Review: We took delivery of the much awaited o2 Joggler yesterday. The  joggler is being pitched as the fridge door replacement.. not literally of course.. but typically the fridge door is where a lot of people leave their daily reminders or notes to the rest of the family.. well not in our house, anybody sticks a posti note on our fridge it will probably get eaten!

Anyway the o2 Joggler is supposed to be the ultimate family organiser, you can set reminders, appointments, birthdays etc.. you can share photos, synchronise calendars, listen to music & even look at the latest news & traffic reports.. all sounds great yeah..??

hmm.. not quite, not sure about the rest of you… we have 4 computers in our house.. & i’m pretty sure that’s typical of many households these days.. especially families with kids in college or university.. being connected to the net 24/7 is pretty much a must for most 14/20 year olds. What I mean is.. the technology is already there to do this sort of stuff.. we don’t send each other email reminders or have shared calendars, so are we likely to do it on this…? to be honest, i just can’t see it.. quick reminders will still continue to be left on pieces of scrap paper, tapping 50 words into this 7inch screen is just too much of a bind for our lot.. + the notice board is quite a piece of art in our kitchen.. it would be a shame to see it replaced with a gadget.

The O2 Joggler Advert & Video

Official O2 Joggler Product Brief:

Introducing the O2 Joggler, a touch-screen device designed to help organise family life a little better. Think of it as your new fridge door.

Access the O2 Calendar, or run other family-friendly features on the Joggler to find out if the kids need to take a raincoat to school and if it might be quicker getting the train to work!

O2 Joggler Features

• Photos – store and view photos, videos and MMS
• Music – listen to the radio or play your favourite tracks
• Traffic – get live updates before the school run
• O2 Calendar – Set up and update events and, if you are on O2, you can send text reminders to your chosen O2 phone numbers. You can also access your Joggler calendar online from your computer.
• Photos – View and load your photos from a USB memory stick which can be inserted into the side of your O2 Joggler. Save your favourites and view them as a slide show.
• Music – Stream, store and listen to your favourite tracks on your O2 Joggler.
• Traffic – Live updates from Trafficmaster for UK motorways and A roads, so you’ll spend less time stuck behind a bumper.
• News – Catch up with the latest headlines from Sky News.

O2 Joggler Spec / Specifications

• Audio formats supported = MP3, WAV, WMA (iTunes format files not supported)
• Broadband connection required? = Yes
• Dimensions = 180mm x 130mm x 115mm
• Internet Radio = Available from December 2009
• Messaging application = Available from December 2009
• Power = Uses mains power only
• Size = 7″ touch screen device
• Video capture = MPEG-2, MPEG-4 part 2, MPEG-4 part 10 (H.264), WMV 9, DivX, VC1, FLV
• Weight = 700g

O2 Joggler – What’s in the box

• O2 Joggler
• Power cable
• Router or Ethernet cable
• Cleaning cloth

Just noticed that Google have added the much needed task manager functionality to their calendar application. Unfortunately it’s very basic & doesn’t quite pull it off… which is a real shame. You can add tasks & due dates, but there’s no time option or ability to sync with outlook tasks or other applications.

The Tasks gadget appears on the right side of your calendar, its easy to navigate & add new lists & tasks events. For more information visit google support pages