IntelliStar: Difference between revisions
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The '''IntelliStar''' |
The '''IntelliStar''' is the fifth-generation successor to the [[WeatherStar]] systems used by the [[United States|American]] [[Cable television|cable]] and [[satellite television]] channel [[The Weather Channel]] (TWC), that is used to insert local [[weather forecasting|forecasts]] and current [[weather]] information (such as the "[[Local on the 8s]]" segments within its program schedule) into TWC's programming. Like the WeatherStar, it is installed at the cable provider's [[Cable television headend|headend]]. |
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The IntelliStar has many enhanced features over its predecessor, the [[Weather Star XL]]. Like all other WeatherStar systems, the IntelliStar receives its data over a satellite connection and over the Internet. However, unlike the rest of the systems, it has the capability to receive more complex information in a more efficient manner. It also has a DualFeed feature, which allows a selection of two different video feeds. In the event of inclement weather, the DualFeed option would switch from the first (network) feed, to a second (localized) feed, providing weather information to a specific STAR or network of STARs. By doing this, the specified network of STARs could be addressed with weather updates, versus the entire national network of STARs (where such information would be irrelevant). |
The IntelliStar has many enhanced features over its predecessor, the [[Weather Star XL]]. Like all other WeatherStar systems, the IntelliStar receives its data over a satellite connection and over the Internet. However, unlike the rest of the systems, it has the capability to receive more complex information in a more efficient manner. It also has a DualFeed feature, which allows a selection of two different video feeds. In the event of inclement weather, the DualFeed option would switch from the first (network) feed, to a second (localized) feed, providing weather information to a specific STAR or network of STARs. By doing this, the specified network of STARs could be addressed with weather updates, versus the entire national network of STARs (where such information would be irrelevant). |
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It also has an improved graphics display and dynamic radar capabilities. HiRAD (<u>Hi</u>gh <u>R</u>esolution <u>A</u>ggregated <u>D</u>ata) technology – which was added to the IntelliStar in 2006 – allows The Weather Channel to choose any city, town or landmark as an observation or forecast site and provide data. Occasionally, the HiRAD function will fail, in which case the National Weather Service sites are used (only the current conditions – and previously, the eight-city product and regional/metro products |
It also has an improved graphics display and dynamic radar capabilities. HiRAD (<u>Hi</u>gh <u>R</u>esolution <u>A</u>ggregated <u>D</u>ata) technology – which was added to the IntelliStar in 2006 – allows The Weather Channel to choose any city, town or landmark as an observation or forecast site and provide data. Occasionally, the HiRAD function will fail, in which case the National Weather Service sites are used (only the current conditions – and previously, the eight-city product and regional/metro products significantly). |
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In May 2015, it was announced that all IntelliStar units would be replaced with either the [[WeatherStar#IntelliStar 2|IntelliStar 2]] or the [[WeatherStar#IntelliStar 2 Jr.|IntelliStar 2 Jr]]. by October 1, 2015. The IntelliStar was discontinued on November 16, 2015.<ref>https://www.nctconline.org/index.php/programming/technical-notices/item/download/74_f656cf3afe5f4b94de0028c8bc1b0568</ref> Many sources stated that the IntelliStar was officially decommissioned at 10:08 AM EST on November 16, 2015, and was replaced with an new system called the [[WeatherStar#IntelliStar 2 XD|Intellistar 2 XD]]. |
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==Design== |
==Design== |
Revision as of 20:33, 25 April 2016
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IntelliStar | |
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File:WATT Local on the 8s Intellistar.png | |
Manufacturer: | Wind River (a wholly owned subsidiary of Intel Corporation) |
Family: | WeatherStar |
Hardware: | Intel x86 |
OS: | FreeBSD[1] |
Graphics: | Vector/Raster |
Release date: | Beta: 3Q 2003 Final: 1Q 2004 |
Status: | Retired - Decommissioned by The Weather Channel on November 16, 2015. |
Succeeded by: | IntelliStar 2 & IntelliStar 2 Jr. |
The IntelliStar is the fifth-generation successor to the WeatherStar systems used by the American cable and satellite television channel The Weather Channel (TWC), that is used to insert local forecasts and current weather information (such as the "Local on the 8s" segments within its program schedule) into TWC's programming. Like the WeatherStar, it is installed at the cable provider's headend.
The IntelliStar has many enhanced features over its predecessor, the Weather Star XL. Like all other WeatherStar systems, the IntelliStar receives its data over a satellite connection and over the Internet. However, unlike the rest of the systems, it has the capability to receive more complex information in a more efficient manner. It also has a DualFeed feature, which allows a selection of two different video feeds. In the event of inclement weather, the DualFeed option would switch from the first (network) feed, to a second (localized) feed, providing weather information to a specific STAR or network of STARs. By doing this, the specified network of STARs could be addressed with weather updates, versus the entire national network of STARs (where such information would be irrelevant).
It also has an improved graphics display and dynamic radar capabilities. HiRAD (High Resolution Aggregated Data) technology – which was added to the IntelliStar in 2006 – allows The Weather Channel to choose any city, town or landmark as an observation or forecast site and provide data. Occasionally, the HiRAD function will fail, in which case the National Weather Service sites are used (only the current conditions – and previously, the eight-city product and regional/metro products significantly).
Design
The IntelliStar differs in design from previous WeatherStar units, as the system is basically a customized rack-mount Intel CPU-based personal computer (PC). It runs on the FreeBSD operating system, running specialized software written by The Weather Channel to make it function as an IntelliStar, but otherwise using commodity hardware of the PC platform. This was done to minimize maintenance costs, and to ease upgrading of the IntelliStar units. The previous WeatherStar units used a proprietary hardware design that hampered any hardware upgrades (the Weather Star XL, for comparison, uses proprietary SGI hardware, and runs IRIX). TWC has contributed code to the FreeBSD development community, and funded the initial development of Radeon 8500/R200 generation 3D graphics drivers used under both Linux and FreeBSD.[2]
IntelliStar History
Date | Notes |
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February 28, 2003[3] | The IntelliStar hardware platform makes its debut on Weatherscan, The Weather Channel's offshoot 24-hour local weather information service. |
Late summer 2003 | The TWC IntelliStar unit begins beta testing in select markets. |
March 9, 2004 |
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July 2004 |
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August 2004 | Each cable company headend's STAR ID number, previously on the upper right hand corner of the screen in The Weather Channel's hourly identification, also began displaying under the heading "Local weather ID" on the Lower Display Line. It was criticized because it is displayed longer than the actual weather data on the LDL. At first, this is displayed only on the local forecast, but later that month, it started to be displayed during live national broadcasts as well. However, with the new Lower Display Line, as of June 2, 2008, the STAR ID only displays on the LDL during the local forecasts. |
September 2004 |
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October 2004 | National sponsors are added during the local forecast, such as Intel Centrino mobile technology, America Online and Dell. These are shown on the upper right hand corner from after the ad crawl finishes displaying through the end of the local forecast. In summer 2006, an animated sponsor tag is added. In February 2011, sponsor tags began to also be featured on one-minute local forecasts during long-form programming. |
November 2004 | Buzzing audio interference is widely reported at the beginning of the Local Forecast during the "Current Conditions" and "School Day Weather"/"Outdoor Activity Forecast" products. |
December 2004 | The "Local Forecast" segment sometimes is reduced to three pages, because the Vocal Local outlasts the available time for the screen. |
January 2005 | More cities are introduced to the Metro Forecast maps such as Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska. |
May 3, 2005 | Vocal Local narration is changed from "Your" to "Our" in all cases. |
Mid-May 2005 (April 2005 in Atlanta (beta)) |
Traffic conditions from Traffic Pulse debuted in major media markets, including New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Pittsburgh and Detroit. The "Traffic Pulse" logo is also displayed on the bottom left hand corner during the "Local on the 8s" intro. |
August 15, 2005 | The IntelliStar received minor graphical changes, including a sunny background to replace the cloud background, and addition of The Weather Channel's new logo. This change was also made on Weather Star XL systems. |
Late August 2005 | Many cities are added and removed on the metro and regional forecast maps. |
Fall 2005 |
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December 15, 2005 |
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December 29, 2005 |
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February 21, 2006 |
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March 31, 2006 |
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June 26, 2006 | The 90-second forecast is once again discontinued. As a result, the regional forecast map is restored. |
August 8, 2006 | A metro conditions map is added. This causes some changes made to the lineups on the local forecast. |
Fall 2006 | Dish Network receives the satellite IntelliStar. It is identical to the one used by DirecTV. |
December 12, 2006 | Weather icons that were used on The Weather Channel since 1998 are replaced by a new set of icons. The changes were also made on DirecTV/Dish Network satellite, weather.com, national broadcast, and Weatherscan. Some IntelliStar units did not receive this update until a month or two later. Note: The "Fog" and "Windy" are only worded in the regional/metro maps. |
January 23, 2007 | The radar now includes indicators for wintry precipitation. The former "light/heavy" precipitation key is changed to "rain." Entries for "mix/ice" and "snow" are added, replacing the previous time lapse bar. |
April 2007 |
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May 2007 | Select traffic maps were disabled due to insufficient coverage of the viewing area, including Indianapolis, Fort Worth and Orlando. |
May 7, 2007 | The Vocal Local narration is discontinued for all local forecast segments during the channel's designated prime time hours (8:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. Eastern Time). |
May 9, 2007 | The narration for the "Traffic Report" segment is restored for certain areas only where the overview map was removed. |
Mid-May 2007 | The feature turning the upper text on the black bar to yellow while a severe thunderstorm or tornado watch was effective is restored after being inactive for several months. |
May 22, 2007 |
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June 4, 2007 | The narration for the "Traffic Flow" segment was restored for certain areas only where the overview map was removed. |
Late September 2007 | Some Getaway Forecast locales change. It was later confirmed that the IntelliStar would have sponsors for Getaway locations and the Getaway product will receive a facelift, likely in late 2007 or early 2008. |
October 1, 2007 |
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October 23, 2007 (October 9 for Comcast's Penn Hills, Pennsylvania; South Bend, Indiana; and Lincoln, Nebraska headends (beta): December 21, 2007 for Verizon FiOS headends) |
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February 7, 2008 | Any prevailing blue text on the IntelliStar was changed to black. |
February 26, 2008 | On the two-minute :08 and :38 flavor, the Getaway Forecast was moved between the 36/48-Hour "Local Forecast" and the "Week Ahead" on some IntelliStars (beta stage) (later for Verizon FiOS headends). |
March 20, 2008 |
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Late March 2008 | The same STARs that received the traffic-placement beta on March 20, 2008 (in Pittsburgh and Atlanta) begin showing the regional forecast once again, which had not been seen on some IntelliStars in nearly a year. However, it was shown at this point after the metro maps (example sequence: Today metro > Tonight metro > Today regional). It was suspected that this is an error in the flavor. |
May 2008 | The "Incidents and construction impacting our area" narration returns to some IntelliStars listing the Traffic Incidents. |
June 2, 2008 (May 30 in Atlanta and Pittsburgh, June 12 for satellite IntelliStars) |
The Lower Display Line (LDL) was changed. The following changes have occurred:
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Late June 2008 | The beta flavor lineup (which switched the placement of the traffic screens) added to IntelliStars in the Pittsburgh and Atlanta markets on March 20, 2008, is removed. |
July 1, 2008 (July 24, 2008 for satellite IntelliStars) |
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August 22, 2008 | The "Local on the 8's" bug always appears on the upper right hand corner on the DirecTV/Dish Network Satellite during "Local on the 8s" if there is no national sponsor appearing. This is related to the launch of DirecTV's "Local on the 8s" system one month later, which places a hole in the graphics display for sponsorships. |
September 3, 2008 (August 27, 2008 for IntelliStars operated by FiOS's Pittsburgh and Comcast's Atlanta system (beta); September 9, 2008 for satellite IntelliStars) |
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September 25, 2008 | The LDL on DirecTV is discontinued during the "Local On The 8s" segments to make way for local forecasts by ZIP code fed through DirecTV receivers. |
Late 2008 | The IntelliStar 2 is released for the HD version of The Weather Channel. |
November 16-November 23, 2008 | The coloring of The Weather Channel logo on the LDL becomes green as NBC Universal begins its second "Green Week" as part of its "Green Is Universal" initiative; the same alteration occurred on all NBC-owned networks including TWC sister network Weatherscan, as well as weather.com. The green logo would also be used for TWC's existing "Earth Week" and for future "Green is Universal" weeks. |
December 12, 2008 | The "L-Bar" forecast was restored for all domestic IntelliStars; however, its appearance is more coordinated with the 2006–2007 appearance than that introduced in October 2007. |
January 2009 | The "Incidents and construction impacting our area" narration is once again discontinued. |
March 12, 2009 | The sound effects on the text-based Local Forecast product were disabled on all domestic (TWC) IntelliStars. |
April 2009 | A few cities on DirecTV and Dish Network's IntelliStar LDL have been removed. |
April 6, 2009 |
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April 13, 2009 | The "Local on the 8s" bug for DirecTV/Dish Network was updated with a white background and blue-colored font. |
May 11, 2009 (May 18 on most domestic IntelliStars) |
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July 20, 2009 |
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Mid-2009 | The Intellistar 2 has its first time with narration, this time Jim Cantore is the narrator instead of Allen Jackson like the original Intellistar. |
September 17, 2009 | Normal local forecast lengths have resumed during the 10 a.m. Eastern Time to 2 p.m. Eastern Time time period weekdays, meaning all local forecasts at :18/:48 are once again 90-second flavors, and all local forecasts at :08/:38 are once again two minute flavors. This was only a one-day change. However, it returned for good on September 28, 2009. This has resumed during the 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Eastern Time period as well during the weekends. The eight-city current conditions also starts off the local forecast at :28 past the hour only during weekdays until 2 p.m. Eastern during Day Planner (or until 3 p.m. Eastern if there is special coverage). This was extended until 5 p.m. Eastern Time (6 p.m. Eastern until November 19, 2010, through 7 p.m. Eastern beginning on November 22, 2010 if there is special coverage) beginning on September 27, 2010. |
March 11, 2010 |
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March 13–15, 2010 | During primetime programming, the local LDL appeared without overlaying the national LDL, revealing that the local LDLs actually take up only 3/4s length. When the national LDL was cued, the local LDLs did not appear at all at times. The national LDL did not appear at times during the presentation of Surviving the Elements: Tornado on March 13. During the weekend edition of PM Edition, the ¼-screen height local LDLs were displayed while the small 1/3 national LDLs were cued at times. These were all reported as errors. |
March 16, 2010 | A time clock has been added on the LDL for all cable and satellite headends, and is located on the bottom left hand corner during national programming, and switches between Eastern, Central, Mountain and Pacific times, instead of the local LDL displaying the local time (this has been identified as an error on the local IntelliStars). Unlike the previous version of the LDL, the time and temperature are now in different positions on the LDL, with the current temperature on the top right portion. The time clock displayed on the national LDL is incorrect however, with the displayed time being one minute ahead (this was reported as an error and later corrected). |
March 27, 2010 | Due to issues on the part of Traffic Pulse, all traffic overview maps in all markets have been removed. |
April 14, 2010 |
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May 19, 2010 | All traffic products were removed from the IntelliStar for unknown reasons. |
May 25, 2010 | The Traffic Flow and Traffic Report pages return to the STAR after a six-day hiatus. |
September 2010 |
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December 8, 2010 |
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February 5, 2011 | The squeezeback that displays local information returns. The classic "4-note" signature chime also returned at the premiere of a beta test to the national version, which appeared during the regular long-form programming block from 5 to 7 p.m. Eastern, but was preempted a week prior to the proposed "Prime for Excitement" launch. However, during the beta test, the local LDLs still shut off. |
May 25, 2011 | The blue LDL for Dish Network is discontinued during the "Local on the 8s" segment due to the update of the new satellite local forecast maps and graphics, which uses a built-in LDL. |
July 21, 2011 (July 25 on some IntelliStars) |
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July 26, 2011 | Text messages were added at the bottom of the 7-Day Forecast. The text cycles between "In-depth analysis and detailed local forecasts are available now at weather.com", "For all of your outdoor activity conditions and forecasts, visit weather.com for details", "Have a question or comment regarding the Local On The 8's? Go to weather.com/local", and "Detailed travel weather forecasts and conditions available now at weather.com". For severe weather alerts in certain areas, the box is shaded in red for any certain day, and the text cycle is "Potential for severe thunderstorms/heavy rainfall/flooding rains (name of the day). Additional details available now on weather.com" from the red box at the bottom. For any Hurricane or Tropical Storm system that threatens a given area, the text cycle is "Tropical Storm/Hurricane conditions possible (name of the day). Additional details available now on weather.com", and "Watching the Tropics (name of the day). Additional details available now on weather.com". For winter weather alerts in certain areas, the text cycle is "Potential for up to (X) inches of snow (name of the day). Additional details available now on weather.com", "Potential for significant/heavy snowfall (name of the day). Additional details available now on weather.com", and "Blizzard conditions possible (name of the day). Additional details available now on weather.com". Some IntelliStars, however, did not have an update feature. |
August 1, 2011 | The specialized "L" bar previously seen during long-form programming and special extended weather coverage in specialized "Local on the 8s" forecasts at or around :08/:38 and :18/:48 minutes past the hour was removed; the Lower Display Line is no longer cued at the start of each segment during long-form shows and extended weather coverage as well, and was limited to the specialized "Local on the 8s" forecasts (a translucent Weather Channel logo bug, previously seen only during airings of From the Edge with Peter Lik, is instead displayed at other times during such programs). |
August 17, 2011 | The Getaway Forecast, which as featured at :28 each hour during Wake Up with Al, Your Weather Today, Day Planner and Weather Center Live, and :58 minutes past each hour during long-form programming is discontinued. |
September 5, 2011 | The eight-city Local Observations, Getaway Forecast, Regional Conditions and Regional Forecast are restored. |
December 19, 2011 | 60-second local forecasts start airing at :18 and :48 past the hour during Day Planner and Weather Center Live. |
March 3, 2012 |
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May 2, 2012 | The text cycle at the bottom of the Extended Forecast is updated as "Get your personalized weather at the new weather.com; now more local, social, and relevant!" This text is only shown at the bottom instead of the other four text cycles as before due to the new weather.com website. Severe weather text pages (with specific name of the day) remains shown at the bottom as before. |
May 22, 2012 | 90-second local forecast flavors are now featured during :28/:58 minutes past each hour during Day Planner and Weather Center Live. 60-second flavors also now appear at :18/:48 after the hour during both shows, while Day Planner also uses the 60-second flavor during :08/:38 past each hour (Weather Center Live still uses the L-shaped squeezeback local forecasts featured at :08/:38 minutes past each hour). 90-second local forecast flavors also display in all flavors weekdays from 4:00 to 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time during First Outlook, and weekends from 4:30 to 11:00 a.m. Eastern during Weekend View. Though, the two-minute flavors still air weekdays from 6:00 to 11:00 a.m. Eastern at :28/:58 (until November 9, 2012), and at 4:28 a.m. Eastern after The Weather Classroom. |
November 12, 2012 | The 60-second flavor now appears in all cases weekdays from 4:00 to 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time (as well as Weather Center Live beginning February 18, 2013, and then later during Day Planner beginning April 1, 2013) due to the new weekday programming lineup. |
November 20, 2012 | The "weather.com" text which had been used underneath The Weather Channel logo is discontinued in all instances (even when the ad-crawl overlaps the display). |
January 27, 2013 | The station ID segment seen at :57 past the hour, during which identifies the cable provider, channel number, and ID number (all of which were generated by the IntelliStar) is discontinued for unknown reasons. This change also affected the IntelliStar 2 as well as all of the legacy STAR units (Weather Star XL, 4000 and Jr.). |
April 6, 2013 | The last two remaining two-minute LFs that appear following "The Weather Classroom" as well as the 90-second LF flavors are discontinued in all cases. The 60-second LF flavors that are shown all day weekdays are now shown on the weekends, which causes many products to be discontinued. |
September 8, 2013 | The Weather Channel logo color on the LDL becomes orange as part of being a supporter of Share Our Strength's "No Kid Hungry" campaign, for which many cable networks turned their logos orange in support of September being Hunger Awareness Month. |
November 12, 2013 |
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December 17, 2013 |
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Early-2014 | The Intellistar 2 Jr. comes out, replacing the XL, 4000, and Jr. systems on the SD Channel. |
Late January 2014 | The forecast sound effects are once again disabled after two months of activation. |
January 31, 2014 | Vocal Music playlists return. |
Late February 2014 | The vocal local narration interruption error is fixed. |
June 2014 | The Intellistar 2 Jr.'s graphics is updated to match the Intellistar and the Intellistar 2. |
April 1, 2014 | The time and temperature rotates once again on the LDL. |
July 24, 2014 | Traffic returns to the LDL for many major cities after nearly a three-year hiatus. |
October 21, 2014 | Summary and analog clock removed during Local on the 8s with some graphical changes. The 36-hour detailed forecast returns after nearly a year of absence. At the end of the local forecast,the hashtag "It's Amazing Out There" is displayed. If a severe weather product or statement is in effect, "For more information, stay on The Weather Channel" is displayed instead, this also happened on the Intellistar 2 and 2 Jr. |
November 6, 2014 | National sponsors reappear on the Local Forecast segment after almost a year of absence. Unlike the original sponsors, each sponsor gets its own unique background with the sponsor logo in the lower-right corner, this also happened with the Intellistar 2 and 2 Jr. |
Mid-December 2014 | Christmas music returns to the IntelliStar, IntelliStar 2, and the IntelliStar 2 Jr. after an year on hiatus. |
Early 2015 | The alert tone for the warning crawl has been changed to match the IntelliStar 2 and IntelliStar 2 Jr. Also the radar received an update making the names of cities have white boxes around them. |
Mid-March 2015 | The Intellistar 2 XD is released by The Weather Channel, replacing several Intellistar 2 Jr units on some providers. |
November 16, 2015 | The Intellistar is officially retired by The Weather Channel after 11 years, and the Intellistar 2 XD and/or IntelliSTAR 2 Jr has replaced most IntelliSTAR units. |
February-March 2016 | Smooth Jazz music returns to the IntelliStar 2, IntelliStar 2 Jr. and IntelliStar 2 XD after almost nearly an 3 year hiatus. |
See also
References
- ^ "1.2. Welcome to FreeBSD!". freebsd.org. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
- ^ An article on FreeBSD's role in the operation of the IntelliStar
- ^ "The Weather Channel - Current Conditions". The Weather Channel. Archived from the original on 2003-06-22.
In February of 2003, The Weather Channel successfully re-launched Weatherscan, it's all local digital tier product, on the new IntelliStar platform.