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Irish company Alatto has developed a wireless application aimed at bringing advanced weather forecasts to third-generation mobile phones.
The company is currently in discussion with mobile operators in the UK, Germany and Portugal and expects to provide its weather service to users next year. A prototype of the service is already running in Japan, according to John Whelan, one of Alatto's founders.
Whelan said the weather maps have colours and "movie-like quality," showing details of approaching weather fronts and forecasting where and how fast the fronts will move. Users will only need to download the weather map once onto their phones; for future updates they will download the weather details only. In the future the service will also be location-enabled, Whelan said, which means it will take into account where the user is and offer a localised forecast.
The third generation service follows another weather service which Alatto developed to let sailors see the height of the waves and the speed of the wind, taking data which is monitored by floating buoys and transmitted via satellite. Whelan said the company was currently in discussions with operators in the UK about this service, which works with the current generation of mobile technology, and said the service might also have a future in Ireland.
Alatto serves as a wireless industry consultancy firm, but also develops a variety of products and solutions for its customers. One of its products is a Mobile Applications Pack, which is a group of 2.5G and 3G applications targeted at mobile network operators, MVNO's and system integrators. The application pack contains 25 different applications designed to help operators boost average revenue per user, including lottery, Vegas slot machines, fixed odds betting and blackjack.
Another Alatto product is its FOMA Emulator 1.1, a software system that provides 3G functionality on a desktop. The FOMA emulator is designed for technical developers and designers building applications for 3G phones.
Dublin-based Alatto was founded in 2000 and is funded by its founders. It currently employs 14 people, including two based in Japan, and Whelan said the company expects to bring on more staff in the near future.
For more information visit http://www.alatto.com
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