Windows Mobile got me fired (or at least it could have done)
Friday, December 4, 2009 at 6:13PM
lessCode

After resisting getting a so-called “smart”-phone for the longest time, making do with a pay-as-you-go Virgin Mobile phone (I wasn’t a heavy user), I recently stumped up for the T-Mobile HTC Touch Pro2. I was going to be traveling in Europe, and I also wanted to explore writing an app or two for the device (if I can ever find the time), so I convinced myself that the expense was justified. After three months or so, I think I should have gone for the iPhone 3GS.

Coincidentally, the week I got the HTC, my old alarm clock (a cheap Samsonite travel alarm) bit the dust, and so I started using the phone as a replacement (it was on the nightstand anyway, and the screen slides out and tilts up nicely as a display). I also picked up a wall charger so that it could charge overnight and I wouldn’t risk it running out of juice and not waking me up.

Over the last few weeks, however, the timekeeping on the device has started to become erratic. First it would lose time over the course of a day, to the tune of about 15 minutes or so. Then I’d notice that when I’d set it down and plug it in for the night, the time would just suddenly jump back by several hours, and I’d have to reset it. I guess this must have happened four or five times over the course of a couple of months, but it always woke me up on time.

Today I woke up at 8.30am to bright sunshine, my phone proclaiming it to be 4.15am. My 6.00am alarm clearly useless; and I’m glad the 8am call I had scheduled wasn’t mandatory on my part.

A pretty gnarly bug for a business-oriented smart-phone.

Article originally appeared on lesscode.net (http://www.lesscode.net/).
See website for complete article licensing information.