Weather forecasting is a science which we love to hate. We depend on it yet we dislike its imprecise nature. It has become so important to our daily life that outlets like the Weather Channel are profitable businesses. It
INTRODUCTION
Some of the key features of Fizz Weather 2.3 include:
WHAT’S HOT
- English, French, German, Spanish, Italian & Dutch language support
- Square screen support
- Landscape/Portrait mode support
- Global coverage – Over 58,000 cities worldwide
- Seven day full forecasts
- Weather maps with zoom & pan support
- Ski Reports from popular global resorts
- Airport delays
- Weather warnings and alerts for the US
- Full VGA support
- Full control of downloads
- Graphical display to allow you to track your downloads
The installation is performed by running a Windows based setup application which initiates the ActiveSync program add function.
SETUP
The installation program allows language selection by clicking on the appropriate flag.
The Windows Mobile 5.0 installation screen displays once the device is synchronized with ActiveSync. In the memory constrained world of Windows Mobile, the program footprint is large at 2751KB.
The Fizz Weather application has a comprehensive list of options which are easily accessed via the Windows Mobile 5.0 soft keys.
PRODUCT FEATURES
The left soft key "View" provides access to a scrolling list of views which includes options. The first configuration screen allows for language, network and start up preferences.
The Today plug in preferences provide several small and large selections.
The download preference screen allows for the selection of a weather update schedule as well as the types of reports to download. The download reports include several animated satellite maps.
The tracking screen provides statistics on downloads. The satellite maps contain the most data. The options soft key provides a function to clear the download history.
The city list function in the options soft key menu provides for the selection of desired city forecasts. If the city is not on the list you can search for it using the Fizz Weather online database of 58,000 world wide locations.
The Today plug in with small (left) and large (right) settings. Tapping the small Today plug in will cycle through the selected cities. In the large Today plug in, tapping the top of the plug in will initiate the Fizz Weather application, while tapping the bottom of the Today plug in will cycle through the selected cities.
The Today view provides information as of the last download.
The 7 day forecast view. The list of selected cities can be cycled at the top of the forecast screen.
A very important feature is the ability to select the download of weather warnings (only available for US forecast). If a weather warning is downloaded the universal danger sign is displayed, tapping on it will display the warning text.
The 2 day view displays the temperature range across the forecast.
The current view displays the current weather data as of the last update and allows for cycling of landmarks associated with the selected city. The options soft key menu provides an update feature to retrieve the current conditions.
The maps view provides a forecast and satellite maps of the geographic area surrounding the selected city.
The zoom, position and satellite view can be accessed using the D-Pad. The satellite view on the right can be placed in motion using the play button at the bottom left hand corner.
The airport view provides forecasted delay information for the major airports in the selected city.
A very handy feature for skiers is the ski reports. I selected Aspen, Colorado, and was surprised to find that the Arapahoe Basin had 2 trails open on October 18th. You can cycle through all of the major ski areas around the selected city to view their status.
Fizz Weather is a feature packed application which provides key information for making your weather related decisions. The only missing information is hurricane tracking data (although you would get the warnings) and a radar display to view real time weather activity.
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Support for Fizz Weather is handled through Fizz Software’s forum found here and support email Fizz Weather supports Window Mobile 2003SE and Windows Mobile 5.0 on the Pocket PC. The installation footprint is 2751KB. A version for the Smartphone is also available. I have been running Fizz Weather on my T-Mobile MDA for about a month now, and I have not found any problems. The only issue I have with the application is that it is rather large, however given the functionality I am willing to live with the size. To provide a more complete view of the weather I have the following wishes: type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
I have been using Fizz Weather 2.3 for about a month, and I have found that having weather forecasts at my fingertips is very useful. I use to access the US National Weather Service WAP site, however it is clunky and you need to reenter the cities every time you would like a forecast. The AccuWeather mobile is more appealing but not much better. Using an application to select multiple cities and viewing a graphical representation of the forecast is much more intuitive. And Fizz Weather works worldwide. With the ability to select the size of the Today plug in, Fizz Weather also helps maximize the limited amount of available screen space. I found that having access to weather information for multiple cities at one’s fingertip on the Today screen becomes invaluable while travelling. Fizz Weather works very well in one handed operation making full use of the D-Pad and soft keys.
HELP SUPPORT
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
BUGS AND WISHES
PURCHASING
Fizz Weather can be purchase here for $14.95. You can download a 3 day trial here.
PROS
No subscription required
Skinnable user interface
Excellent one handed operation
58,000 + city forecasts available
CONS
No option to store weather data on SD card
Large memory footprint
Value
Ease
of Use 
Features
Overall
OVERALL IMPRESSION
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