VOIP Tech Chat → Re: Gigaset A580IP new firmware, 022270000000 / 053.00

Not all Gigaset handsets are created equal. The red light is flashing for missed calls and/or voicemails.

However, the cheaper handsets also show the text "You have new messages" on the display for missed calls. IMO this is a bug, the correct wording should be "You have missed calls".

On the better Gigaset handsets like S67H/S68H there are no erroneous text on the display. Instead there is an icon for missed calls with information about the number of missed calls. Also there is an icon for voicemail with the number of voicemails. An excellent way of showing information without getting the user confused.

Thanks, Arne, for your commentary!

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I am wondering what the A580IP firmware update was all about!

The info on their website still relates to 03/2010 (version 02223) rather than to the current December update which is version 02227.

I can't see anything different in settings or functionality.

This firmware update is a "Red Queen's Race".

The Red Queen's race is an incident that appears in Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking-Glass" and involves the Red Queen and Alice constantly running but remaining in the same spot.

"Well, in our country," said Alice, still panting a little, "you'd generally get to somewhere else — if you run very fast for a long time, as we've been doing."

"A slow sort of country!" said the Queen. "Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!"

The Red Queen's race is often used to illustrate similar situations:

* Isaac Asimov used it in his short story "The Red Queen's Race" to illustrate the concept of predestination paradox.
* Vernor Vinge uses it in his novel Rainbows End to illustrate the struggle between encouraging technological advancement and protecting the world from new weapons technologies....

»en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Re ··· n's_race

Maybe this is a translation issue. The Button in German is called "Nachrichten"-Taste/Button which they translate as "Message". This Button bundles everything - messages, missed calls a.s.o. I have a C470 and there I have the distinct icons for message, missed call a.s.o. In the german manual, they explicitly write that the "nachrichten" button shows missed calls, messags, email, sms a.s.o. So in this logic, it makes sense that if a phone can not display which kind of nachricht/message is waiting, to simply state you have a new nachricht/message, which, in gigaset logic, includes missed calls, messages, email, sms a.s.o.
The german "Nachricht" also can be translated as "information", "announcement", "notice", "news" or "advice" which probably all would make more sense than "message".
Anyways, I dont believe they ever will fix this because I dont think they believe it is a bug, even if it s stupid.

The button is not the issue. On cheaper handsets the following text is shown on the display when there are missed calls:
"You have new messages"

"New messages" means "new voicemails" for English speaking people. It does not mean "missed calls" in English.

It s even weird in german to call a missed call a "Nachricht" - but its not as weird as calling it a message, see the alternatie meanings I listed.

I simply believe the logic is they want to display there is something new with the "nachricht" or "message" button = within their nachricht/message system and therfore they write new nachricht/message. With the better handsets there are distinct icons, with the cheaper one just this one text.

Because of this logic that everything new/missed is a nachticht/message, they also called the button nachricht/message button, this is the word under which they group all new & missed things. And under this logic they write new nachricht/message if anything in this category is new.

Your absolutely right that new message is 100% the wrong word to express this, while to use the german nachricht is maybe only 80% wrong, but still does not feel like a brilliand decision.

I just believe the gigaset people are for some reason very comfortable whith this, to change this would be more of a feature request or asking them to getting their translations right than hoping for a bug fix.

Personally I understand the logic but I still feel it is annoying. Other people often can't understand the logic and they keep checking their voicemail every time they see "You have new messages" on the display.

My advice is to avoid the Gigaset A580 IP and instead purchase the better Gigaset S675 IP.