Making things personal: Siemens Gigaset SL780 and SL785 with new QuickSync 4.0 software

With the new Gigaset QuickSync 4.0 software, users can load digital photos on their phone in many popular formats and use them as a slideshow, a screen saver or in conjunction with stored numbers (Picture CLIP).

It is equally simple to edit and load custom ringtones - in MP3 format, for example. The new software version also makes it possible to synchronize individual Outlook folders and to administer multiple handsets in parallel.

Customizing the home phone to suit personal wishes and needs - that can be done quickly and easily at the click of a mouse thanks to the new Gigaset software QuickSync 4.0. Users can load their own photos and ringtones quickly from a PC to the phone. In addition to BMP files, JPEG and GIF are now supported as well.

If personal photos are assigned to the contacts stored in the address book, they are shown on the phone's display when that person calls (Picture CLIP). Different colors can also be assigned to callers or caller groups to enable quick visual recognition. If someone from a defined group calls, the display's upper area changes to the chosen color (Color CLIP). Six colors are available.

Gigaset QuickSync 4.0 can also be used to create a small slideshow in little or no time and load it on the phone, transforming the Gigaset display into an electronic picture frame. The stored photos can also be used as screensavers for the handset.

If pictures are transferred via Bluetooth (Serial Profile) or USB, the new software scales all the photos to 240x320 pixels (screensaver) or 240x130 pixels (Picture CLIP) to save storage space. As a result, there is room for around 100 photos in the free memory (3 MB).

Thanks to Gigaset QuickSync 4.0, the phone rings with a sound to match the user's personal taste. Portions of any desired melodies can be used as ringtones. The new QuickSync 4.0 software processes all common music formats that can be played on a PC and are not copy-protected. These include MP3, WAVE and various iPod and Windows formats.

Users first select on their PC how many seconds of the desired piece of music are to be used as the ringtone. The maximum length is 60 seconds; the default is 15 seconds. The music clips are then converted into the G.722 format and transferred to the handset via USB or Bluetooth (Serial Profile) in full DECT wideband quality.

Gigaset QuickSync 4.0 also ensures that entries in the phone's address book are always up-to-date by synchronizing them with Outlook. For the first time, the new software version now allows individual address folders to be selected and synchronized separately. Multiple handsets can be administered simultaneously, making it possible to maintain private and business contacts on different handsets.

A firmware update for the Gigaset SL780 and Gigaset SL785 is available. The update is loaded via the phone's USB interface. It also includes T9 text input in seven languages (German, English, French, Dutch, Swedish, Italian and Greek) to enable quick and easy writing of SMS text messages in the fixed-line network.