Items tagged with Gmail
Android defragmentation continues. Since there are devices out there, even those newly released (such as the Dell Streak) running older versions of Android, Google has started to decouple key pieces of Android from the main OS. One of those was just released today: Gmail. An updated version of Gmail has been released into the Android Market That's the good news. The bad news is that it is only for those devices running Android 2.2 (Froyo). If you don't have 2.2 yet, you'll have to wait (and hope that your device gets 2.2, not all will). In terms of the new features, the updated version of Gmail has a floating message actions toolbar like the browser-based mobile Gmail webapp. That means you don't...
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We know that Google is constantly experimenting with new ideas, and rolling them out as they come to fruition. Thus, on Wednesday, we saw another feature come to Gmail, which Google seems to be focusing on as a communications center. While you have been able voice chat to other Gmail users through Gtalk for some time, how about this: voice calls from Gmail? It would seem to be a natural extension of the voice chat functionality, and Google Voice as well. While you can use Google Voice to make a call, it doesn't use VOIP to do so: it calls your phone and then calls the recipient as well. Obviously this sort of functionality has a high-profile target, Skype (or maybe two, Fring). Launched from...
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If you look at what's happening in the software development world, it's pretty remarkable to see how the iPad has shuffled things up. With any new platform, some tweaks are made, but few happen this fast. There were only a few months between the debut of the iPad and the launch of it, yet many developers have already created new applications that take advantage of the extra screen space. This rapid rate of development is likely spurred by just how successful the App Store has been on the iPhone and iPod touch, and many developers are seeing green at the chance to charge even more for "HD" versions of these apps for the iPad. Google is no different. The company has had their problems with Apple...
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Google rolled out a new security feature for Gmail that can alert you when it thinks someone else may be using your account. By using the IP tracking feature that Google launched in July 2008, the new security feature will display a warning if it detects that your account has been accessed from two different geographic regions within a short timeframe. Although the new feature isn't remarkably accurate (in the US it only displays which state you are in), it can prove useful if an attack comes from across the country or from overseas. Since there are plenty of legitimate reasons for accessing an account from multiple locations, Google doesn't lock you out of the account. Instead, it simply displays...
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Google has been an innovator for years now. They fundamentally changed the way we searched for items on the Internet, and for many, they have changed how one perceives email. Gmail and Google (search engine) are both best-in-class tools, and the Android operating system is seriously challenging iPhone OS and webOS. Needless to say, the world pays attention when Google makes a move, and it's making a huge move this morning in the social networking space.During a press conference today at the company's Mountain View headquarters, Google Buzz was introduced. This is the first web-based tech to be introduced by Google since Google Wave took the web by storm, and Buzz is said to be "a new way to share"...
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Google has a history of creating cool new features for many of its offerings and then letting them sit in testing stage for quite a while. The Offline feature of Gmail is no exception. Nearly a year after its initial launch, the Offline Gmail feature is finally graduating from Gmail Labs. After you install Offline Gmail, you'll be able to use the traditional Gmail interface to read and compose email messages, search, and organize messages even when you are away from an Internet connection. In addition, a Flaky Connection mode speeds up Gmail when your connection is unreliable. During the time a feature part of Google Labs, Google collects feedback and makes changes to that feature to make it...
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It's impossible, these days, to swing a dead cat more than about six inches without running into "the cloud" in one form or another. Whether we're discussing cloud computing as a storage concept, server provisioning, or consumer appliance, moving data into or out of the cloud has been a major topic over the past year. For all the traction cloud computing has found as an idea, however, it may end up being practically useful to a relatively small subsection of the total storage market. In theory, Cloud Computing could free data centers from needing to keep quite so much storage around—provided they've got the time and bandwidth to upload it in the first place.A quick glance at the broadband...
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Google Sync has enabled many users to synchronize their Gmail Contacts and Google Calendar with their iPhone, Windows Mobile, and S60 devices. Although many people are pleased with Google Sync, there's one thing that has been missing until now: support for Gmail. Today, Google added Gmail support to Google Sync. As a result of this new feature, iPhone, iPod Touch, and Windows Mobile device users will now be able to enjoy push email. With an over-the-air, always-on connection, you'll know your inbox is up to date, no matter where you are or what you're doing. Because Sync works with your phone's native email application, you won't need any additional software. For users who prefer the ultimate...
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Touted as “the first phone with social skills,” Motorola's new CLIQ smartphone is the company’s first Android handset. The CLIQ is headed to T-Mobile in the fourth quarter, so it should be here in time for the holidays. The CLIQ will utilize MOTOBLUR, which was also announced today. MOTOBLUR is designed to sync contacts, posts, messages, photos, and much more from sources such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Gmail, work and personal e-mail, and LastFM and automatically deliver it to the home screen. Recognizing this is a lot of content, Motorola has organized this information into easy-to-manage streams that are designed to help you spend less time managing your life and more time living it. The...
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Google continues to try to make Gmail its centralized location for all things Google. The latest addition to Gmail, via Google Labs, is Google Voice integration into Gmail.Google Voice, nee GrandCentral and purchased by Google, is a service that allows users to give out one number and have it ring another, "real" number, or even multiple number, or even go straight to voicemail. Certain features allow you to SMS or call using that number. Previously, or without the Labs feature, called "Google Voice player in mail," when you would receive an email from your Google Voice account alerting you to a voicemail, along with an automated transcript of the voicemail, there would be a link to play...
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There was an extended Gmail outage on Tuesday. The outage, although over in approximately two hours, showed, in its own way, how popular the email service is, despite its current 3rd place ranking. At the peak of the outage, more than Google Trends was full of "why is Gmail down," "Gmail down," etc. etc. We're talking about the top 20+ trends. People were definitely upset about the lack of connectivity, and wondering what was going on. At 12:53 PM PDT on its Google Apps status dashboard, Google said:"We're aware of a problem with Google Mail affecting a majority of users. The affected users are unable to access Google Mail."Although Google said service returned to normal at 2:40P PM PDT, intermittent...
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As we move more and more toward "all things Google," it might surprise people to learn that Google's Gmail was, until recently, mired in 4th place among email vendors. That's where it was until new comScore estimates for July 2009. Yes, despite the way Gmail and Google Docs, and Google Reader, and the rest all work together, it's only now that Gmail edged past AOL Mail, with 37 million unique visitors compared to only 36.4 million for AOL. Who's number two? That's Windows Live Hotmail, with 47 million unique visitors. Number one and still far, far ahead is Yahoo! Mail with 106 million monthly unique visitors. In 2009, Gmail’s unique visitors grew 25%, while AOL Mail’s declined 22%. Windows Live...
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One of the causes of erroneously sent emails is the human at the end of the Send button. This is why Gmail Labs' Undo Send feature is helpful. Of course, that's Gmail. What about the mistakes we humans make in the workplace?Most commonly, the biggest mistake is usually just sending an email to the wrong people. In the national survey, 78% admitted to such an error. Only 78%? We certainly would admit to such an error.The survey, done by an independent research firm on the behalf of The Creative Group, is based on 250 phone interviews, 125 with advertising executives randomly selected from the nation's 1,000 largest advertising agencies and 125 with senior marketing executives randomly...
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Have you picked yourself off the floor yet? It's no lie, Google Apps, which includes Gmail, is finally out of beta. Gmail had been in beta for five years. In fact, Gmail had been in beta for so long we wondered if Google simply forgot it was in beta. Here's what the company said on the official Google blog:Ever since we launched the Google Apps suite for businesses two years ago, it's had a service level agreement, 24/7 support, and has met or exceeded all the other standards of non-beta software. More than 1.75 million companies around the world run their business on Google Apps, including Google. We've come to appreciate that the beta tag just doesn't fit for large enterprises that aren't keen...
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