"Uber Weather" a real game changer!

Dec. 19, 2012 - PRLog -- Uber Weather Press Release – December 18, 2012

This Press Release is about “Uber Weather”, a contestant in the 2012 Google Places API Developer Challenge Contest, which may change the world. Uber Weather is representing Kimberley, Fernie, the Ski Industry, BC and Canada in a global contest against 27 other countries. The winners may have their applications exposed to millions of people. You can vote for Uber Weather in the “People’s Choice” awards until December 31, 2012. Tell your friends.

Acronyms:
GIS = Geographic Information Systems (map layer data).
LOD = Level of Detail (Cloud, Regional, City)
POI = Point of Interest
SV = Google Street View
UI = User Interface
UX = User Experience

What is Uber Weather’s Mission Statement?

To make the world’s best “Consumer GIS Data” powered “Visual Search, Discovery & Adventure App”, on a foundation of useable, everyday content, like Weather, Traffic, Coffee, etc.

What is UberWeather?

Uber Weather is a simple, “Spam Free”, UI to global data. The layout fills the screen edge to edge with no scrolling. The user controls are placed in a movable, collapsible widget that is context sensitive. UX is maximum content, minimum navigation, and zero wasted pixels. It is currently optimized for Ski Resorts but every golf course, scuba location, hang gliding site, winery, hot spring, hiking trail, bike path, boat launch, etc. will be added. Governments have this municipal data, our task is to make it useful to consumers.

What is Easy Weather Map?

Easy Weather Map is identical to Uber Weather except it is optimized for local “Community” content. Each Easy Weather Map site is hand coded for the needs of that community.

Why both Uber Weather and Easy Weather Map?

Performance, Scalability and Optimized UX! Uber Weather is best for global search and trip planning. Easy Weather Map is optimized for local content and business search. Both can be used for everyday weather, traffic, etc. Each website consists of a single static HMTL page, with no server side processing, so it is easy to scale to global users.

What problem does it solve?

Search! Especially “Visual Search” with increased consumer confidence in Search Results via GIS accuracy.

How does it solve it?

GIS is the “Secret Sauce”. Governments & Business produce huge amounts of municipal data which has historically been accessible only by engineering folks. Uber Weather & Easy Weather Map bring this data into a consumer UX. It is visually searchable and mashable with other data to give it context and meaning.

How does it use the Google Places API?

You can find any City with an Autocomplete Text Search. Results are stored in a History Menu and Visual Icons. Once at the “City LOD Tab”, there are three ways to use the Places API to search for 100 million global businesses. The result icons are populated on the map and programmatically linked to Google Street View.

How does it use Municipal Data?

Uber Weather uses global municipal data to help find individual municipalities, especially small destination towns. For example, global municipal POI data like “Ski Lifts” that are always visible on the map, allow causal users surfing the map to find ski towns visually, without knowing the name or keywords.

Easy Weather Map uses municipal data like “Land Parcels” to augment search accuracy and thus confidence that the results are accurate or POI data like “boat launches” to instantly verify if required amenities are available at that destination.

What is unique?

Uber Weather & Easy Weather Map may be the only apps that combine “Weather” with Google Places, Google Traffic, GIS Enhanced Search and more, in one simple UI.

What is innovative?

1) Our “full screen” UI with no scroll bars is made possible by not needing “Display Ads” on the screen.
2) Users have a hard time manually setting Google Street View. We programmatically point the SV camera and the Google Places Icon. Plus we add a “mini-map” to help tweak the view.
3) Using GIS for “Visual Search”.

How does Uber Weather Plan to make money?

1) Donations – individual and corporate donations. Our goal is to put everyone’s data on the map for free.
2) Easy Weather Map will offer “Enhanced Icons” for small businesses.
3) Affiliates – If we believe in the quality of your product, then we will place an “unobtrusive” ad that is context sensitive and only displays if the user clicks to see it.
4) Sponsorship / Partners – complimentary businesses are welcome to participate with Uber Weather and Easy Weather Map as long as they are high quality and “unobtrusive”.

What is the market size?

2.5 Billion People use the Internet, most are interested in “Weather”.

How is the Competition?

There are half a dozen global weather sites. They all have “Display Ads” and are thus living on “Spam”. These ads force the sites to have a scrolling UI, which consumers hate.  They may all join “Block Buster” after the world discovers Uber Weather.

Summary

Uber Weather & Easy Weather Map are a blend of every day usefulness, Google Places raw power and GIS “Sugar”, all wrapped up in a simple UX, with no spam. These two applications were built by one developer with no budget, using free data, free Google APIs and hosting sponsored Microsoft Azure. Uber Weather & Easy Weather Map are already the most powerful, weather-based consumer applications on the planet. Just think what a team of developers with a budget could accomplish! I am looking to build that team.

You can use Uber Weather today and Easy Weather Map if you live in Fernie, BC. More Easy Weather Map’s will be rolling out very soon. Please use the Feedback form on the site. Also, you can donate to Uber Weather. Your support is appreciated.

Go to http://UberWeather.com play with the site, click the VOTE link in the lower right for more information.