Just wanted to post a quick update on the Maemo/MeeGo open source Bible reader named Katana. At this point, its in an early alpha phase and is getting still some of the core functionality within it.

Right now, Katana supports the ability to use Bible modules from Sword (user needs to already have them installed on their device), uses the volume control buttons to page up/down, and the initiation of the search feature by simply sliding open the keyboard and beginning to type. Navigating to another Bible is done in the same way search is.

The next features include the ability to download texts from the web (Sword-only, I have put in a request to use Logos’ Biblia API which was announced at BibleTech).

You can follow updates towards the development of Katana by following this thread at Talk.Maemo. The project is in need of more (Qt) developers, testers, and any other Bible software companies who are utilizing web services to serve their Biblical content.

As a note: one of the features planned for Katana is to allow users the ability to download a module which would enable the use of a publishers/software service’s APIs in a manner that keeps licenses and ethics intact. Consider using Katana as a test bed for this method of delivering your content and encourage a strong open source development community in the process. There’s a lot of good that can come to publishers and developers who contribute to this effort, its essentially changing the way users get and use Bible software.

Very important note: to download and use Katana, you would need to enable the extras-devel repository. This repository is for very alpha software and may cause unintended effects to other applications or your device as a whole. The use of the repository is for the testing of applications before they enter the testing repository and undergo more formal testing. Use Katana and this repository at your own risks.