.FLYINGHEAD PRODUCT SHOOTOUT
.TITLE Weathering the storm: forecasts on your Pocket PC
.AUTHOR James Booth
.SUMMARY Isn’t it great to waste half your work day just staring out the window at the weather? But you’re stuck in the cubicle matrix of a glass and steel monolith. So what do you do? You bring the weather to you, that’s what. In this product shootout, ZATZ Senior Editor James Booth will be examining two weather utilities for the Pocket PC; Spb Weather from Spb Software House, and Pocket Weather from SBSH Mobile Software.
.OTHER
Isn’t it great to waste half your work day just staring out the window at the weather?
But not for you… You’re stuck in some windowless bunker. Or trapped deep in the cubicle matrix of a glass and steel monolith; no natural sunlight to be found.
So what do you do? You bring the weather to you, that’s what. You bring it to you right on the Today screen of your Pocket PC. In this product shootout, I’ll be examining two weather utilities for the Pocket PC: Spb Weather from Spb Software House, and Pocket Weather from SBSH Mobile Software.
.H1 Weather on demand
PDAs have come a long way from the electronic organizers they began life as. Not only is it now the norm for them to connect to and share data with our computers, but most can now access the Internet. A majority of PDAs even run a pared-down version of the same operating system as our computers. It is commonplace for those same devices to even include cellular phones, offering a self-contained mobile Internet connection.
So what is the point of this history lesson and diatribe? Just this…
Today’s devices can do pretty much everything, everywhere. Even bring you the weather.
.BREAK_EMAIL But you’ll have click here to read the rest of the forecast.
Both of these applications work basically the same way. They connect to an online weather server, download the forecast, and display it on your Pocket PC. The differences lay in the "fine print" so to speak. So, if you’ll turn your head and cough, we’ll get on with the examination.
.H1 Spb Weather ($14.95)
Spb Weather comes from Spb Software House, makers of many fine Pocket PC applications, including [[http://www.computingunplugged.com/issues/issue200704/00001957001.html|the previously reviewed Spb Backup]].
Spb Weather is a weather forecast application and plug-in for your Today screen. It features five different view modes, multiple skins, is relatively easy to set up, and allows for multiple weather sources. In addition, it has been designed to integrate with Spb’s Mobile Shell, Diary, and Pocket Breeze. Figure A below shows a capture of my Today screen, featuring Spb Weather.
.FIGPAIR A Spb Weather integrates with your Today screen.
Setup is easily accessed via the context menu, where you can set the display, skins, etc. Spb Weather comes with six cities pre-programmed, but adding new ones is relatively simple as you can see in Figure B.
.FIGPAIR B Setup is easy.
You can look up by ZIP code, city-state-country, or you can program in a location by the citycode used by the weather servers. Although Spb Weather comes with Gismeteo as the default weather server, you can set it for just about any one you’re familiar with.
I’m sorry to say that Spb Weather did not have my town in its drop-down location menu. Nor was my ZIP code in its database. In order to make any use of it at all, I had to go online and download a template for The Weather Channel and input the citycode for my location manually.
The display can be set as simple or complex as you’d like. Tabbed or untabbed; a single city, or multiple. In Figure C you’ll find a sampling of the display styles.
.FIGPAIR C Displays to suit any tastes.
You can also get a more detailed view of the daily forecast for any of your programmed cities, as seen in Figure D.
.FIGPAIR D Easily get a more detailed forecast of your weather.
Unfortunately, it won’t provide a display of the current weather conditions, only the forecast. Another peeve I have is with how it manages a wireless update. Depending on your settings, Spb Weather can initiate a wireless Internet connection and update its data. The problem is, once it dials up, it doesn’t disconnect and hang up, leaving you with an open connection. And if you have an open connection, you’re being charged for airtime.
If an application can be programmed to initiate a data connection, then it can be programmed to disconnect and hang up.
Considering all of the shortcomings I encountered with Spb Weather, primarily no current weather display and rather limited location offerings, and secondary, that it leaves your data connection open, I really cannot recommend it. I give Spb Weather 2 out of 5.
.RATING 2
.H1 SHSH Pocket Weather ($9.95)
Pocket Weather, in Figure E, comes from SBSH Mobile Software, another storehouse of mobile software applications.
.FIGPAIR E Pocket Weather from SBSH Mobile Software.
Like Spb Weather, Pocket Weather is a weather forecast application and plug-in for your Today screen. It offers multiple view styles, tabbed and untabbed, unlimited locations (with the ability to display six at a time), a feature-rich WeatherConsole, up-to-date METAR (Meteorological Aviation Report) data, and maps with radar weather images.
Pocket Weather will provide the current temperature, wind speed, air pressure, etc. and a five-day forecast directly on your Today screen. In Figure F, you’ll find the various Today screen options.
.FIGPAIR F Many options for your Today screen display.
And you can customize virtually every aspect of the program, from its appearance, to how frequently it will update, how and when it can connect to the Internet, and what information and images will download. It can even be set to update at a specific time, or within a specific time-frame. Figure G shows the many settings available.
.FIGPAIR G Settings for everything, and everthing with a setting.
Although it provides far more information than Spb Weather, with a much higher degree of data, Pocket Weather was easier to set up. My home town was actually in its drop-down location menu. Pocket Weather honestly gave me a lot more information than I could use. I have no idea what all that METAR information and radar feeds, in Figure H mean.
.BEGIN_KEEP
.FIGPAIR H METAR data means nothing to me.
Although it means nothing to me, I’m quite certain that a lot of pilots and sailors will find it extremely useful. In any case, you don’t have to look at it if you don’t like.
When you compare its cost vs. information and offered features, Pocket Weather is an excellent value. I only have one real complaint, and that’s like Spb Weather, it does not disconnect and hang up after dialing in to the weather server. Again, if it can initiate the call and dial in, then it should be able to end the call. Otherwise, SBSH Pocket Weather is an ideal weather forecast application and Today plug-in. I give it 4 out of 5.
.RATING 4
.BEGIN_SIDEBAR
.H1 Product availability and resources
Learn more about [[http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/products/weather/?en|Spb Weather]].
Learn more about [[http://www.sbsh.net/products/pocketweather/|SBSH Pocket Weather]].
.END_SIDEBAR
.BIO
.END_KEEP
