July 6, 2004
Weathernews Inc. Revamps Corporate Website
-- Images of Clouds Worldwide Moving in Real Time: A Performance Only a Weather Information Company Can Provide --
Weathernews Inc., the world's largest full-service weather company in the private sector, announced today that it has revamped its corporate website to provide weather-related services to an increasingly large audience and to integrate its brand image globally.
As a step toward developing the Weathernews brand image on a global scale, the corporate color, ocean blue, is used as the basic color in the design of the revamped website. The URL for accessing Weathernews anywhere in the world has also been standardized as http://www.weathernews.com
Introduces Broad Range of Weather Information Services
The revamped corporate website introduces globally developed weather information services that Weathernews provides for a broad range of markets (available in Japanese Version). Examples include the mobile phone contents service MOBILE, the airlines business support service SKY, the marine transport integrated management service VP, the distribution and retail industries support service STORE, and the disaster prevention support service DIMINISH. Press releases, investor relations information, and other information have also been revamped to make easier to access.
Global Site - Displays Weathernews Locations and the Changing Face of the World's Weather
Weathernews has also revamped the global site that provides entry to the sites of companies in the Weathernews Group around the world. In the center of the site's front page is a large world map on which is plotted the location of Weathernews Group companies. In addition to worldwide cloud coverage being updated every six hours on the map, daytime and nighttime regions are color-differentiated, as are current weather conditions in every region. These are the most symbolic aspects of the site that express the image of Weathernews as a global company that keeps up with the latest views of the earth. The map also shows longitude and time zones, and provides links to related websites. Moreover, by clicking on a Weathernews company location the local time and temperature (both Centigrade and Fahrenheit) are displayed. And by moving the cursor to either side of the screen, the viewer can scroll the map to the east or west.
The Global site can be accessed from any page on the Weathernews corporate site by clicking on the word "Global" in the upper right-hand corner.
Main Functions of Global Site
WORLD'S CLOUDS: The map image of world cloud coverage is updated every six hours. The clouds accompanying typhoons approaching Japan can be viewed, as can huge cloud buildups above countries in Latin America. DAY & NIGHT: Color is used to differentiate day and night regions. WORLD'S CLIMATE: The weather in different regions can be viewed based on a method developed by the German meteorologist Wladimir Peter Koppen.
