MarineCast Weather Forecast app for sailors
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Introducing MarineCast a marine weather app for Windows Phone. MarineCast is a free app for Windows Phone created by a professional mariner who wanted to fill a gap in the Windows Phone eco-system. It can be downloaded for free from the UK, US, Canada, India, Ireland Australia and New Zealand marketplaces however an multi-language version is currently being built. The app is also add free which dramatically improves the user experience. Whilst there are numerous weather apps in the Windows Phone Marketplace very few provide the detailed marine-specific reports and features that sailors, fisherman and water sports enthusiasts need.
MarineCast generates 24 hour forecasts built using an EU forecast model so the reports are very accurate and cover a 24 hour period. The data provided is truly global and covers almost the entire planet, all the down to the Southern Ocean and round Antarctica. Users can get data by using their current location, entering custom coordinates or using a map. The forecasts are well presented and the information is clear to read, however the data is only available in metric units.
MarineCast also incorporates an NOAA buoy and vessel scanner. This allows the user to see live conditions from thousands of buoys and hundreds of vessels from around the world. If the user wishes they may enter a code for a buoy and lookup it’s condition report manually.
The current build in the marketplace includes ship and port cams. These allow users to view weather conditions and port traffic from popular locations around the world. The cruise ship camera feature includes web cams from the following cruise lines: Aida, Cunard, Crystal, MSC, NCL, P&O, Phoenix Reisen and Princess. This is downside as it does not include cruise lines such as Carnival or Royal Caribbean.
On the whole MarineCast is generally a well built app that fills a niche in the Windows Phone marketplace. The UI fits in with the rest of Windows Phone and an up-coming update should fix it’s few shortcomings.
MarineCast can be downloaded from the marketplace here:
