Review: Satellite
Score:
73%
Version Reviewed: 1.0.0
OK, so Satellite is a Java MIDlet and not a full fledged C++ native application, but I'm not going to let that put me off reviewing it. For starters, its MIDlet status means that it'll run on any Series 60, UIQ or Series 80 smartphone without modification. Or on many other non-Symbian mobile devices for that matter. Secondly, the developer had the good sense and initiative to actually (shock, horror) contact us and tell us about his creation. You'd be amazed how little other developers bother in terms of letting the world know about their programs. So full credit to Mario and his team...
As you'll have guessed from the name and screenshots above, Satellite acts as a front-end for the Internet-facing satellite imagery hosted by EUMETSAT, gathering the right images in the right order, resampling them down to the width of your smartphone screen and presenting either just the most recent or a full eight-frame animation covering the last four hours. There's a choice of rending resolutions, though the default setting worked just fine, using up around 60K of my GPRS bandwidth in downloading the full animation. Which, even on my expensive pay-as-you-go tariff, only works out at about 40p. For most people, on monthly contracts, grabbing an animation each morning to give you an idea of what the weather's doing over Europe would be no problem.
With the developer being mid-Europe, it's arguably more useful for him than for others, such as the AAS team in the UK, for whom the weather fronts over the Eastern Atlantic are usually more telling in terms of what weather's coming our way! Still, Satellite is tiny, useful, cool and totally free, and you can't ask for more than that.
Reviewed by Steve Litchfield at