why set clock on mobile phone

[cjakeman]

All the UK mobile phones I've come across ask the user to set the date and time on the internal clock. Why is this needed? After all mobile phones communicate with the nearest base station at frequent intervals. Just curious.

[smudge]

I never wear a watch, I always use my mobile for the time.

[Mr Bear]

The reason is that your phone can then record when a call or message arrives (I know that the phone company does that too). It also keeps the time accurate if you use the phone's inbuilt alarm feature. My phone is a bit like a very basic electronic organiser and you can set appointments for months ahead (as long as the calendar is right) And it also sends me short term reminders like when my parking meter has run out or I have to go to the dentist etc. The calendar and clock has to be accurate for that to work as those functions are outside the influence of your provider _ they are simply phone functions seperate from the phone system

[Ashley]

I don't think you got the crux of the question Mr. Bear- we all know why having the time on your phone is useful for alarm and calender functions- but cjakemans asking why the time and date aren't automatically set by the network provider at certain intervals. I'd imagine they don't do it because it would probably annoy more people than it would benefit- but then again- it could just be an oversight. Just have to hope someone who works on phone network engineering is online...

[Ewood27]

Good question. It must be technically poaaible. My car clock is automatically checked/corrected at frequent intervals by RDS (Radio Data System). I'm sure mobile phones could be too.

[slimjim]

They do! Or at least my company Nokia does. It even has an option in the menu where I can set it to either 1) auto update, 2) prompt before updating or 3) no update.

[IndieSinger]

Ooh, get Mr Digital!