We are developing a new device, and we although we have an automatic time server that helps the device to set the time, timezone and time diference (UTC) automatically, for whatever reasons, some users will have problems and will need to set it automatically.
At the end the user is going to select between all the different options, lets say -12:00, -11:00, ..... 0:00, +01:00, .... +12:00. (I dont write all the values, just as an example).
The problem is that the UTC is something users are not very familiar with. For example, USA citizens understande the mountain time zone, but dont know that it corresponds to -06:00. In order to help them in the decision, we are going to add some extra information for the users to be more sure.
One option is to display the main cities of that UTC timezone, for example UTC: -06:00 Principal cities: Chicago, Guatemala City, Mexico City, San José, San Salvador, Winnipeg (See more info here)
Other option is to put principal cities, + main global timezones (USA, Europe, etc....).
Last option is by Timezones, but the naming of the timezones it can be controversial, since CT = central time, CET = Central European Time also known as MET (Middle european time)....
Wow, big mess :D.
Do you have any idea how to simplify this for users?
What is the easiest for users to select, supposing that mostly all users will not know which UTC time they are living in?