By Katy Tomasulo. In an industry where Mother Nature's mood can make the difference between a finished roof and a wasted day, it's important for remodelers to have accurate, up-to-date weather information. A new tool for your cell phone is offering just that.
Digital Cyclone has introduced Mobile My-Cast, a service that provides up-to-the-minute weather forecasting and local Doppler radar directly to the screen of Motorola mobile phones. The Java-enabled system, which piggybacks on the company's Internet service, allows contractors to zero in on the exact address of a jobsite to receive current weather conditions, a seven- or nine-hour forecast, and severe weather alerts.
On Motorola phones with imaging capabilities, the service provides looping Doppler radar within four miles of the selected location. Rather than just showing a city or region, users can zoom in and out of exact locations. The radar is updated every five minutes and comes in color on phones with color screens.
"The whole idea is to empower users and give them exactly what they want, when they want it, and on a mobile device," says Paul Douglas, Digital Cyclone's chairman and founder.
To use Mobile My-Cast, Nextel users also must have data services (such as that used for wireless Internet). The weather service costs $9.95 per month. The company plans to release versions for ATT within the next few months and is working on making the service available for other carriers. For more information or to sign up, visit www.digicyclone.com.
