Have you ever went out and got caught in the rain because you forgot to check the weather? Or you were planning a surprise garden party for your son’s 5^th birthday and it turned out just OK because it was so windy that almost everything was flying around and caused a huge mess? If you’ve encountered such incident (and I have), you’ll know better and to check the weather system the next time. While there are sites and the news providing such information, wouldn’t it be great if you had something in your Pocket PC to get the updates for you.

Introduction

PocketWeather is the latest offering by SBSH to help you stay on top of the weather. Recently released to v2.0 and now at v2.0.2, this weather program is more than just an application with beautiful icons. It’s an award-winning software and continues to win rave reviews. For those who are unsure, you can always do a trial. And for those who have been waiting, you can purchase it for just $14.95.

A Wealth of Information

What I found out after playing with PocketWeather for a while is that it has a lot of information. And I do mean a lot. Not just your typical day or week’s forecast but as you will see below, it’s packed to the brim.

Not Just The Weather

Detailed view	And summary view

So it has the weather for the day. For many it would be enough. But for those looking for something extra, it also shows you sunrise/sunset times, wind speed and direction, dew point, actual temperature and ‘what it feels like’ temperature, pressure, humidity, visibility and even the shape of the moon. I know. It’s a lot of information and I doubt many of us will ever need such a wealth of information on a daily basis but wouldn’t you be glad to know that when you need such data, it’s all there for you?

METAR Stations

While using the program, I came across METAR data which I had not heard of until then. A bit of research revealed that it stood for Meteorological Terminal Air Report. So my guess is that this view shows you a map of the various stations where such weather information is gathered. I couldn’t think of a use for it besides knowing how accurate your weather data is (because I assumed that the closer you are to a station, the more accurate the readings).

Maybe someone who knows more about this would like to elaborate on its usefulness?

Forecast

View detailed future forecasts	And choose what to view

Knowing the weather for the day is great but when you are planning for the weekend gateway, you’ll want the forecast in advance. Well PocketWeather does that for you. And just like the daily ones, it’s just as detailed so if for some strange reason you need to know the shape of the moon on Saturday or what time the sun sets on Sunday, you’ll be glad you’ve installed PocketWeather on your Pocket PC.

Images

What I love about the nightly weather report on the news is this map where they show you precipitation cover and how it’s moving. With PocketWeather, you have the same map with animation which you can now show to your friends and be an overnight meteorologist. However, unlike the ones you see on the news, it can only show you historical data and not future ones (at least I could not find the option to do so during my experience).

Earthquakes

Now, the area where I live (Philadelphia) is not really earthquake prone so this is not really a useful feature for me but for those who have loved ones or who they themselves live in such area might find this feature useful.

What I found intriguing was that it recorded a long list of earthquakes. In just one day, it showed me over 10 earthquakes which I never thought happened. Those interested can see the location on a world map and get information such as magnitude, depth and time of occurrence.

Loads of Customization

A weather program should always come with a Today plug-in to make quick glances. However, most developers spend a lot of time on the software and do little for the plug-in. Thank god SBSH is different.

I was amazed at the amount of options that I had for configuring my plug-in. For starters, the amount of view is a long one and if you still can’t find something that you like, you can always create your own. This is definitely one of the more customizable plug-ins that I have ever seen.

One of the many views	Another example

And unlike a lot of the weather plug-ins I have come across, PocketWeather seems to be one that keeps on updating the data. This means that if today is Friday, you will not see yesterday’s (Thursday’s) weather on the screen. And the main menu icon shows you the shae of the moon of the day. Small things definitely, but it’s these small things that really go a long way to making a plug-in great to use.

I am not a big fan of skins because I kind of like the one that came with the application. However, those who like something different, SBSH has added skinning options. You could always download some from the forum or design your own.

Automatic Updates Anyone

One thing about weather programs is that you have to continuously update it if you are going to be getting any useful information from it. In the past, I had problems with it because I do not have a mobile data connection plan and I don’t use ActiveSync. So if I wanted to update it, I would have to go online and click update and then all would be good.

Now it seems that SBSH has taken this into consideration and came up with a solution that I am pretty happy with. For starters, they now have an option where you can tell the program to update itself when you go online. So when you check your email through WiFi or surf the internet, it will do the update in the background without you even realizing it.

Another useful feature is that you can schedule such updates, even if you are not using a mobile data connection. For those who use WiFi, this means that PocketWeather will turn the device on, connect to the internet using the connections settings you had set, download the update and disconnect. How cool is that? Programmed properly, you would always the latest weather update when you wake up in the morning.

Integration

This is something which I thought I would bring up though I do not have the software to test it out. According to SBSH, you can now integrate PocketWeather with PocketBreeze. Imagine looking at your agenda or appointments and seeing the forecast. That’s what this integration promises from the screenshot above taken from SBSH. I wonder if there are other features of this integration as well?

Summary

Pros:

• All-in-one weather program with a host of features
• Automatic updates through mobile data and non-mobile data connections
• Reasonably priced
• Powerful Today plug-in
• Numerous skins and customization options

Cons:

I am pretty tempted to say it has no cons because I could really think of nothing that it already does not have. The program is full-featured and so is the plug-in.

I guess if you really wanted some disadvantage to the program, it would be that it is just too informative for a weather program. Then again, some (or even many) would say that it’s more of an advantage than anything else.

And even though it has a lot of customization, it works right out of the box with little or no tweaking. So no complaints there.

Conclusion

When I first used PocketWeather, I thought it was a pretty standard program but after spending a good amount of time on it, I found out a lot more features that I did not know of. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not hard to use at all. It’s just that there are so many features here that I think it will more than meet the average user requirement.

PocketWeather is definitely a winner here. It’s what I’ve always been looking for in a weather program (automatic update through WiFi) and it’s beautifully designed. The vast amount of options that you can set means that there is a setting or tweak for everyone to customize it to the way you want to.

We’re going to recommend PocketWeather. In fact this program is so good that we’ll be adding it to our list of Recommended Software as well. For those who have yet to try it, you can download the trial here. Those needing a license can purchase one here for $14.95.

What are your thoughts on PocketWeather?

Tags: commercial software