BENTON HARBOR, Mich., Feb. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Many families feel the stress of juggling work, school, extra-curricular activities and daily household affairs. To help coordinate everything from grocery shopping and errands to soccer practice and recitals, Whirlpool brand has teamed up with family organizational software maker Cozi, to provide a free online service for family members to get in sync, available at http://www.whirlpool.com/cozi.
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Cozi software provides the tools for busy families to share schedules, track shopping and to-do lists, organize household chores and stay in communication. A recent consumer survey* about family management found more than 50 percent of consumers would like solutions to help create weekly shopping lists, a family calendar and a message center.
"We continually strive to create products to help consumers get more done each day. But we also know there are ways beyond appliances to help accomplish that goal," said Melissa Wikman, marketing director, Whirlpool brand. "This is why we teamed up with Cozi - to bring consumers an all-in-one solution to help them organize their family life."
The Whirlpool brand edition of Cozi includes a full set of easy-to-use features:
-- Calendar - A centralized calendar to manage everyone's schedules in one
location and accessible by the entire family. Activities and
appointments (home, school, work, etc.) are coordinated through a
shared, color-coded family calendar. Cozi also syncs with Outlook - a
feature to use at work to prevent double-booking and keep track of
family activities.
-- Shopping and Task List - Customized shopping lists help families keep
track of items to purchase in one location. Users on the go can call a
toll-free number from any mobile phone to receive lists by text message
or have lists read to them.
-- Messages - Using the Cozi software, messages may be sent individually
or to the whole family via text message or e-mail; intended for quick
reminders or updates.
-- Photo Collage Screen Saver - Cozi can automatically display all the
family photos downloaded from vacations, birthdays, sports events and
other family activities into photo collages.
"The partnership with Whirlpool brand is an incredible fit for us," said Robbie Cape, Cozi Co-Founder and CEO. "Whirlpool consumers are exactly the types of families we had in mind when we began creating Cozi just over two years ago. We built our software to provide the modern solutions that busy, active families need to stay organized, coordinated and in communication."
The Cozi * Whirlpool Edition is accessible from any computer with an Internet connection at home or work, or from any mobile phone, keeping the entire family up to speed. Families can activate their own account and download the software on multiple computers for free at http://www.whirlpool.com/cozi.
About Whirlpool Corporation
Whirlpool Corporation is the world's leading manufacturer and marketer of major home appliances, with annual sales of approximately $18 billion, more than 73,000 employees, and more than 70 manufacturing and technology research centers around the world. The company markets Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid, Jenn-Air, Amana, Brastemp, Bauknecht and other major brand names to consumers in nearly every country around the world. Additional information about the company can be found at http://www.whirlpoolcorp.com/.
About Cozi Group, Inc.
Cozi is the new way busy families simplify their lives with software to organize, coordinate and share, all in one solution. Cozi helps families manage and enjoy their ever-busier lives through shared family calendars, shopping and to-do lists, quick messages and fun photo collages and is accessible from any PC or any mobile phone. Located in Seattle, WA, Cozi was founded in 2005 by veterans of Microsoft, Expedia, and Amazon.com with a vision for creating technology to address the complex and dynamic needs of family life. Cozi now has more than 450,000 family users. Cozi is a free service available at http://www.cozi.com/.
*Forrester Custom Consumer Research on behalf of Whirlpool Corporation.
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Whirlpool Corporation
