hurricane

Wireless operators prepare for Sandy. But will it be enough?

Wireless companies up and down the East Coast have been preparing throughout the weekend to ensure that wireless service remains up and running for communities affected by Hurricane Sandy. But will it be enough?

Hurricane force winds, torrential rain, and tidal surges as a result of the storm are expected to wreak havoc along the coast on Monday and into Tuesday. Millions of people from Virginia to New England are expected to lose power. But the wireless phone companies are working to ensure their networks hold up during the storm.

Sandy has already caused some wind and flood damage in … Read more

NASA satellite gets a 3D view of Sandy's eye

Just in case your visual cortex hasn't been flooded with hurricane graphics yet, NASA has this interesting view of Sandy's interior.

The image was generated based on data gathered by the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite, part of a mission jointly run with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

Launched in 1997, the satellite can measure rainfall and cloud heights in tropical cyclones, which include hurricanes like Sandy and the typhoons that frequently lash the Japanese archipelago, such as Typhoon Tip, the largest of its kind on record. … Read more

Instacane shows us Hurricane Sandy photos from Instagram

For non-East Coasters like myself, it's hard to picture what it's like going through hurricane prep, or even a hurricane itself. With Hurricane Irene last year, Twitter and Facebook were full of photos of what the storm was really like, by those who were in the middle of it.

As Hurricane Sandy approaches, the same type of photos are appearing again, but with a good amount of them coming from Instagram. To make it easy to follow the stream of photos on Instagram, a couple of developers made a Web site aptly titled Instacane.com.

Instacane monitors (from … Read more

Hurricane Sandy safety: There are apps for that

As Hurricane Sandy bears down on the East Coast, it's time to start thinking about your safety -- and that means stocking up on helpful apps.

First up, turn your iDevice into a flashlight. CNET's Lance Whitney just rounded up flashlight apps for the iPhone, which could prove to be the handiest thing you install all day.

Next, keep up on the latest hurricane news and warnings -- at least while there's still power to nearby cell towers. Kitty Code's Hurricane, one of the top-rated hurricane trackers in the App Store, features everything from animated satellite … Read more

Sandy claims Facebook events as latest hurricane cancellations

Event cancellations due to Hurricane Sandy keep blowing in.

This time it's Facebook calling off a couple of get-togethers it had scheduled for this week in New York.

The social networking giant was holding an open house Tuesday at its New York office to give reporters the chance to chat with some of its engineers. The company notified the press that it canceled the event because of the storm.

It also has postponed a "Facebook Gifts" event scheduled for Thursday at New York's famed toy store, FAO Schwartz.

While Facebook provided few details about Thursday's … Read more

A spotlight on flashlight apps for the iPhone

iPhone owners bracing for possible power outages from the "storm of the century" can make sure a flashlight is handy by downloading a virtual one onto their devices.

No matter how much I try to prepare for an impending storm and loss of power, I can never seem to find a flashlight when I need one. That's why I always keep at least one flashlight app on my iPhone, which I'll certainly use if Sandy yanks my power today or tomorrow.

Flashlight apps work by tapping into the iPhone camera's LED flash, so the light … Read more

Hurricane Sandy puts Google's Nexus event on hold

Due to the severe weather conditions of Hurricane Sandy, we won't be filming a CNET Update show out of our New York studio. We'll return once the storm passes. In the meantime, here are some of the top tech headlines for Monday:

- Tracking Sandy: Many on the east coast spent the weekend boarding up windows rather than upgrading Windows. You can keep tabs on Sandy news through several websites, apps and Twitter accounts. Google has a helpful Crisis Response map that marks emergency shelters, evacuation routes and the storm forecast. News outlets like the The New York … Read more

Apple stores batten down their hatches for Sandy

Apple is among countless retailers striving to defend their East Coast stores against the onslaught of Hurricane Sandy.

The company has already closed some stores in New York and four other states, as well as in Washington, D.C., and is bracing for potential flooding and other damage, says blog site ifoAppleStore.

At least 35 Apple stores are within the hurricane's landfall zone as predicted by the National Weather Service, ifoAppleStore said, while another 15 are right outside the zone, including those in New York City and areas north of the city.

Apple stores across Manhattan were closed as … Read more

Hurricane Sandy blows down paywalls at NY Times, WSJ

Two major publications have stripped away their paywalls to give consumers unfettered access to up-to-date information on the arrival of Hurricane Sandy.

The New York Times removed its usual paywall on Sunday evening for both its Web site and its apps. Spokesperson Eileen Murphy told Poynter:

The gateway has been removed from the entire site and all apps. The plan is to keep it that way until the weather emergency is over.

The paywall -- which typically prevents users from viewing more than 10 articles for free each month -- has occasionally been removed in the past, when the situation … Read more

Hurricane Sandy: Keeping tabs online

Grocery store shelves have been cleaned out, generators have been fueled up, and cell phone chargers are surely already running hot -- there's a massive hurricane coming to town.

Hurricane Sandy is bearing down on the mid-Atlantic region amid all the usual warnings of potential power outages, flooding, damage to property, and other disruptions to business operations and the day-to-day lives of millions of people. Residents up and down the U.S. East Coast are bracing to be pummeled and hoping that it all turns out to be more bluster than actual damage.

In anticipation of the Category 1 hurricane, … Read more