I bet not many of you have heard of it but the 02 Joggler is an absolutely awesome devise. The software that is on it might be a little behind and the hardware could probably do with a little improvement and some added features but as a first version it is an awesome idea and I will challenge anyone who disagrees.

The Joggler is a classic of what Nick Lansley refers to as a fourth device (http://techfortesco.blogspot.com/2009/07/fourth-screen.html) it is designed to sit in the kitchen or in a communal place within the home. It allows easy access to an always on always connected device. O2 have tried their best to market it around their calendar service and push it as a devise that will keep the family organised allowing the entire family to know what each other is doing etc. The problem with this is that most people will already be using a calendar service which they are happy with and have fitted their life around how that works and nobody is going to switch to a service which is clunky and not as streamlined. The interface of the o2 calendar on the devise is good and easy to view but lets be honest, I am more than happy with Google Calendar and its going to take a lot and I mean a lot to move me away. I can sync my Google Calendar with Outlook on my laptop, Outlook on my desktop at home, Outlook on my desktop at work using Google Calendar Sync (http://www.google.com/support/calendar/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=89955) and I can use Goolge Sync and my iPhone Microsoft Exchange settings to sync my calendar with my mobile. Its easy and it works without me having to do anything. Fiona can even add things to my calendar without me knowing and I get alerts and I can see what I am doing on any devise I want.

So you can imagine my excitement when I found out that o2 will be releasing an update this week which will add an appstore of some sorts to the Joggler devise and…. they will be adding a Google Calendar app to the appstore!!!

This is great news… one because it means they are not going to force people to use their own calendar service and secondly because they are opening up the devise to developers to developer apps just like Apple have done with the iPhone.

OK so I knew that this was in the pipe line because I have been working with Sam Whisker (http://www.friendlyparrot.co.uk) for a while now to release an app for the Joggler for My Shopping Assistant. My Shopping Assistant is a set of applications which work on different devises (only a couple at the moment) which allow you to add, update and delete things from your Tesco.com basket. Some of you will already know I have been working with the Tesco.com API for a while now since my trip to London to the T-Jam event. I have written my own API which sits in-between the Tesco API and my own applications so that I can ‘add value’ to what they already offer. I will keep my main idea under wraps for now… you will hear more about it when we get the basics finished.

At the moment there is a beta facebook app out which you can access and test at http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=126311593291 This is the My Shopping Assistant facebook application and although there are many features still to add you can do the basics of search for products and adding them to your Tesco.com basket! All from within facebook! Awesome right!

So the great news is that the Joggler will be getting an update this week and although you may not have heard much about it online (their online marketing and buzz for this has been poor) this is going to start something great and really kick start the Joggler as a devise.

Keep your eye out for the My Shopping Assistant Joggler app in the appstore really soon!