Other than recommending interesting books, we do not usually call our readers’ attention to other merchandise. However, every now and then we do find things that are so interesting or innovative that they simply must be recommended. In the jungle of weather gadgets, YoWindow 2.0 is such a product.
I am sure you have seen weather gadgets before and they are usually very functional and are even nice with their carefully crafted graphics. However, YoWindow brings that bit of extra that sets it apart from the crowd.
You can download a free but slightly limited version or cough up $9.99 for an unlimited version (instant download) and enjoy 8 day forecasts, an unlimited number of favorite locations and also automatic update of the weather. There are no ads in the paid version. The free version might have ads in the future. There is even a widget version for inclusion in your web site and it is free!
So what is the big difference?
First of all, in your weather window you get a very nice rural landscape that changes with the seasons and light conditions match the time of day. The weather is superimposed on this background and the whole thing is pleasantly animated with clouds moving on the sky or rain pouring down, as the case may be.
You can chose from LIVE conditions that display the latest actual weather information available for your location or click on icons for the current day or any of the available consecutive days for a forecast. On the right a separate panel displays more detail, like wind speed and direction, pressure, wind chill (innovatively called “feels like”) and so on.
Another cute detail is the time bar at the top. A line moves from left to right and you can also drag it to any position to display weather as it is expected for that part of the day. So, while most other gadgets give you a forecast and that is the end of it, here you can actually scroll forward to find out what it will be like in the afternoon or evening of a given day. Just like the detailed forecasts on met sites but now brought to your desktop and organized as your favorite locations.
The developers have gone to extraordinary lengths in including detail. If the night is clear, there are stars of course with the occasional shooting star and a Moon that shows its correct “shape” for the given date. That the lights in the farmhouse come on and go off as if people moved about goes without saying. Watch the display for a while and you will discover more and more nice detail… cloud speed and the movement of weeds depend on wind speed is just one of them.
The only thing I miss are a few more background landscapes, one for a big city and one for a smaller one would have been nice. The developers did promise to make a few more landscapes…
That said, I think this weather gadget is one of the best I have ever seen and it combines functionality with an innovative appearance that should serve as an example for other developers also.
And the accuracy of the forecasts? We will have to see but I am sure it is at least on par with what we are used to.
Check it out! You can download your copy here.
