#!GlobalTime 1.2.0

User's Guide

Contents

1. Introduction

2. System Requirements

3. Getting started - Setting the local time and city

4. The main screen - the World Map

5. Menus

6. List of cities

7. Daylight Savings information

1. Introduction

Hashbang GlobalTime (#!GlobalTime) is a program for Java enabled mobile phones and devices that allows you to find out the time in cities around the world.

You live in New York and need to make an important business call to Tokyo? "What's the time in Tokyo?" you ask. Run GlobalTime directly on your phone and find out fast! You're travelling and want to ring home? Find out the time at home to avoid waking someone up, all from the convenience of your mobile phone.

We hope you get great use from Hashbang GlobalTime!

2. System Requirements

Hashbang GlobalTime runs on J2ME enabled devices. The install file (the jar file) is 25kb.

For Motorola users, GlobalTime requires 2kb of data space and 64kb of program space.

3. Getting started - Setting the local time and city

When you run GlobalTime it will display a splash screen while loading, followed by a welcome message. Simply select the Done command and you will be presented with the "Local Time and Local City" screens. Initially, you will need to select a city to act as your local city. This gives the program a reference point from which to calculate the time in foreign cities around the world. The local city is generally the city that you live in. For a full list of the cities GlobalTime knows about, see the city list at the end of this user's guide.

1. Verifying the date and time

   As well as setting the local city, it is necessary to verify the local date and time. GlobalTime attempts to get the current date and time from the mobile device. If the date and time displayed are correct, you may skip the rest of this paragraph. If the date and time are incorrect, move the cursor to the field you wish to change and modify the value as appropriate.

2. Setting the local city

   To select the local city, select the letter the city starts with and then simply scroll down the list of cities till the cursor rests on the desired city. Due to the limited memory space of devices like mobile phones, there is a limited number of cities to choose from. Simply choose the closest city in the same timezone. Press the 'Send' button or equivalent to select the city. Once you have verified the date and time and selected the local city, you can then select the Save command.

4. The main screen - the World Map

Most of your time spent using GlobalTime will occur on the main screen, comprising :

1. The map

   The world map takes up most of the main screen. Depending on the screen size of your phone or device, more or less of the map will be displayed. On colour screens the water is blue and the land is green. On black and white or greyscale screens, the land is dark. The first time you run GlobalTime, your local city will be displayed. If your device can not display the full map, you can use the cursor to scroll the map.

2. The cursor

   The cursor is represented by a large cross. On a colour display it will be red. On a black and white or greyscale screen it will be black. There's a white dot at the centre of the cross so that the cursor position can still be seen over land on a black and white screen. The cursor can be moved around the map by using the navigation keys on your device. If you have a pointer, you can simply point on the map to move the cursor.

3. Local city display

   Under the map are two lines of text. The lower line displays your local city and the current day and time in italics.

4. Foreign city display

   The upper line of text displays the day, time and name of the city closest to the cursor.

5. The closest city indicator

   When the cursor is close to a city, it will be indicated by a flashing light/white cross and the relevant day, time and name are shown in the foreign city display. When there are a number of cities in the vicinity, GlobalTime will display the city which is closest to the cursor.

6. Daylight savings indicator

   If the displayed city is observing daylight savings time, an asterisk(*) will appear after the time. For more information about how GlobalTime handles daylight savings, see the Daylight Savings Information at the end of this document.

7. Scrolling

   By using the navigation keys, you can move the cursor around the world map. If your device does not display the full map, GlobalTime will scroll the map as appropriate. If you approach the left or right side of the visible part of the map, it will automatically scroll to reveal more. The map wraps around, so you can continue to scroll all the way back to where you started. If you move the cursor to the top or the bottom of the visible map, it will scroll to display more of the map, but unlike the horizontal scrolling, vertical scrolling does not wrap. If you reach the absolute top (north) of the map or absolute bottom (south), the map will stop scrolling.

5. Menus

1. About

   You can use the About menu to display the version of GlobalTime you are using.

2. Find city

   Selecting this menu option allows you to quickly move the cursor to a city. Similarly to when you selected the local city, first of all select the first letter of the city you wish to find. Then scroll down the list of cities and press the select key again. The map will now center on the city you choose.

3. Set local city

   Selecting this menu option will take you to the same screen encountered when you first ran GlobalTime. It enables you to re-set your local city. This can be especially handy when you are staying overseas. For instructions on how to do this see the Getting Started section. If you don't want to save your changes, simply select the Cancel command.

4. Set local time

   Selecting this menu option will take you to the same screen encountered when you first ran GlobalTime. It enables you to change the date and time of your local city. For instructions on how to do this see the Getting Started section. If you don't want to save your changes, simply select the Cancel command.

5. Help

   Selecting the Help menu simply refers you to Hashbang's website where you can find this document with any updated information. For support, please email .

6. Exit

   Selecting the Exit menu will take you back to your application launcher. When you next run GlobalTime, the splash screen will be followed by the the main screen display and the cursor will be in the same position as when you exited the program, with the map centered on this location.

   On a related note, GlobalTime is able to be suspended and resumed. If an incoming call or some other event is received, your phone will suspend GlobalTime. At the end of the phone call, the program will resume where it left off.

6. List of cities

Here is a complete list of cities that have been included in GlobalTime.

7. Daylight Savings Information

GlobalTime contains extensive daylight savings information, with a few caveats, and displays accurate times for all cities whether they are observing daylight savings time or not. When a city is observing daylight savings time, an asterisk(*) will appear after the time display. The time will be the appropriate daylight savings time.

GlobalTime is only accurate to the day. Most countries change into and out of daylight savings at 2am whereas GlobalTime only considers the date in its calculation. For some cities, this means that the time may be out by one hour during this 2 hour period at the start and end of daylight savings.

In order to make GlobalTime run as smoothly as possible, the necessary daylight savings calculations are performed whenever it's started. This means that if GlobalTime is kept running during a daylight savings changeover, this will not be reflected in the display. The chances of this happening in normal use is considered small enough to warrant the tradeoff in order to improve the speed and smoothness of GlobalTime.

Copyright 2002 Hashbang Pty Ltd - Last updated 9th of April 2002