On Thursday, The Weather Channel – along with its launch sponsor Westin Hotels & Resorts – raised the curtain on an all-new redesign of its popular The Weather Channel for iPad App.
The move, according to tech and business analyst Mike Randazzo, suggests that The Weather Channel is poised to become an even bigger player in mobile than it presently is.
“The Weather Channel’s next frontier is the mobile web. Fewer and fewer people will eventually turn to their television for weather. Mobile gives TWC an opportunity to grow its base while reducing emphasis on more costly television production,” he says, adding that TWC’s advancements in mobile have been among the most impressive he’s seen from any media company.
“In the age of the interactive social experience, we know weather information needs to be visual, accurate and at your fingertips. Part of the success of our iPad app has been our ability to listen to consumer feedback for ideas on how to improve, and we have learned a lot since it first launched with the original iPad,” said Cameron Clayton, executive vice president of digital product at The Weather Channel Companies. “This was an opportunity to create a better product that’s all about the consumer and gives them the opportunity to truly explore and share.”
In addition to a wide array of new features, the revamped app offers functionality from the original app, such as an extensive index of advanced interactive weather maps with local points of interest and customizable animated weather layers such as radar, clouds, UV index, rainfall, snowfall and more.
According to the formal announcement from TWC, consumers “can still depend on severe weather alerts with Push notifications and GPS “Find me” availability for weather conditions.”