Main Menu

[abatis]

(IMG:https://mobilegadgetnews.com/modules/Reviews/images/star.gif) (IMG:https://mobilegadgetnews.com/modules/Reviews/images/star.gif) (IMG:https://mobilegadgetnews.com/modules/Reviews/images/star.gif) (IMG:https://mobilegadgetnews.com/modules/Reviews/images/star.gif) (IMG:https://mobilegadgetnews.com/modules/Reviews/images/star.gif)  

I was very excited about reviewing PocketWeather by SBSH Mobile Software. Last year I had reviewed the ConnectBits weather client but it only runs on the Smartphone platform. I have been looking for a weather client for my Samsung i730 PPC.   PocketWeather was worth a test. Please check out my review below for details on  features and how to setup PocketWeather by SBSH Mobile Software.  

Get weather reports to your Pocket PC device!

Introducing both a Today screen plug-in and the new WeatherConsole!

NEW!- A feature rich WeatherConsole tool to monitor weather forecast details in unlimited locations NEW!- Introducing a new professional weather icons and layout NEW!- Support in unlimited maps and radar images for each forecast location A today screen plugin to display weather forecast with professional graphics on your Today screen Automatically monitor the weather in unlimited different locations world wide and switch between them on the Today screen View current temperature, air pressure, wind speed, up to 9 day forecast and much more! Fully support VGA devices and WM5 devices, including special HighDPI weather icons for VGA devices Fully user-configurable forecast display options Use additional icon sets to change PocketWeather's icons look and feel

Installation: I installed PocketWeather using the trial download from the SBSH website. The program installed fine on my Samsung i730 using the provided installer. I installed the program on my SD Card to save space on my main memory. I use Spb Pocket Plus and had no problem installing PocketWeather in conjunction with Pocket Plus. The first screen shot shows PocketWeather working with the PocketPlus plugin.   

(IMG:http://www.abatis.us/PW/001.jpg)

The program has a great help section and a link to the SBSH forums to help answer questions on setup of the program. Setup is straightforward and intuitive. Here is a screenshot of the settings menu.

(IMG:http://www.abatis.us/PW/002.jpg)

 Select Add and add a country and specific city/town location from the menu. My first city is Golden, Colorado

(IMG:http://www.abatis.us/PW/003.jpg)

 

You can add a second location for dual display on the Today screen. Here I add USA Louisiana

(IMG:http://www.abatis.us/PW/004.jpg)

 

Finally I add Belle Chasse as the second city. You can add multiple locations and can display any two on the Today screen.

(IMG:http://www.abatis.us/PW/005.jpg)

 

I also wanted to add a radar image of the local area. This setup menu allows you to add multiple images from various URLs.

(IMG:http://www.abatis.us/PW/006.jpg)

 

Once you have the weather locations and image URLs there are many menu selections to review the data. Here we see the weather "Summary" for my location.

(IMG:http://www.abatis.us/PW/007.jpg)

This view includes the forecast for my area. There are many options and you can see all types of weather data including temperatures, pressure, rainfall etc. It is really versatile and well thought out by the developers.

(IMG:http://www.abatis.us/PW/008.jpg)

Here I select "Images" to see the latest radar map for my selected area. The program is very powerful as it will select image formats from a web site and allows you to choose the ones you want to display. In my case I choose the radar image only. 

(IMG:http://www.abatis.us/PW/009.jpg)

In the following screenshot I am displaying dual locations vertically. The menu allows dual, single, horizontal and vertical location displays. This is usefull and flexible for the user.

(IMG:http://www.abatis.us/PW/010.jpg)

You have the choice to enable an image icon on the Today screen. If you enable this feature a screen touch of the icon will open the image in this example the latest radar map.

(IMG:http://www.abatis.us/PW/011.jpg)

You can also compare the weather in two locations in detail using the menu selections.

(IMG:http://www.abatis.us/PW/012.jpg)

You have complete control of font size and the amount of information displayed on the Today screen. The next two screenshots show a couple of different settings.

(IMG:http://www.abatis.us/PW/013.jpg)

(IMG:http://www.abatis.us/PW/014.jpg)

PocketWeather has a variety of update options depending on your needs.  This screenshots show the "Update" selection menu.

(IMG:http://www.abatis.us/PW/016.jpg)

You can also choose a variety of connection options in the "Comms" menu.

(IMG:http://www.abatis.us/PW/017.jpg)

In this screenshot I shutoff the PocketPlus plug-in and display the PocketWeather plug-in.

(IMG:http://www.abatis.us/PW/018.jpg)

Here I change the color of the plug-in font. You have total control of font size and color. The developers have left nothing out for the user.

(IMG:http://www.abatis.us/PW/019.jpg)

The display demonstrates two city coverage with a font size change.

(IMG:http://www.abatis.us/PW/020.jpg)

The last screen shot shows a vertical display of two cities as opposed to the horizontal displays shown above. 

(IMG:http://www.abatis.us/PW/021.jpg)

In summary this is a fantastic weather program. The program has a multitude of options as shown above as well as additional options I have not shown.  My business is very weather dependent and I find PocketWeather by SBSH Mobile Software an essential software tool for my PPC.  This is a well thought out and complete weather console for the PPC. This program is highly recommended and at only $9.95 it is a bargain for PPC users.

You can try or buy the program at PocketWeather by SBSH Mobile Software

Regards,

abatis

[smeg36]

Looks really good. I also have a Samsung i730, and would love something like this here in Miami Beach. It would really help with figuring out which days to go to the beach in advance. (IMG:https://mobilegadgetnews.com/style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[muchomorek]

Then you should try Weather To Go 3.1

http://tonaya.com/products/wtg/index.php

This post has been edited by muchomorek: Oct 4 2005, 06:42 AM