I got to do something really cool this week. I was invited by my friend Xavier Lanier as he did some video taping and shooting pictures of Mobile Demand computer as they are being used by the Red Bull Racing NASCAR team with Scott Speed, Casey Mears and Brian Vickers.

We got incredible access to the shop area and the place where the pit crew practices. This video is from that day. I took some video of my time at the Virginia International Raceway, but it got deleted. And today I was at the track with the team for practice this afternoon. You are not allowed to shoot video, but I did sneak one with my iPhone.

I have some pictures too. I will post them later.

My review of Bible Reader apps for the iPad are now up and ready to go. It is in this month’s issue of Christian Computing Magazine. If you are looking for the link to the Bible Study page that was in the opening paragraph, sorry but that link was invalid. It is actually the Bible Study tab in the upper right or click here.

I am not yet finished with all the video reviews, but I will be working on more next week and hopefully finish them soon.

One of the more popular Bible Reader apps on the iPhone was YourVersion’s Bible. They updated it for the iPad to take advantage of the new device’s features.

 Bible HD (BHD from now on) is one of the readers that really needs the Internet to get full use of it. It has the capability of reading multiple translations offline, but not all of them are available offline. For example, my two favorite’s are HCSB and ESV. Neither are available for download. For those reasons I don’t use it much at all. But if you prefer another translation, then you might find it available for download. And if you need a foreign language translation, it is likely here. There are a ton of them.

BHD shines in the area of reading plans. There are more than 20 different plans ranging from read the Bible all the way through in 90 days to just reading Psalms and Proverbs in a year. So if you want a lot of Bible reading plan choices, this is the reader app for you.

One of the features I believe all iPhone/iPad apps should have is a low light reading mode. It is built in via the Settings menu.

Other features included are the ability to search, bookmark verses, share verses via Twitter and email them too.

There are unfortunately a couple of big features missing. First you cannot simply copy a verse or range of verses. This is a feature that should be in every app. You could tap and hold the verse and choose to email or tweet it and then copy the content from the email or Twitter window. But it should be built in.

The other thing missing is all the great stuff that makes the YouVersion web site so cool. When you sign up for a YV account, you get some neat social networking features, like the ability to share content based on a passage. You could post comments, sermons or studies, web sites, etc. on a verse. Also the Groups on YV are great. You can join one of the those available or create one for your church or study group. But you don’t have access to them via the app. This really sets YV apart, but until it is available in the app, then BHD is just another reader that has great Bible reading plans but requires an Internet connection for some of the most popular translations available. Without the ability to copy verses into Pages, then I won’t be using it much.

One of the best modern Bible translations is the ESV. I have chosen to read through it this year in my devotionals. The publisher is Crossway and they are aggressively pushing it into the digital realm. If any of the free Bible apps on the iPad have a modern translation available it is often the ESV.
Crossway has their own Bible Reader app too. The ESV Bible is a simple Bible Reader app and little more. With it you can read only the ESV. You can do a few other things as well.

You navigate through the Bible by scrolling or to quickly jump to a passage you choose the strangely named Browse button.

If you are a Twitter user, you can post verses online for your followers to read. And you can also email right from within the app.

The app also support personal note taking and highlighting via the more button on the right end of the toolbar. Or you can press and hold the text of a verse to open a dialogue box. From there you can access reference notes, post to twitter, send the verse by email. highlight the verse or add it to your favorites.

To search tap the search button.ESV Bible is a very basic Bible reader. It doesn’t have a lot of frills. It does not have the ability track Bible reading plans or a low light mode. And there are no other books or translations in it. But if all you want to do is read and share the ESV Bible then the free app cannot be beat. It is a  univesal app too, so it will work on both the iPad and the iPhone/iPod Touch.

Below is a video that I shot to show you the interface of the program.

HANDiBIBLE is a simple to use Bible Reader for the Apple iPad. It does not have a lot of features, but that is by design. Jerry Beers is a responsive developer who is always willing to listen to the requests of his customers. There are a few different versions. The cheapest has the KJV for only $1.99, but you can also get The Message, a German Bible and a Romanian Bible as well.

The interface is much like Windows Explorer with the books of the Bible along the left while the actual Bible is on the right. Above the list of the books of the Bible are buttons for entering your verse to jump to a new passage or for searching to find words and phrases in the Bible. You can easily share Bible passages with the button on the upper left of the Bible pane. Unfortunately it jumps out of the app into the Mail app. You have to manually go back into the app afterwards if you want to continue to read.

To zoom in or out you simply use the pinch gesture. I wish every Bible reader/study app had this feature. Another feature I wish they all had was the one demonstrated below:

One of the best features is the low light mode, seen above. This is handy for reading in dark rooms either at night or if your church lowers the light during the worship service. The mode is toggled on/off with the light bulb button on the toolbar.

The two arrows in the upper right are for advancing or going back a chapter at a time.

Sorry, but this video is not working. I will redo it and upload a new one as soon as I  can get it done.

My apologies for the inconvenience.

iPad version of Olive Tree’s Bible Reader is available in the app store. Get it here.

Instead of writing a review, I decided to give you a little video preview. The first three minutes I explain how the iPad fits into the Logos ecosystem. I did not show the Library.Logos.com site that much, but remember that it is part of the ecosystem.

The videos are in two parts.  Here is the first videos:

And here is part two:

 Pros:

• Potentially large library
• Works with Logos desktop application
• Syncs to other devices
• Advanced Bible study
• Reading plan tracking
• Bookmarking

Cons:

• No night reading mode
• No notes
• No highlighting
• No split screen mode
• Have to be online for many features

I’m working on a review of iPad Bible apps for Christian Computing Magazine which will be out later this month. As part of that review I am planning to do a very in depth review of the apps here as well, so that those who want more information can find it. I’ve already created a page for these, which you will see in the tabs up the upper right corner. So be looking for them.

I plan to start with the Logos app since it was one of the first in the app store.

So as they say on the idiot box … stay tuned!

I am working on adding a few things to my web site. The first is that you will notice a new tab at the top for Bible Study software. It is still unfinished, but there I will have reviews of the latest Bible Study software for Windows and iPhone OS devices. Why those two? That’s what I currently own.

Second, I have added the RSS feed of articles I have written for Notebooks.com. I began writing for the online tech blog almost a month ago. When I post a new article it will be linked on the right below labeled “My Notebooks.com Articles”.

Finally, I am going to be changing the template soon.