AskMoby makes weather more mobile

The dulcit tones of an Irish voice can calm even the most stressful of days. If you could bottle it you’d make millions – oh yes, they did and did – and West Life and Boyzone. Maybe it’s not so good afterall.

I’ve just spent the past 20 minutes on the phone with Dr Mark White, CEO of Now Casting about his latest project for mobiles Ask Moby. Looking out of his rain soaked window in County Clare he’s very excited about a weather widget that’s recently been launched for mobiles.

“Weather is in the top 10 internet searches and top four mobile searches once you group [sex] sites together,” says Mark.

And it’s looking good. Simply type in your location and select your activity and it will come up with a relatively personalised weather map for the hours you need. If you’re sailing then wind comes up, surfing has wave height etc. When a climbing option comes online shortly cloud base will also be there.

The company is using advertising tailored to the user’s specifications, golfing equipment sellers in Bristol, for example. Nicely, it is not recording any information about the individual.

The company is still looking for advertisers for various demographics but is “in the process building communities then advertising will follow.”

For some activities I think it will have great potential. There have been countless times when I wish I hadn’t bothered to go climbing or mountain biking then found out that conditions were perfect just 20 miles down the road. That said, golfers will probably just check the weather report from their armchair using Teletext.

Being in the early stages on development the web version (same URL) uses Google Maps which give a lot of easy screening but the Mobile version’s maps won’t be that far off. Indeed the company will be “launching better maps in the next two weeks.”