A State College, Pennsylvania-based company AccuWeather announced new AccuWeather MinuteCast features and expanded availability on Thursday. The firm’s minute-by-minute weather forecasting technology now boasts support for numerous connected cars systems and more personalized weather information, as well as user interface improvements. The latest version of the service also provides hail forecasts which are available in all AccuWeather apps, as well as the company’s web solution. Additionally, AccuWeather MinuteCast’s hail forecasts can be delivered as advanced notices to users. The company also updated its solution with a new feature dubbed “Along A Route.” Along A Route was designed to integrate AccuWeather MinuteCast’s forecasts with real-time navigation services featured in various car systems.
The American company said how its technology is a perfect solution for drivers looking to avoid harsh weather conditions. As of today, the latest version of MinuteCast is available to users in the Continental United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Scandinavia, Germany, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Spain, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein, Japan, South Korea, and some parts of the Czech Republic. The service is free to all users and can be accessed through the AccuWeather mobile app, as well as the company’s official website. The firm confirmed that it’s planning more expansions in 2017, promising that more details on that front will be revealed soon.
The AccuWeather MinuteCast technology utilizes users’ GPS location or a manually inputted street address to deliver localized forecasts on a minute-by-minute basis. Apart from the recently introduced hail, the service also predicts rain, snow, and other types of precipitation. AccuWeather’s proprietary technology is available to third-party developers looking to integrate it into their own products. The Pennsylvania company claims that more than 1.5 billion people worldwide are currently using its service in some shape or form. The AccuWeather Android app is available for download from the Google Play Store free of charge. The latest version of the app works on devices running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and newer, so you should be able to use it on virtually any contemporary smartphone. As for the MinuteCast Along A Route integration, this feature currently only works on car systems developed by Bosch and Ford, while expanded support is expected to be announced at some point this year.