2007 Daylight Saving Time Changes for PDAs & Smartphones

Beginning in 2007, Daylight Saving Time (DST) has been extended by four weeks. It will begin on the 2nd Sunday of March (March 11th) and end on the first Sunday of November (November 4th). This change will have an impact on many PDA operating systems, on calendaring software, and on synchronization.

General Information

Unless certain updates are applied to your PDA, it is possible that the time zone settings for your PDA's system clock and calendaring software may be incorrect during the four additional weeks of Daylight Saving Time this year. This depends on where you live and which time zone you have selected.

When your time zone settings are incorrect, your clock may be off by one hour, and certain applications running on your PDA may not display the correct time.

To minimize the impact that the new DST rules will have on your day to day activities, it is important to apply DST-related patches in a specific sequence. Your Local Support Provider (LSP) can provide you with information about how patches are being or should be applied in your area. A general rule of thumb is that operating system patches should be applied first, followed by application-specific patches.

Important Advice

Within your calendar:

• Prior to applying any updates, print out your calendar for the four weeks of the extended DST period.
• When scheduling meetings during the extended DST period, include the meeting time in the meeting title or the notes/agenda within the calendar, and send an email to confirm the time for all participants.
• Be on the lookout for events scheduled by others who may not have patched yet, as they may be off by an hour in your calendar.

When you or your LSP apply the updates:

• Be sure to apply the updates in the correct order, and in rapid succession on all devices.
• Once you begin to apply patches, avoid scheduling events in your calendar until all patches have been applied.

PDA & Smartphone DST Fixes

The cellular carriers have announced that they are waiting for Microsoft and Palm to release patches to address the DST change. They have indicated that they will not push the fixes out to mobile devices; thus it is up you or your LSP to patch these devices. We will post the links to the patches once they are available.

Windows Mobile

Palm OS

Palm has a Knowledge Base article on addressing DST issues, as well as the pros and cons of using network time.

Palm has indicated that they will have a patch available for Palm OS Smartphones (Treos) in late February.

Blackberry

The device clocks in the BlackBerry® device will not update automatically when DST goes into effect this spring and later this fall.

Unless patches are applied to affected BlackBerry software and third party software, BlackBerry device clocks will not update to the new time zones when DST takes effect. As a result, the BlackBerry device may not display correct time zone information for certain time periods during the year. More specifically, appointments and their reminders may appear one hour late on your BlackBerry device if the appointments start in one of the following windows in any year:

• Between the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in April (for example, March 11, 2007 to April 1, 2007)
• Between the last Sunday in October and the first Sunday in November (for example, October 28, 2007 to November 4, 2007)

RIM has created a website that contains detailed and up-to-date information on the upcoming United States, Canada and Bermuda DST change, and how RIM plans to address any necessary software changes or patches for various platforms.

New information is posted here as it becomes available. Please check the site frequently, and ensure you make the necessary changes to your BlackBerry device to be ready for the 2007 DST changes.

For More Information

ISC has a general article on Daylight Saving Time.