The Weather Channel Relaunches Mobile Web Site: Good to see a Back to the Web Strategy

I was a bit confused when I received a press release announcing…

THE WEATHER CHANNEL INTERACTIVE LAUNCHES NEXT GENERATION MOBILE WEB SITE

I didn’t notice the “web site” phrase as the end of the subject line and wondered why they were making a big deal about their iPhone app (which has been out for a while and is very good). Then, I read the actual press release and learned The Weather Channel is taking a giant mobile web step back and is actually relaunching a new version of their mobile friendly website found at…

weather.com

I’ve been a bit concerned over the relatively large number of dedicated news and weather apps over the past few months. And, I’ve been wishing more news and weather firms focus on their mobile websites instead of cluttering up my app screen. It looks like The Weather Channel is going to be the first to take another look at their mobile strategy. And, I think it is a good one. The new site is designed for optimal viewing on the iPhone (iPod touch), Android and Palm Pre. This means that the developers do not have to split their resources writing code for three very different mobile platforms. I hope more news and weather provideers adopt this back-to-the-web strategy.

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