Emergency weather alert system for cell phones far from comprehensive

A tornado touches down in your area, prompting the National Weather Service to issue a warning and then a text message on your cell phone alerts you to the danger."It's still highly dependent on what smart phone you have," said National Weather Service meteorologist Tyler Fleming. "In time, people's GT-I9300 phones more and more will have it." Those without older cell phones aren't eligible to get alerts, but even millions of people who do have the latest devices can't get the messages.

More than 60 smart phones on the Verizon network — including the iPhone, BlackBerry and Droid — are compatible and should receive the alerts.AT&T, the nation's other large carrier, offers the service on just 10 devices; iPhone is not one of them. It's unclear why so few are compatible. AT&T officials did not return emails seeking comment Thursday.

As storm-tracking technology has improved in recent years, weather officials have focused their efforts on disseminating information to more people more quickly."It's no longer an issue necessarily of us seeing the tornadoes coming. . . . It's an issue of people getting the warning and taking cover when they get the messages," Fleming said.dsaDE3D

That, he said, is why it's so important for GT-I9500 cell carriers to reach as many people as possible.According to their websites, both Verizon and AT&T will continue making more devices compatible.The weather notices, first used last year, are part of a broader cell phone alert network created by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Officials can also disperse AMBER alerts and presidential alerts during national emergencies.

People can opt out of weather or AMBER alert notifications, though the presidential alerts are mandatory.People who don't have eligible I5 MTK6577 phones, or who believe a text might not wake them, can also buy an emergency weather radio for as low as $15, which will alert them.

The developers of a new mobile app may have just caught a break — and found a new group of potential customers — with the revelation that government is secretly snooping on Verizon cell phone users.Developers in South Africa have developed an app called Seecrypt, which they say protects cell phone users from having their calls and texts tracked.

It was revealed Wednesday that the National Security Agency has forced Verizon to turn over cheap cell phone cases records of customers inside the United States in the name of fighting terrorism.For the app to work, both people wanting to text or call each other must have the application. But when the application is used, the phone company will not know the identity or phone number of the other person on the line. It will only know that the caller used Seecrypt.