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Developer & Designer, News Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 12,959
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Unofficial Western Australian Daylight Saving Time Update for Windows Mobile
Last November, the Parliament of Western Australia passed the Daylight Saving Bill (No. 2) 2006, which provides for a three-year trial of daylight saving in all areas of Western Australia (including the state capital of Perth), beginning and ending on the following dates:
- December 3, 2006 to March 25, 2007
- October 28, 2007 to March 30, 2008
- October 26, 2008 to March 29, 2009
Prior to the commencement of the three-year trial, Microsoft introduced a collection of updates for its primary Windows and Exchange products. Unfortunately, Windows Mobile was neglected and it has since been confirmed that an official update will not be released for the platform. Microsoft's official solution is the manual alteration of the timezone setting of a Pocket PC or Smartphone to GMT+9 (e.g., Tokyo, Osaka, or Seoul) during the DST period and the reversion to GMT+8 Perth outside of the DST period. Many residents and visitors of Western Australia have expressed their unhappiness over this solution's lack of automation and increased vulnerability, so to counter this, I have created unofficial Western Australian DST updates for Windows Mobile and am releasing them today as an alternative to Microsoft's suggested workaround.
Read on for further details.
Two updates are available for download. The first update patches Windows Mobile for the Western Australian daylight saving period starting December 3, 2006 and ending March 25, 2007. The second update patches Windows Mobile for the two Western Australian daylight saving periods, October 28, 2007 to March 30, 2008, and October 26, 2008 to March 29, 2009, and all subsequent daylight saving periods in the event that daylight saving is implemented permanently (based on the results of the referendum following the summer of 2008-2009). Please be aware that these are unofficial updates for Windows Mobile and they are in no way affiliated with Microsoft. Installation and use of the updates is at your own risk. If you have any questions or comments, or you encounter any issues, please post them in this thread, and I will endeavour to help you out as best as possible.
Download
There are currently four update files available - two for Pocket PCs and two for Smartphones. Compatibility has been confirmed with Windows Mobile 2003, Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition, and Windows Mobile 5.0. Download the appropriate CAB files and store them on your Pocket PC or Smartphone.
- Unofficial Update for Western Australian DST (2006 to 2007) - Pocket PC, 1.3KB, CAB
- Unofficial Update for Western Australian DST (2007 to 2008, 2008 to 2009) - Pocket PC, 1.3KB, CAB
- Unofficial Update for Western Australian DST (2006 to 2007) - Smartphone, 0.67KB, CAB
- Unofficial Update for Western Australian DST (2007 to 2008, 2008 to 2009) - Smartphone, 0.67KB, CAB
Installing and Using the Update - December 3, 2006 to March 25, 2007
Please note that file names and application names listed in the following screenshots may differ slightly from what you see on screen.
Locate the appropriate CAB file using File Explorer - that is, westaust_dst0607_ppc.cab for Pocket PCs, or westaust_dst0607_sp.cab for Smartphones. Highlight the file and tap it once (Pocket PC) or use your action button once (Pocket PC or Smartphone) to commence installation.
You may be prompted to select a target location for the update (titled Unofficial Update for Western Australian DST). This should be left on the default setting of Device.
After a brief moment, the update will install. Newer devices will issue a display compatibility warning. This can be safely ignored.
You may be required to reconfigure your home timezone settings to GMT+8 Perth via the Clock & Alarms applet (Pocket PC) or Date & Time applet (Smartphone). You may also want to configure your secondary clock (Pocket PC only) to another GMT+8 timezone (e.g., Beijing, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, or Taipei) to ensure that GMT+8 Perth is indeed one hour ahead during the daylight saving period.
At the end of the daylight saving period (March 25, 2007 at 3:00AM AWDT), your Pocket PC or Smartphone will automatically revert to standard time and notify you of the change.
Installing and Using the Update - October 28, 2007 to March 29, 2009
Following the end of the first daylight saving period (March 25, 2007 at 3:00AM AWDT), it is necessary to install the second update to meet the new commencement rule of future daylight saving periods. As per the previous section of this article, locate the appropriate CAB file - that is, westaust_dst07na_ppc.cab for Pocket PCs, or westaust_dst07na_sp.cab for Smartphones - and install it (Windows Mobile will uninstall the older update automatically).
This second update will be valid beyond March 29, 2009, if daylight saving is implemented on a permanent basis.
Uninstalling the Update
If daylight saving in Western Australia does not continue post-March 29, 2009, or if at any time and for whatever reason you feel that you no longer require the update, you can safely uninstall it via the Remove Programs applet in Windows Mobile. The update is listed as Unofficial Update for Western Australian DST. After uninstalling, you may need to reconfigure your timezone to GMT+8 Perth.
Darius Wey enjoys all forms of technology. His time is usually channeled into mobile devices, digital media, application and web development, graphic design, and his Xbox 360. He lives in Perth, Western Australia, and even after two months, has yet to adjust to the new daylight saving rules.
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