Consider the following scenario:

• an app using the datepicker is launched on d1
  • $scope.today is set to d1
• the app is sent to the background (suspended) but NOT KILLED (either by the user or by the system)
• the date changes (either in the real world, or using the Date and Time settings for faster testing)
• the app is resumed from the task list
• the existing datepicker is loaded into memory
• $scope.today is still d1

So if the datepicker is opened, then d1 shows the "Today" styling and clicking on the "Today" button goes to d1.

Normally, you would handle this in the app by listening to the resume event and then refreshing the object. But $scope.today is not refreshed as part of openDatePicker and I don't see a way to access it from outside the module to refresh it.