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Old 09-06-2009, 12:18 PM   #1
dimi
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Default Frustrated that time zone wont' change automatically

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I am frustrated that the Time zone doesn't change automatically when you travel with the TOur like it does on every other phone. I knew it would do this when I bought it, but since I travel every week (sometimes four timezones in a day) it is a pain. Is there an app you can buy to fix this behavoir? why was it designed this way? I've never had another BB but I doubt they all work like this.
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Old 09-06-2009, 12:25 PM   #2
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They all work that way. Many threads about it. Most people learn to deal with it. My watch doesn't change either
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Old 09-06-2009, 03:02 PM   #3
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Is there no app to do this?
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Old 09-06-2009, 03:04 PM   #4
rambo47
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Nope.

I love the BlackBerry specifically because it doesn't screw with time zones. I had enough of that crap with an old Windows Mobile Treo 750. A little research would have revealed this before you bought.
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Old 09-06-2009, 03:06 PM   #5
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That would be a nice feature.. Especially since BlacBerrys' are notorious business phones.
Thats just silly..

BUT, Im still in love and want...
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Old 09-06-2009, 03:43 PM   #6
dimi
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rambo47 View Post
Nope.

I love the BlackBerry specifically because it doesn't screw with time zones. I had enough of that crap with an old Windows Mobile Treo 750. A little research would have revealed this before you bought.
Rambo: I put that in my post. I knew it has this problem when I bought it but I had to switch from my Treo and the Tour was the best choice. I am glad I chose the tour even with this issue, but it is very frustrating for me since I am on 4-6 flights a week. Everything I do is in local time so My alerts and appts are off if I don't change time zones. It is not hard to do, but sometimes I forget. I am shocked that no one has written an app for this. If I could program I would write it. I don't know why they don't make it an option in the OS.
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Old 09-06-2009, 04:15 PM   #7
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Frankly, business users (RIM's primary customer base) just haven't asked for it. At least not enough to make it a feature of the OS. And it's not something you could write into an app, because it would need to interface with RIM's built-in PIM functions and that's not something RIM seems willing to let folks mess with. A stand-alone app could do it, but then there would be no information sharing with the built-in apps. I just don't see this function being added any time soon. All the leaks of OS 5.0 don't have it, so it will be at least until OS 6 comes out. That could be several years.
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Old 09-06-2009, 04:39 PM   #8
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In other words, deal with it

All my appointments are in local time. I travel a lot also. You can handle it. And I personally would LOVE an option to automatically change the time zone.

Wait, my PC doesn't do it either...
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Old 09-06-2009, 04:50 PM   #9
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There is a downside to everything
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Old 09-11-2009, 05:06 AM   #10
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Blackberries are business phones; hence, they do not change time zones automatically. When you calendar events, how is the phone supposed to know that the meeting is in New York, China, or England? If the phone detects a time zone change, how should it know that it should recalculate every single calendar entry's time? What if a calendared event was informational only so that you can track meetings taking place in more than one time zone?

Non-smartphones don't have an issue with time zones because they don't have to track your calendars, etc. Thus, an automatic time change has no consequence.

Automatically changing the time based on time zones would totally screw over any business person who uses the blackberry calendars to manage meetings and conference calls.

When you say that everything you do is in "local time", I am assuming that you mean your home time zone (where your house is located in). In this case, just calendar events in relation to your current time zone. For example, if you're in Los Angeles and you have a 3 PM meeting in New York, set the calendared meeting to 12 PM in your calendar.

If by "local time" you mean whatever the local time is on a certain date, maybe a blackberry isn't for you. Get a non-smartphone and use their simplified calendars.

As another example, suppose we're in the same time zone (Los Angeles) and I told you to send me a private message at 5 PM on 11/11/09. You calendared the event for 5 PM on 11/11/09. However, on 11/06/09, a close family member in Tampa, Florida was in a car accident. You fly over on 11/07/09 to visit. When 11/11/09 rolls around, your calendar reminds you to send me a PM at 5 PM. The following situations will arise:

1) Blackberry didn't change the time -> You send the message on time at 5 PM.
2) Blackberry did change the time -> You either send the message 3 hours early, or you sent it on time after thinking about it and trying to figure out what the correct time should be.
3) You're not sure if the blackberry changed changed the time (no other way to check the time) -> You either send it on time, send it 3 hours early, or you call me to verify when you should be messaging me.

Remember the concept of time zones...all time zones are based off of GMT so that we can properly traverse the globe without getting confused about what time events are. In the same way, you should calendar your events based off of one time zone (e.g., your home time zone). Mixing calendared events from multiple events is utter nonsense. (Perhaps you need to run multiple calendars some how.)
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Old 09-11-2009, 06:15 AM   #11
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This will be an option on OS 5.0
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Old 09-11-2009, 06:51 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SoCaliTrojan View Post
Blackberries are business phones; hence, they do not change time zones automatically. When you calendar events, how is the phone supposed to know that the meeting is in New York, China, or England? If the phone detects a time zone change, how should it know that it should recalculate every single calendar entry's time? What if a calendared event was informational only so that you can track meetings taking place in more than one time zone?

Non-smartphones don't have an issue with time zones because they don't have to track your calendars, etc. Thus, an automatic time change has no consequence.

Automatically changing the time based on time zones would totally screw over any business person who uses the blackberry calendars to manage meetings and conference calls.

When you say that everything you do is in "local time", I am assuming that you mean your home time zone (where your house is located in). In this case, just calendar events in relation to your current time zone. For example, if you're in Los Angeles and you have a 3 PM meeting in New York, set the calendared meeting to 12 PM in your calendar.

If by "local time" you mean whatever the local time is on a certain date, maybe a blackberry isn't for you. Get a non-smartphone and use their simplified calendars.

As another example, suppose we're in the same time zone (Los Angeles) and I told you to send me a private message at 5 PM on 11/11/09. You calendared the event for 5 PM on 11/11/09. However, on 11/06/09, a close family member in Tampa, Florida was in a car accident. You fly over on 11/07/09 to visit. When 11/11/09 rolls around, your calendar reminds you to send me a PM at 5 PM. The following situations will arise:

1) Blackberry didn't change the time -> You send the message on time at 5 PM.
2) Blackberry did change the time -> You either send the message 3 hours early, or you sent it on time after thinking about it and trying to figure out what the correct time should be.
3) You're not sure if the blackberry changed changed the time (no other way to check the time) -> You either send it on time, send it 3 hours early, or you call me to verify when you should be messaging me.

Remember the concept of time zones...all time zones are based off of GMT so that we can properly traverse the globe without getting confused about what time events are. In the same way, you should calendar your events based off of one time zone (e.g., your home time zone). Mixing calendared events from multiple events is utter nonsense. (Perhaps you need to run multiple calendars some how.)
I completely disagree. First of all, most smartphones do change time zones. I have had Treo's for years and I also had a windows mobile. By default both adjust to the time zones (though you could opt out of this if you wished). I travel every single week. I live in the Central time zone but when I make appointments or enter flight times in my calendar all times are based on the time zone where they occur. When I get a flight time from the airline it is local time (not where i live but where the flight departs). When I schedule a meeting with someone it is based on the time where the meeting will occur. If my BB did not reflect the local time I would miss the flights or appointments. The only case in which this is a problem is the one example you give where I have scheduled a phone call with someone in a different time zone. In that case the call at 3PM PT will be 6PM if I am in NYC. Of course since I know where my calendar says I will be, I enter the time correctly based on where I will be when the call occurs. If my schedule changes and I don't travel then I have to remember to adjust the time of the call. This situation comes up much less frequently than the one about flights or appointments. I have used Palm based calendars as my EXCLUSIVE schedule keeper since my PalmPilot (1996). Of course without a radio it didn't know where it was so as I traveled I had to manually adjust the time zone. When I got my first Treo this was no longer a problem. Apparently BB wanted to be retro and go back to this manual adjustment.

Another post says the option to change will be available with the next OS so there must have been a lot of other requests. It is always an option (even on the Treo) so if you are like my wife who never changes her watch when she travels, you will be able to keep your BB on your home time even after the option becomes available. This is why ice cream comes in chocolate AND vanilla.
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Old 09-11-2009, 06:59 AM   #13
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4 clicks and my timezone is changed. Takes about 2.4 seconds. <sarcasm>That would be a complete pain if I had to do it every time I traveled</sarcasm>

I agree that is much better that it does not change and screw up all my reminders, appointments, and other date/time related items by doing something "for me". I like it just how it is

If it was display only of local time (but keep the calendar based on home time zone) that would maybe be worthwhile, but I still like having control of my device information
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Old 09-11-2009, 07:06 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PressureDrop View Post
4 clicks and my timezone is changed. Takes about 2.4 seconds. <sarcasm>That would be a complete pain if I had to do it every time I traveled</sarcasm>

I agree that is much better that it does not change and screw up all my reminders, appointments, and other date/time related items by doing something "for me". I like it just how it is

If it was display only of local time (but keep the calendar based on home time zone) that would maybe be worthwhile, but I still like having control of my device information
The tremendous workload of clicking is not my concern. It is that you have to remember to change the time zones. When flying for me this may happen three times in one day and 6+ times in a week. if I forget than I am off by an hour. As I say, some like chocolate and some prefer vanilla. My wife never adjusts her watch when travelling. I hope the option to change will be available since I have managed my electronic schedule based on local time (not home time) for 13 years. While the phone internally bases everything on Zulu time (GMT) I don't know many people who schedule their life that way. I don't mean to be a heretic (though I am good at it).
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Old 09-11-2009, 07:26 AM   #15
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Neither your watch nor your PC handle time zones. How do you survive?
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Old 09-11-2009, 07:58 AM   #16
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It is a legit feature and a legit request and a legit post

One of the nice features of this forum was that it was
1) An atmosphere of people helping people
2) Not lurked by jerks who who pounce with 'that's stupid' or 'can't you use search'
Notice I said 'was'

PIM programs for the Palm and PPC like Agendus could keep the time zones straight, because Time zome was part of calender event data. I believe the BB is capable of this as well.
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Old 09-11-2009, 08:35 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NJBlackBerry View Post
Neither your watch nor your PC handle time zones. How do you survive?
Thus the BB. Because my watch, computer, and body clock don't adjust I just use my handheld. Don't ask me how it helps with my body clock.
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Old 09-11-2009, 08:52 AM   #18
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BTW - I really would love for my BB to change time zones. I travel a lot and understand. But so far, RIM has been disinclined to add that feature. I also would like a replaceable battery in my iPhone and Flash support. But I don't have those either.

Perhaps in v5.

In the meantime - drop a note to [email address] to add your voice!
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Old 09-11-2009, 02:02 PM   #19
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I am confused on how it would 'screw up' your times? If my local time is east coast time and I have a conference call set for 1pm, but on that day I am in California I would want the phone to update my reminder to go off at 10am.

Just seems silly and stupid that it doesn't do that. All other smartphones can do this and there is no problem with it. Even my laptop does it when I connect to a new wifi hotspot.
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Old 09-11-2009, 02:08 PM   #20
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Your laptop changes time zones for you?
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