Set the house alarm, close the garage door, turn on the air conditioning. What can't a phone do these days? How about prevent its owner from getting struck by lightning? Well, it can now. The National Weather Service recently partnered with AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon to send severe weather alerts to smartphone users. Tornado, hurricane, typhoon, and flash flood alerts will be issued, to name a few, and its one-click, free-of-charge availability makes the service easy and affordable to use.
When a warning is issued, a short text message will be sent, vibrating the smartphone and sounding a special tone, to users in that particular county. This blanket warning message will ensure that phone carriers are aware of dangerous weather conditions no matter where they might be...and sure beats having to wait for tornado sirens or that annoying television interruption!
Other smartphone functionality predicted to soon hit the streets includes AMBER alerts and presidential warnings during national emergencies. Word to the wise—if a smartphone owner is running panicked, follow.
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