Review: SPB Weather — The Answer to the Question Everyone is Asking

Posted by: dgoldring on Dec 16 2006 - 2,768 views

 

There is a fairly standard conversation which, with some minor variances, occurs in virtually every household in the world.  The conversation typically starts with a question, "What will the weather be like tomorrow?"  But what it really implies is how should I dress.  Do I need a coat, a raincoat, an umbrella?  Will it rain or snow?  Be sunny?  This conversation, which occurs regularly at dinner tables and breakfast nooks across the world usually results in a scramble for the long lost morning newspaper, or a decision to stay up way too late watching the local news and weather.  Well, with SPB Weather, let the speculation end.  Now, with a quick glance at your today screen, you can quickly and easily find the weather report for any city in the world.

Installation and Registration: Simply download the SPB Weather file and install it via ActiveSync.  Once installed, you will have access to a fully featured 15-day trial version.  Register the program to unlock unlimited access to its myriad of features.

 

View Modes: SPB Weather provides a robust today screen plug-in which can be customized to display any of four display modes: 4-day, 5-day, 7-day, and multiline.   

In 4-day, 5-day and 7-day display modes, SPB Weather can display a weather forecast for multiple cities at the same time.  There are several different methods for displaying the information in these modes. In tab view, each city is assigned a tab.  To switch from one city’s display to the next, just click on the appropriate tab.  In header view, the information for only one city is displayed on the screen.  Simply tap the city name to cycle to the next city’s display.  These views both provide an ideal way to access all of the available weather information for numerous cities, without cramping the limited real estate on your today screen. 

In multiline display, SPB Weather will show the forecast for all of your selected cities on one screen, displaying each city’s information on a separate line.  While multiline is a nice way to easily compare the weather in multiple cities, it does take up a considerable amount of space on your today screen.

Detailed Forecast: Simply tap on any day’s forecast to view the extended forecast for that date and city.  The extended forecast, which can be extremely useful for planning your day, shows the highs and lows for the night, morning, afternoon and evening hours.  Additionally, it displays the appropriate weather icon for that period of time (sunny, rainy, cloudy, etc…), the humidity, pressure and wind speed and direction.

Integration: One of my favorite features of SPB products is the way they all seem to fit together into one larger program.  SPB Weather integrates seamlessly with both SPB Diary and SPB Pocket Plus, to maximize its operability.  For users of SPB Diary and Pocket Plus, this feature alone sets it apart from other weather programs.

 

When SPB Weather is integrated with SPB Diary, the appropriate weather icon will be displayed with the date heading on your calendar screen.  This is an excellent way to reduce today screen clutter while still displaying all of the necessary weather information for any city.  Just tap on the weather icon on your calendar to view that day’s extended forecast.

 

Additionally, SPB Weather will integrate seamlessly into SPB Pocket Plus.  By selecting SPB Weather integration, a weather tab will be created in SPB Pocket Plus.  The weather plug-in will then reside and be displayed within this tab on your screen.  Again, this integration allows you to conserve valuable today screen space, while leaving the weather information easily accessible for viewing.

 

Options and Customization: To access SPB Weather’s options, simply tap and hold anywhere on the today screen plug-in display.  From this pop-up menu, you can select a skin, update the weather information, or change the view style in which the information is displayed. 

Select "options" from this menu to access SPB Weather’s underlying controls.  From here, you can select which cities will be displayed on the screen, modify the units in which the information is displayed (American or metric) and schedule the next synchronization.  You can even determine which weather source will be used to update the display.

Select the cities you wish to display from the list of cities.  If your location is not listed, you can add it by inputting the city and state or zip code.  If your desired city is not found, you may add it as a custom city.  In order to do this, however, you must be able to identify a weather source that provides content information for this city.  This can be tricky to do, however, help is out there in the form of the SPB Weather Templates Forum.   

Another nice feature of SPB Weather is its skinnability.  Modify any of the graphics to match your theme or personality.  The program installs with several included themes.  Once you get a feel for it, you can add new skins by creating your own or downloading them from the SPB Weather forum.

I was surprised, however, to find some of the more advanced options, such as radar views , Doppler imaging, and weather maps, which are frequently included in other weather programs, were not included in SPB Weather.  As users become more technologically adept, simple daily forecasts are not enough information.  People want to see the weather patterns and trends as they develop and move across their area.  This requires the use of radar imagery and weather maps, which could easily have been included (in the SPB Weather forum, the developers of SPB Weather indicate that such features will be included in the next update, however, no further information is provided.)

Conclusion: SPB Weather offers an easy and appealing means of displaying your weather information on your today screen, without utilizing any unnecessary space.  It is a useful tool for anyone who wants to have quick access to the daily or weekly forecast.  Because it can display multiple cities at once, it is also an extremely useful tool for people who travel regularly.  I found that it was difficult to add a custom city or change the weather source information, however, the SPB Forums provided some much needed assistance in these areas.  Overall, although SPB Weather does not include some  advanced features, it does a fantastic job of displaying the requisite information without cluttering your today screen with unnecessary screens or data.  Additionally, I loved SPB Weather’s ability to integrate itself with other SPB programs, such as SPB Diary and SPB Pocket Plus.  This alone should make it the obvious choice for any SPB product user looking for a weather program. 

Vital Statistics:

Name: SPB Weather

Version: 1.6.2 (Build 729)

Developer: SPB Software House

Available From:    SPB Software House

                             JAMM Store

Price: $14.95

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