Most of us have a complaint or two with our cellphone service. The complaints range from dropped calls to week indoor signals.
Some carriers are worse than others and have terrible reception and many dead zones.
My complaint is a little different than most – it has to do with the Daylight Saving Time where we advance our clocks by one hour in the summer, and turn them back by one hour in the fall. Why would I have a complaint with Daylight Saving Time and my cellphone carrier?
I frequently travel between the United States and Japan (you can probably guess the rest of my story). Believe it or not, some cellphone carriers in the US did not adjust automatically to daylight savings time. I know what you are about to say – you went into your phone settings and switched away from automatic network time and time zone options. Nope, that is the first setting I checked. I noticed this issue several years ago, and it continues to be a problem for me.
Here is the breakdown: On Sunday, Nov. 1, my AT&T cellular phone did not update to the new time, although my iPhone purchased in Japan automatically changed the time. The AT&T cellular phone didn’t adjust to the correct time for several days. Since I have two cellphones and a wristwatch, I didn’t miss a beat by forgetting to turn my clock back an hour. Phones typically update the time change, but some phones and cell phone service can be quirky. You may need to reboot to receive the change. This could be a big problem for consumers who use their cellphone for alarm clocks.
To complicate things, the US has nine time zones. From east to west they are Atlantic Standard Time, Eastern Standard Time, Central Standard Time, Mountain Standard Time, Pacific Standard Time, Alaskan Standard Time, Hawaii Standard Time, Samoa Standard Time and Chamorro Standard Time. Some states even have different time zones within the state, and Arizona and Indiana do not observe DST.
Fortunately, the latest IT technologies and GPS technologies provide accurate time any place on earth. In the old days, we had to change our wristwatches manually (gasp!). I can remember one of my counterparts wore two watches on his wrists – one for Japanese time and one for Eastern Standard Time. Nowadays, cellphones adjust the time depending on our location. You can also store different clocks for different time zones to show these times simultaneously. This technology is fantastic when it works. Unfortunately, my experience shows the time zones changes in the US do not update automatically with some cellphones. This is not as problematic in other countries.
So, is this a problem with the cellphone or the cellphone carrier? I believe the problem is with the carrier. Speaking from experience, foreign companies provide better service with higher reliability. The lion’s share of the cellphone service market belongs to Verizon and AT&T. This does not provide enough choices for the US consumer.
Dominique K. Numakura
DKN Research Newsletter #1536
Nov. 22, 2015 (English Edition)
(Micro Electronics & Packaging)
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Headlines of the week (Please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for further information of the news.)
1.SCREEN developed a printing plate system for offset and gravure printing. A printing plate covers different line width and thickness for printed electronics.
2. Tohoku University developed a new type of organic EL device. The device can be formed by simple spray process. It could be a low-cost solution for next-generation lighting.
3. Omron will roll out a small size (3.4 x 9.8mm) earthquake sensor in the beginning of the new year. It can be assembled by SMT.
4. Panasonic completed construction of a plant in China. The new plant will produce exhaust gas filters for diesel engines.
5. AIST developed a transparent flexible heat insulation material using natural fine fivers. It will be valuable for houses and automobiles.
6. JST successfully established a manufacturing process for large-size single crystal silicon ingot (larger than 400mm diameter) for photovoltaic cells.
7. Hitachi codeveloped the next generation controller for the industrial uses. It is capable for growing IoT applications.
8. OKI developed a wireless control system for next-generation road guidance systems. It detects locations of automobiles and pedestrians.
9. Tohoku University developed a low-cost iron/nickel base magnet without rare earth elements. The manufacturing process is very simple.
10. Kuraray developed a new plastic base optical guide plate. It can control the lighting directions by appropriate patterning.
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