Joggler OS

For the last couple of days I’ve finally begun to seriously consider deserting the standard O2 Joggler OS. I’ve tried a few alternatives since I first got the Joggler last year but, despite the limitations of the O2/OpenPeak software, none of them have tempted me to switch permanently. The pros have outweighed the cons enough to keep it in regular use… so far…

Pros:

• It’s simple
• It works pretty reliably
• The traffic app is quite handy
• The  internet radio is better than DAB
• It streams music from my router

Cons:

• It’s limited
• The traffic/radio/music apps are pretty basic
• No new apps – O2 are clearly not interested in the Joggler any more
• The calendar is terrible
• The SDK is disappointing

The O2 calendar app itself was more usable than many I’ve tried but it ultimately failed, mainly because it never actually shows you what’s in the calendar unless you go looking. It really needed to display reminders on the clock screen. It also relied on the O2 servers for all the data, which tended to be really unresponsive, and was certainly no good with an unreliable broadband connection. As for the SDK, I’ll admit to being a bit biased, not being a Flash developer. It still wasn’t great though.

First up, a couple of strong contenders. There are others but for me the Joggler isn’t just a small server to run some Linux variation on.

Jolicloud

I really like the idea of Jolicloud, and it was pretty simple and finger friendly. Unfortunately it always felt a bit sluggish on the Joggler, and it didn’t seem to replace the combination of O2 apps I was happy with, or open the door to new and interesting possibilities.

MeeGo

MeeGo is another OS that should be well suited to an always on touch screen device. I tried the image hosted on bug10738.openaos.org a while ago and it did work really well but, again, it always felt like the Joggler was struggling a bit. Definitely lots of potential though, and I would probably have spent a bit more time experimenting with MeeGo if I hadn’t tried Android…

Android

I wasn’t really expecting much from Android, having seen less than enthusiastic reviews of previous attempts with Android 1.6, but I tried a more recent 2.2 version. First impression was that it was way more responsive than either Jolicloud or MeeGo, and the Android UI is a perfect fit for the Joggler. The first image I tried did have a couple of problems: the screen was a bit fuzzy and the the replacement for the usual Android buttons wasn’t ideal (I liked the gestures but you have to switch between them and being able to get at the notifications). Still, I had seen my Jogglers future, and it had a little green robot in it.

Downloading the second image was marginally more tricky because it wasn’t in English, but it has been well worth it because the screen is rock solid now. It also has virtual buttons in the status bar, which aren’t as fun as the gestures, but work all the time which is a bonus.

So now I just need to find replacements for the O2 apps I use the most. I’m planning to try out Dale’s traffic checker at some point, but TomTom now make their live traffic service available free on the web, which works ok:

Certainly more detailed than the O2 traffic app! It looks like there are a few music apps to try out as well, and I’m definitely keen to download the Android SDK to finally write my first ‘Joggler’ app!!

Advertisement

Too busy to blog

I seem to have been far too busy to get any time for blogging lately. Actually, it’s the finishing off posts that I’ve been having trouble finding time for; I do still keep adding to the number of unpublished posts, with this selection boosting the number of drafts to 38:

• Master Information Hub: Social Bookmark Search Transaction
• My first Joggler app
• Election results!
• Icelandic Economy Bill
• dub dub dub dot fail
• Parking charge

Instead of finishing any of those off I’ve been…

…ordering a canvas for one of our wedding photos.

We’ve been married almost a year so it seemed like it would be a good idea to finally do something with some of our favourite photos!

The canvas has arrived, and looks great, but it’s still sealed in a back to keep all the dust off from…

…decorating the porch.

We have two front doors; one on the outside and one on the inside. I added the outer door not long after moving in to create small enclosed entrance hall/porch, which has been great for shoes, coats, assorted junk, and getting rid of anyone trying to sell something without letting out all the heat in the process. The old front door has needed a coat of paint ever since, but because I never look at the outside much I only painted the inside, until now. As a result, most of the house is currently covered in dust from all the sanding!

…playing with a new toy.

A bit of an impulse buy, but after gradually increasing the number of boxes I have plugged in all the time (ironic since it all started with the Current Cost meter!), I’ve cut down a few with a FRITZ!Box. Pretty happy with it so far: it’s a neat combination of ADSL wireless router, file/media server and DECT base station. Plus, thanks to a tip off from Jee Labs, @jthouse will soon be following @andy_house‘s lead and sending me an SMS if I miss any calls.

…not hacking the Joggler.

Apart from being in German, the FRITZ!Box media server works very well with the Joggler, so I’m still really happy to keep using the default Joggler software. For now that is: the Joggler appears to have been discontinued, and my question to O2 about creating Joggler apps seems to have vanished as well. I didn’t have much/any luck using Flash Develop, which is a shame because it seems to be a decent IDE, but Nick has been getting on pretty well on Linux. His Joggler music app looks very promising.

I have been keeping an eye on various Joggler hacks and the first one to have me seriously tempted, is Opera mobile running on the Joggler. I did briefly boot Ubuntu off a USB stick, but I don’t think it’s worth it just yet. On the other hand, Jolicloud does look like it might be ideally suited to running on the Joggler, unfortunately it doesn’t seem to work. I’m still hopeful that someone will get Jolicloud booting on the Joggler though; any ideas?

Actually, I think Sony have got a much better idea of how devices like the Joggler should work with the Dash. Getting something like that running on the Joggler would be awesome.

…thinking about home automation.

@lauracowen sparked off some great discussions on the Homecamp group, and I definitely like some of the ideas in Ian’s blog post. I had a chat to Laura on Friday, and the idea of a ‘boost’ is probably a good starting point. I’m sure that would help lower my gas bill, although I’m wondering whether an even lower tech solution might work with my existing heating controls. We often turn on the hot water to top it up, but forget to turn it off again. So, since there is currently no boost button, I’m tempted to just get a basic timer to sit next to the controller to set a reminder to come back and turn off the hot water after a short period. Or I guess I could even use the kitchen timer that’s already in the microwave.

…visiting London.

We spent yesterday in London, mainly to see The Woman in Black, which was excellent. It was hard to work out which of the blood-curdling screams were from the audience and which were part of the production! We also had some time to visit the National Gallery, which brought back a few memories of art lessons.

See how much things have changed since I ruined Turner’s Ulysses deriding Polyphemus with an oil rig?!

…watching Inception.

Really enjoyed Inception although, now I think about it, it’s riddled with plot holes that I never noticed at the time. Guess that’s pretty normal for dreams!

…blogging.

I’ve also been posting on the MDM Workbench blog, so there’ll be fewer work related posts on here now. (Still figuring out how to decide which blog to pick for MDM posts.)