Wish the page had an anchor and I could send you directly to the Bruji discount sections, but here is a link to One Finger Discount and look for number 88. Plus there is more great software on there, so take a look around as you scroll.

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!

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.

As humans we rely heavily on our sight to recognize objects by their shape, size and color. Our other senses come into play when we can’t see the object. I know when someone is calling by the ringing of my telephone. I have a different ring than my neighbor so that I know it’s my phone without having to think about the location of the noise. I even have different ringtones for different callers so I can identify them just by the sound. Since installing Snow Leopard I have been hearing the incoming SMS message tone but when I reach for my iPhone there is no message. Turns out the installer on Snow Leopard makes the same noise as an incoming SMS on the iPhone. Reaching for my iPhone and then noticing I’ve been deceived leaves me a little sad at not getting a message and a little angry at whoever is in charge of OS X system sounds.

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.

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

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.

We’ve logged a request with Amazon that Pocketpedia be exempt from the mobile clause (this is stated as a possibility in the license agreement) but it seems others have tried this before and were shot down so we’re not holding our breath for a favourable response. Hopefully the future will bring a positive change in their policy and we can all go on competing in the App Store.

They also informed us that our access key to the Amazon web services has been turned off which would mean that the desktop Pedias would not be able to query Amazon for data anymore. So far, they seem to have been kind enough to leave the access key live and the searches should continue to work fine in the Pedias (UPDATE: Amazon has indeed killed our access key and the desktop Pedias are not able to return Amazon searches anymore. Download the latest version, 4.5.1, to fix the problem.) but we’re ready for an immediate update if new access keys are required. We have requested all keys be re-activated as soon as possible since your access to data is one of our topmost concerns.

To say goodbye to Pocketpedia we put together a small sample (it’s quite a long list) of our favorite reviews:

Dvdpedia is one of my favorite apps. It’s great to be able to take that software on the go with softpedia. Thank you for this great free app!
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This is an awesome app! My only suggestion is to add more editting ability like being able to edit the picture and the content
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Just what I’ve wanted — a way to easily sync my iPhone to a database of my books, and books that I’ve referenced at the University’s library. It doesn’t get any easier than this.
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Finally a way to get to my list of dvd’s and cd’s on the run.  This app allows you to carry with you all of the media info including the cover (which is pretty nice).
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I love this app!  I can’t believe that it’s free!
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This app is fantastic! I used to use Notes on my iPhone as a way of keeping track of wishlists among other things. No more of that! This is exactly what I need. Great job on this one.
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Works absolutely flawless and it’s FREE! It shows all my DVD’s and all the albums I have them in, just like on my mac.
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You simply made my day. Just when I was trying to figure out how to take my DVD library info on the road (save to PDF and use iStorage to get it from iDisk), I stumbled over this.
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I love this app. Perfect to arrange all my stuff, because I’m sort of OCD like that. It would be great if you could also have sections for electronics, furniture, etc.
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Syncing worked perfectly on the first shot.  Consider me completely satisfied.
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What a brilliant little app. Works well. Should be paid for i think!
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This app does exactly what it says it does and does it well. Very easy to use and I will be using it a lot! Download now!
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I can’t wait to see what’s in store for future versions.

We had a great update ready to go as those of you active on our forum know. Pocketpedia is a fantastic little app and we’re very upset that we had to pull it like that. Hopefully someday it will be able to make a comeback to the App Store (and if it does we promise to include an icon without transparency).

UPDATE: Thank you for all your support and kind words and especially for letting Amazon know how you feel about Pocketpedia being pulled. Do keep writing to them!

We’re always excited to integrate the Pedias with other programs but especially when they are as useful and well-written as EyeTV. Thanks El Gato!

Of course, the latest version of DVDpedia and the other Pedias includes lots more improvements, fixes and additions. So be sure to check out version 4.4.3.