Daylight Saving Time 2007—Mobile Devices: Blackberry

Blackberry Overview

The rapid evolution of the PDA (personal digital assistant) has spawned hundreds of devices with rapidly expanding sets of features. Originally used as a personal organizer tool (appointment and contact management), modern devices often have the following features: ability to synchronize with corporate email and calendaring systems, wireless (WiFi) connectivity to the Internet, telephone functionality, text messaging, and even sometimes a built-in camera.

Today’s devices fall roughly into several categories, although category boundaries are subject to constant revision:

PDAs – enhanced personal digital assistants that may sync wirelessly or via connection to a desktop machine.

Smart Phones – wireless telephones that typically also have internet and email access. 

Pocket PCs – A Microsoft technology that combines Smart Phone features with the functionality of a small handheld computer.

BlackBerry – A proprietary technology by Research In Motion that supports wireless push email, web browsing, telephony, and other services.

Impact of Daylight Saving Time Change on this Technology

The impact of Daylight Saving Time on these devices depends on several variables: which operating system the device is running, the method whereby it connects to other platforms that may require DST patching, and the DST integrity of the data source it is accessing. For example, wireless Active Sync on a Pocket PC involves the operating system of the device, the corporate servers it is accessing, and the telecommunications carrier providing the wireless network service. All of those are factors to be examined for DST impact. Other devices may connect via USB cable or cradle to a desktop machine, and the machine’s operating system may need to be updated first.

Remediation Steps for Customers

For BlackBerry, patching procedures depend on whether the device connects to a BlackBerry Enterprise Server or not. If it does, patches can be pushed out by the system administrator. If not, users can download and apply patches themselves: www.blackberry.com/DST2007/patch/index2.shtml

Additional Information

For more information concerning BlackBerry devices: www.blackberry.com/select/dst2007/

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