Hurricane and Storm Tracking

Hurricane Irene, now moving through the Caribbean and perhaps threatening the Southeast by week's end, is only the latest sign of one of the most active hurricane seasons in years. So you want to know where the action is and whether you're in the line of fire. Your smartphone could be your most valuable tool during or after a hurricane, with dozens of apps available to provide crucial information.

Here's a list of apps. Click on the links for download information. Hurricane Irene would have been my obsession even before I moved to Florida.

As a newsman, hurricanes have always had an impact on my life. I remember waking up one Saturday morning in Green Bay, Wis., and being directed to board a motorcoach in one hour that was bound for Katrina-damaged New Orleans.Hurricane Irene is currently headed towards the East Coast of the U.S., and may become a major hurricane. With the help of WNYC's John Keefe, we've got a map for you that is tracking the storm as it moves north. Take a look and check back with us, as this interactive feature will be updated with the latest developments.
Hurricane HD lets you track storms, with moving radar and satellite imagery from the National Hurricane center. It provides tropical bulletins, forecasts, and advisories for the Atlantic and Pacific Basins.

You can watch video updates for storms currently underway or forming, and find data on major storms of the past, like Andrew, Hugo and Katrina.

IMap Weather Radio: iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Android soon. $9.99 As of Monday at 11 a.m., meteorologists think Irene may become a Category 3 likely to graze Florida’s east coast. Here are my favorite ways to track a storm:

My favorite place to start is the National Hurricane Center. Run by the National Weather Service, it has a clickable map of the Atlantic Ocean, showing all current storms.

If you click on a specific storm, Irene for example, you get a storm page that shows the current “cone of concern” and a few other options.

For a plain English description of what’s happening, the best option is to click on the word “Discussion” at the top of the storm page. That gives you a meteorologist’s latest remarks, and usually tells you what’s happening next. (For example, is a “Hurricane Hunter” aircraft is about to report its results?)

I like to look at satellite images of the storms, to see exactly what it looks like from space. You can find the latest storm in a list here.Nothing beats having a weather radio for the most up-to-date info, but you can't always have that with you. You do usually have your phone, though, so having this app gives you all the tracking info you need, plus a built-in weather radio. You can tell it up to five locations -- where you are or where you're headed, or where family members are. With iMap Weather Radio, you will receive critical voice and text alerts on life-threatening weather events. The app provides an early warning to help individuals and families seek safety, even in the middle of the night. The second best website for tropical storms – in my opinion – is Weather Underground, a private site launched by the University of Michigan. It actually gives viewers more detail than the government, or at least in a more readable format. The tropical page shows a global map with all current storms.

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Tracking Hurricane Irene

The centers, in Tampa, Jacksonville, Orlando, Jupiter and Pembroke Pines, feature large-scale, on-site power generation, various redundant operations and technologies and other back-up systems, a company statement said. They are part of a network investment of more than $2.2 billion in Florida and $65 billion nationally since 2000.

With the first hurricane of the season tracking toward Florida and the southeast U.S., Verizon Wireless also offered tips for an emergency communication plan for residents and suggested actions if the storm threatens the region further.
That Atlantic ocean side of the United States is in the middle of its hurricane season–June 1st through November 30th–and there’s a storm of interest heading towards the Floridan coast called Hurricane Irene. While she hasn’t hit landfall in the United States, Irene has been picking up strength, and has, in fact, already struck Puerto Rico as she heads towards the eastern seaboard.

While there are an awful lot of ways to follow the progress of Hurricane Irene–the National Hurricane Center, NASA–Twitter has proven to be quite reliable when it comes to potentially disastrous natural phenomenon, and with Hurricane Irene, it’s no different. Currently, the king tweet of the Irene trend–at least in regards to being the top promoted tweet–belongs to the MyWeather.com.As hurricane season ramps up, < a href="http://myweather.com/" target="_blank">MyWeather.com is offering critical information to those at risk of tropical storms and hurricanes by revealing the science behind the storms and by debunking common myths. MyWeather also has launched a new hurricane tracking feature for its popular website, as well as its iPhone and Android apps, that will let users view and interact with the projected forecast path of any active hurricanes, tropical storms or tropical depressions in the Atlantic, Caribbean and eastern Pacific.

With extreme weather affecting the U.S. this year and meteorologists predicting an equally severe 2011 hurricane season, MyWeather offers a list of the Top 5 hurricane myths and exposes the truth behind them, giving people the information they need to protect themselves against potentially fatal weather.

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say analysts:HP's tablet exit no signal of iPad immunity

A project is underway to port Android to the HP TouchPad, but that’s not the best way to go. I would rather see an Android Player written to let Android apps runs natively in webOS on the HP tablet.
Harvey Norman has solved the problem of its leftover stock of HP's discontinued TouchPad tablet. The retailer giant offered a fire sale of the tablets at only $99 and within hours Harvey Norman had virtually sold out of its leftover stock.
Hewlett-Packard's departure from the tablet business does not mean that Apple's iPad will remain the undisputed king, analysts said today.

"WebOS was never going to be an iPad killer," said Ezra Gottheil, an analyst with Technology Business Research. "It did have a chance at the enterprise market, but it was never going to challenge the iPad's very strong position in the consumer tablet space."
The situation of the HP TouchPad has been nothing short of bizarre, with reports of dozens lining up outside retailers to buy one of the HP tablets now reduced in price to as little as $99. New buyers of the TouchPad are contacting me by the dozens looking for tips and tricks to get the most out of them.
Hewlett Packard's troubled TouchPad had only been available in Harvey Norman stores a week ago on Monday but it has since been heavily discounted with the 16Gb version being sold for $99 and the 32Gb being sold for only $149. HP confirmed that the TouchPad will be sold at the discounted prices through Harvey Norman and HP's online stores as long as stocks last.
On Thursday, HP announced that it would stop making tablets and smartphones powered by webOS, the operating system it acquired when it bought Palm last year for $1.2 billion. The move -- just weeks after HP started selling its TouchPad tablet -- caught most analysts by surprise.

But it's not a signal that Apple will retain its current position as the leading tablet seller: HP's webOS was simply too small a player -- and likely to remain so -- to affect Apple.As popular as the TouchPad seems to be since getting killed off by HP, it still is being supported by them for the foreseeable future. While most developers are leaving their apps in the App Catalog, there is no guarantee all of them will do so. There is not a big selection of apps available for the TouchPad as it is, and there will not be any new ones developed for a dead product.

Some developers are picking up the now cheap TouchPad with the intention of porting Android to the tablet. The thought must be to bring Android with its access to thousands of apps to the TouchPad. This project is just getting underway and I will watch it to see how fast it progresses.
Harvey Norman stores across the country started offering the discounted TouchPad this afternoon. The retailer tipped off consumers via Twitter and within an hour gadget lovers looking for a good bargain had carted off much of the retailer's stock.
Chris Connery, an analyst with DisplaySearch, sees the tablet race as even tighter, one between Google and Apple with Microsoft's ability to join the fight still unproven. "Tablets are a two-OS space right now," said Connery. "HP came to the conclusion quite quickly that there wasn't room for three."

Both Gottheil and Connery said that HP's euthanasia of webOS tablets is not a signal that precludes others, especially Google, from challenging or even surpassing Apple.

"There are things Apple just won't do," said Gottheil. "It won't create as wide an array of [tablet] form factors as will Android tablet makers. And it won't compete on the very low end, simply because of [compromises] it won't make."This Android Player would be an Android emulator that runs as an app on the TouchPad desktop. It should give access to finding and installing Android apps as if written natively for the TouchPad. One Android app could be run at a time in a single task card that could be minimized as desired. This would allow Android apps to run alongside webOS apps on the TouchPad, which would be very, very cool.

I suspect that even though the TouchPad has been cancelled by HP, quite a few of existing owners would shell out big bucks for such an emulator. My guess is the first developer to do this could make some pretty decent coin for the TouchPad Android Player. I also think HP would find webOS to be a much more compelling product to shop around if it could run Android apps.

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With HP tablet dead, who can challenge Apple?

The sudden demise of Hewlett-Packard Co's WebOS TouchPad after just seven weeks on shelves was a reminder of how tech giants have failed so far to take a bite out of Apple Inc's iPad.

The TouchPad joins Dell Streak 5 in the tablet graveyard and weak sales for many offerings suggest others are bound to follow.

"The non-iPad tablets just won't sell at retail. That's the clear message from events over the past few days," said Mark Gerber, an analyst at Boston research and investment firm Detwiler Fenton.

Other tablets that have failed to click with consumers include Asustek Computer Eee Pad Transformer and the Xoom from Motorola Mobility, which Google Inc plans to buy.
The sudden demise of Hewlett-Packard Co's WebOS TouchPad after just seven weeks on shelves was a reminder of how tech giants have failed so far to take a bite out of Apple Inc's iPad.

The TouchPad joins Dell Streak 5 in the tablet graveyard and weak sales for many offerings suggest others are bound to follow.

"The non-iPad tablets just won't sell at retail. That's the clear message from events over the past few days," said Mark Gerber, an analyst at Boston research and investment firm Detwiler Fenton.

Other tablets that have failed to click with consumers include Asustek Computer Eee Pad Transformer and the Xoom from Motorola Mobility, which Google Inc plans to buy.

Research in Motion's PlayBook received scathing reviews and sales have been slack, but it will probably survive since it is key to RIM's strategy.

"I do not expect RIM to be shutting down PlayBook sales any time soon or abandoning that platform, because RIM views it as its future," said Colin Gillis, an analyst at BGC Financial in New York.

It's unclear as to what will happen to its PC business, as a separate company for computers is being considered. Then its focus would be on helping customers manage information, along with printing, servers, storage and a few other services. But even that forward-looking explanation is a little murky.

HP's announcement came with a lot of big words being tossed about, such as "strategic alternatives" and "application ecosystems."

As you read further into the announcement, you'll run across "exploration of the separation."

The one thing I do understand is that all the transactions should be complete in about 12-18 months.

As for the other explanations, the best I can figure is that when the going got tough in the smartphone and tablet market, the tough got gone.Competition coming

But the landscape could soon change. Google's move this week to buy Motorola Mobility, a hardware manufacturer, has also potentially raised the stakes against Apple as it will give the Internet leader devices to showcase its software -- just as Apple does.

All eyes are now on Google's "Ice Cream Sandwich" system, which will unite the Android software used in tablets and smartphones. That is expected to encourage developers to flock to the platform and create better apps.

Microsoft could also pose a threat when it releases its tablet software, code-named Windows 8, but this probably won't be until the fall of 2012.

"The ecosystem built around Microsoft is the largest computing ecosystem out there, so this makes it the company most likely to get significant traction in the tablet marketplace," said BGC's Gillis.

Microsoft has said the software will run on a range of devices from traditional PCs to laptops and tablets, and incorporate mouse and keyboard commands.

Amazon.com, the maker of the popular Kindle e-reader, is also expected to announce plans to release a tablet this fall, providing a challenge to Apple.

The Amazon offering could be a "game-changer," Colin Sebastian, an analyst at Robert Baird & Co, said in a recent note. The tablet will likely feature Android's Honeycomb OS system, a 7-inch screen and priced under USD 300, he said.

Sebastian forecast sales of up to 3 million units in the first year and said they would eventually outsell other Android-enabled tablets from Motorola and Acer, and could potentially surpass Samsung's Galaxy Tab.
Apple's rivals have not fared any better in designing software for tablets.

Apple's iOS tablet software accounted for 61.3 percent of the tablet market in the second quarter, more than double the 30.1 percent share held by Google's Android, its nearest competitor. Microsoft held a paltry 4.6 percent share and RIM 3.3 percent, according to Strategy Analytics.

Readmore → With HP tablet dead, who can challenge Apple?

HP Tablet (TouchPad) Being Liquidated at BestBuy

HP Tablet Products Dissapointed
I’m still kind of shocked about Hewlett-Packard Co.’s decision to exit the smartphone and paper arena.
It’s unclear as to what will happen to its computer business, as a separate company for personal is being considered. Then its focus would be on helping customers manage information, along with printing, servers, storage and a few other services. But even that forward-looking explanation is a tiny murky.
HP’s declaration came with a lot of huge words being tossed about, such as “strategic alternatives” and “application ecosystems.”

As you read further into the announcement, you’ll run crossways “exploration of the separation.”
The one thing I do comprehend is that all the transactions should be complete in about 12-18 months.
As for the other explanations, the ideal I can figure is that when the going got tough in the smartphone and paper market, the tough got gone.

HP announced last week that it is pulling out of the webOS market and focusing exclusively on enterprise services as well as hardware sales. That meant the liquidation of its TouchPad, which is being offered online and at retailers like Best Buy starting at $99 (16GB Wi-Fi).

HP TouchPad are being snapped up quickly thanks to fire sale prices, and they may be hard to find. Just 2 days after announcing it will discontinue operations for WebOS devices, HP has dropped the price of its HP TouchPad to a bargain basement $99 for the Wi-Fi only 16GB device and $149 for the 32GB version.

HP TouchPad is finally enjoying a sales boom. All it took to move the previously slow-selling HPtablet was a $99 price point.

The HP TouchPad’s dramatic drop — from a starting price of $499.99, to $399.99, to $99.99 — hit Canada on Friday, resulting in “sold out” listings on BestBuy Canada’s website.

Now what?
The news of HP’s new direction is even worse for paper customers who bought the HP TouchPad tablet.
I was on standby for the FedEx truck to leave a TouchPad for a column review, but it’s no use looking out the window now.
The only deliveries will probably be the TouchPads going back to the vendors for those who have bought them – and can send them back.
I should have known something was brewing with HP and the TouchPad when the price was dropped by $100 a couple of weeks ago.

Although the TouchPad arrived late in the paper space around July 1, I thought it had a fighting chance with the slick webOS platform and the incorporated synergy between the other HP devices, such as the Pre 3 and Veer.
But I guess HP thought differently after looking around at the iPad and all the Android tablets in the market.
The BlackBerry PlayBook also beat the TouchPad out the door by a couple of months.
So, it’s so long to HP tablets and smartphones, but it didn’t take long for something else to show up.
2 of guys from T-Mobile USA Inc. dropped off the LG G-Slate paper a few days ago.

The G-Slate is T-Mobile’s first 4G Android paper and is running the Honeycomb operating system.
It’s a doozy, with the capability to record 3D and HD video.
So, HP’s exit from smartphone, HP paper arena disappointing for more fans.

Other retailers — such as Amazon, Fry’s Electronics, NewEgg — haven’t taken up the price drop as of Saturday morning, but such a move could happen. According to SlickDeals, Staples is selling the HP TouchPad for $99.99 and $149.99 in-store only.

While the sellouts are popping up at many online retailers, it’s not clear if the same demand is taking place in stores as well. So for those out and about shopping today, let us know what you’re seeing in the comments.

And as always, sound off in the comments and let us know what you think of all this.

A few commenters from an earlier Technology blog post on the Canadian price cuts have asked why someone would want to buy a device that HP will no longer support or produce, or an operating system that has so far failed to attract developers to build up an app catalog.

Other commenters took a different view, seeing $99.99 as a bargain for a device so good at simple computing tasks such as surfing the Web and checking email.

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