Patent ID: 8620345

Claim:
A method, comprising: storing a plurality of bounding boxes of geometric shapes using latitude and longitude coordinates, each of the geometric shapes being associated with a time zone; determining, by a mobile device, that a current location of the mobile device intersects both a first bounding box of a first geometric shape corresponding to a first time zone and a second bounding box of a second geometric shape corresponding a second time zone, the current location being an area a size of which corresponds to an error margin of the current location, the error margin indicating an uncertainty of whether the mobile device is located in the first geometric shape or in the second geometric shape, the uncertainty being caused by at least one of: an interference of a global positioning system signal by a vehicle carrying the mobile device, the global positioning system signal usable by the mobile device to determine the current location; or an operating mode that disables a location determining function of the mobile device, wherein, when the vehicle interferes with the global positioning system signal or when the mobile device is in the operating mode, the mobile device determines the current location using a signal from a wireless access point or a cellular communications network and using an identifier of a wireless access gateway, and wherein a first portion of the area is in the first bounding box, a second portion of the area is in the second bounding box, and wherein a current time zone setting of the mobile device is the first time zone; keeping the current time zone setting of the mobile device to the first time zone until the current location of the mobile device ceases to intersect the first bounding box, wherein the current location ceases to intersect the first bounding box when each portion of the area is outside of the first bounding box; and triggering a time zone change upon determining that the current location of the mobile device ceases to intersect the first bounding box, including setting the current time zone of the mobile device to the second time zone.