking for a Bible Commentary?
Mar 16th
If you’re a familiar customer of Olive Tree’s, then you have probably found that we offer a wide range of Bible study tools that you can install to your Palm or Pocket PC device and take with you so you can study the Word anytime, anywhere. One of the newest additions to our commentary collection is the Bible Knowledge Commentary. A new favorite among Olive Tree users, we wanted to make special mention of this commentary for all those interested in staying abreast of the ever-growing collection of study tools available.
The Bible Knowledge Commentary is a useful tool for a wide spectrum of Bible students, from the beginner, who will find it easy to understand and easy to use, to the advanced, who will find it consistently thorough and reliable. The readable style, combined with careful scholarship, make this a Bible study aid its users will add to their “most-used” shelf of books.
~ K
Pocket PC Features, Features, Features!!
Mar 2nd
This is such an exciting time at Olive Tree Bible Software for software feature lovers like me. We have been adding new features to most of our BibleReaders. The latest BibleReader we released in beta with new features is the Pocket PC BibleReader. I am so thrilled about our new Pocket PC features that I decided to switch to Pocket PC as my personal device.
We added full screen mode to the Pocket PC BibleReader. Full screen mode lets the BibleReader take control of the entire screen. When in full screen mode none of the precious little screen space is wasted on the toolbar and title bar. However, unless you have lots of shortcuts defined that you can remember, being in full screen mode by itself is only good for reading since it has no toolbar. So we added a collapsible secondary toolbar. The secondary toolbar is displayed when the BibleReader is in full screen mode (as well as when it is not in full screen mode). When you just want to read you can collapse the secondary toolbar to maximize the text on the screen. Then when you want to do more in-depth Bible study, take notes, add bookmarks, highlight, etc you can un-collapse the secondary toolbar. What is even better about the secondary toolbar is that you can customize it to have just the buttons you want on it. For example, if you do a lot of highlighting you can add a lot of highlighting buttons. You can even decide where you want the secondary toolbar to be placed. So if you make a lot of use of landscape mode you may want to put the secondary toolbar on the right hand side.
Another exciting feature that we added to the Pocket PC BibleReader is the bookmark popup. Accessing and adding bookmarks is now faster and easier! For those who have multiple bookmark files you can now quickly change the bookmark file from the bookmark popup. For example, this will let you easily switch between a set of bookmarks you may have created for sharing the gospel and your bookmarks from last Sunday’s sermon.
As if this wasn’t enough, we also added the navigation history to Pocket PC. Now you can pull up the history to see where you have been and quickly return to a passage you were previously reading.
You can download the latest Pocket PC reader here. I hope you are as excited about the Pocket PC BibleReader’s new features as I am!
Stephen
Exciting New Features On Symbian Series 60 BibleReader
Feb 28th
We just put up a new Symbian Series 60 beta with some cool new features! The features I am the most excited about are the ones that make navigating and accessing common functions faster. We completely redid verse navigation. Verse navigation is now done by using the 5-way navigator to select the book, chapter, and verse from a table. This makes navigating to a verse much easier. We also reorganized the menu to make it easier and quicker to access the menu items. To make accessing common functions even faster we removed the necessity of using the menu. You can assign shortcuts to keys on your phone with the new shortcut options. For example, on my Symbian phone I assigned the center key to bring up the verse chooser. Using this shortcut with the new verse chooser makes getting to verses effortless.
Shortcuts aren’t the only options we added. This new BibleReader now has scrolling options, font options, and color options for customizing how each window looks.
We also added support for a number of commentaries and Christian Writings. You can now read Matthew Henry’s Commentary, Jamieson Faucett and Brown Commentary (JFB), New Scofield Bible Notes, and Grudem’s Systematic Theology on your Symbian Series 60 phone.
You can download this beta BibleReader here.
Enjoy!
Stephen
A Faster BibleReader for Palm
Feb 13th
Anyone who has used both our Pocket PC and Palm BibleReader has noticed that searching on the Pocket PC is much faster than it is on Palm. This is true even when the Palm unit has a faster processor. What you will probably be surprised to find out is that the searching code is 98% identical in the Palm and Pocket PC readers. The reason that the Palm BibleReader searches slower is because it has to go through an emulation layer in the Palm OS. We are pleased to announce a beta version of the Palm BibleReader that bypasses this emulation layer. This version of the Palm BibleReader runs natively on the ARM processor. This reader has faster searching, scrolling, and text rendering. Click here to download the beta reader.