Do you want to personalize those Christmas emails you’re sending out to family and friends? Maybe add something that gives it a more Christmas-y feel? If so, and if you’re sending your Gmail mailings from a mobile device, Google has introduced Scribble for Gmail just in time.
The Scribbles feature is available in iOS Gmail app, or if a user navigates to Gmail in their mobile browser — well, with for the following environments: iOS 4+, Android 3.1+ or Playbook device — and it features a compose view element, allowing users to draw whatever scribble-based image they choose. Because of the calendar, the Google post discussing the feature has a heavy Christmas lean, but you can make scribbles for any occasion.
Judging by the example images, scribbles are attached to Gmail mailings as PNG files, which, as long as they aren’t overdone, should add a level of personalization normal signature blocks don’t convey:
Google is also inviting folks to submit their scribbles for comparison/contrast purposes, and you can do so by mailing them to [email protected]. They also recommend using the #GmailScribbles hashtag. Apparently, this designates them as share-worthy. Whether or not Scribbles for Gmail will be widely adopted or not, you have to admire Google’s commitment to “selling” the feature’s needfulness:
From prehistoric humans etching in caves to the modern-day thinker sketching a stroke of genius on a napkin, scribbling is a natural form of human expression. Not constrained by formatting or font styles, scribbling is a versatile outlet for expressing individuality and creativity. Not to mention it’s a lot of fun.
For holiday emails, Scribbles would be perfect, I agree, but for everyday, run of the mill mailings, they could get a little intrusive.
The site is once again in operation (for U.S. users).
This year, Google has also made it possible to call Santa from Gmail. Product marketing manager Trevor Claiborne says, “This year, Santa wants you to reach out to him (after all, reindeer are only so-so conversationalists). If you or your family members have a special request for Santa, you can call him right from Gmail* and leave him a message at his Google Voice number: 855-34-SANTA. Santa won’t be able to return messages himself—it’s a busy time of year for him—but he’s promised to keep us up to date on happenings in the North Pole day by day.
“Of course, Santa is never one to fall behind the technological times (word on the street is that Rudolph’s nose was recently upgraded to an energy-efficient LED),” he says. “So while the red suit may never go out of style, this year Santa has come up with an extra special way to spread the holiday cheer. But you’ll have to wait until it’s closer to Christmas to find out what it is.”
I wonder if that has anything to do with Google+. A Santa Hangout perhaps?
On a semi-related note, Google recently extended free calls (for the U.S. and Canada) from Gmail through 2012.
Google announced that it has updated its iOS app, after the app faced a great amount of criticism following its initial launch.
Google had gone without offering an iOS app until just last month. The concept was greeted rather warmly by iPhone and iPad users, but the product not so much. It was full of bugs, but Google did launch an update shortly thereafter.
That didn’t curb all of the criticism, but that’s virtually impossible anyway.
Anyhow, today they’ve announced a new update.
With the new version, Google has added the ability to set custom signatures for mobile messages and vacation responders. These can be accessed through the gear icon at the top of the menu view. They also added improved labels with support for nested labels.
There is new notification sound for iOS 5 users. Google says it makes it easier to distinguish when you’ve received an email.
You can now open up a canvas and scribble messages that will be attached to emails. The feature, also available from Gmail for Mobile, supports different colors, brush sizes, lines, erasers and spray paint.
“It’s perfect for sending a quick sketch that is hard to express in words or adding a fun graphic to make your email more personal,” Google says in a blog post.
The company says it is also continuing to work on other highly requested features like banner notifications, multiple login support and the ability to send as from any account.
Google announced that it is extending free phone calls from Gmail within the U.S. and Canada through next year.
Last December, Google offered military families free $10 international call credits with the goal of helping soldiers stay in touch with their families as they were deployed around the world. Shortly thereafter, Google decided to just offer free calls from Gmail for the U.S. and Canada.
Now, a year later, Google announced that this will continue. In a post on the Gmail Blog, the company says:
As the holiday season approaches, we’re happy to announce that we’ve extended free domestic calls within the US and Canada for 2012.
This is our way of helping you connect with friends and family across the country. And you can still call the rest of the world from Gmail at our insanely low rates.
No word on other countries.
Do you ever use Gmail to make calls? Let us know in the comments.
Some new/updated features you’ll notice in Gmail are:
New Conversation View
The conversation view has been completely redesigned. You’ll now see see profile pictures for your contacts in your email conversations.
Elastic Density
With the new Gmail you can now control the spacing between elements on your screen. This can be modified anytime via the display density menu, located under settings.
All New Search
Gmail’s search has been improved with a dropdown menu which allows you to specify exactly what you want to search (e.g. emails to a certain sender, or a certain word in the subject or body). Email filters can also be created from the same menu, from any search.
HD Themes
The themeing system has been completely rebuilt, now each theme utilizes high resolution imagery. All of the current themes have been updated, and your current theme will be carried when switched.
Navigation
The left-side navigation has also received a facelift, as the new layout keeps your most used labels in view at all times. If you find yourself stuff being hidden by the collapsing menu, you can resize this by simply clicking on the dividing line and dragging it down. Gmail will remember your new menu settings.
For those of you who hadn’t made the change yet, Google has made it for you. The next time you login to your Gmail account you’re greeted with a box welcoming you to Gmail’s new look accompanied by the following video:
Not a fan of the new look? Well you can, “temporarily postpone the switch to the new look in the new settings menu“. But what’s the point in that? As Gmail’s new look will more than likely be made permanent in the near future… better just get used to it now.
Google’s Gmail blog has been taking an in-depth look at Gmails new look. Today they posted about activating the changes everyone:
“The dedication of our testing team helped us catch bugs early so we could fix them in preparation for launch. Once we felt that the new look was good enough to be used by others, we turned it on for all Googlers.”
Sure Google is happy with the changes, but a lot of Twitter users don’t agree:
@alexATX Alex Dunlap#Gmail finally made me switch to a “new look”. I haven’t been missing out. It is bullshit. Where is the old one?3 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto
@MeatPao Travis ChanI don’t like the new look for Gmail because the dark theme is now all black black instead of the black, grey and white I’m used to 🙁14 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto
It’s unclear at the moment how long users will be able to revert back to the old Gmail look, but why not just embrace the new look? It will be the default look very shortly, you might as well get used to it.
Why do you think some people don’t like Gmail’s new look? Thoughts about the new look in general? Let us know in the comments.
Age restrictions in relation to the Internet is an interesting beast in relation to enforcement. There is, of course, a great deal of adult-related content children need to be protected from, but is email one of them? How about blogging, especially if parental consent is involved?
Should children, just because of their ages, be denied the ability to email and blog? What about if the parents are responsible and have given consent? In regards to Google’s platforms related to these actions, no. Children under a certain age should not be allowed access to these capabilities, even though they have an ad campaign promoting their services in exactly the same manner being discussed here.
Just ask Rich Warren, who posted his tale of Google inconsistency over at his Google+ account. Leading off with an ominous “Hey Google, thanks for making my daughter cry” greeting, Warren’s story is one that’s incredibly similar to the “Dear Sophie” commercial Google promoted on as many television stations as they could, except for a huge difference: Warren’s daughter was actually kicked off, denying her access to Google’s services.
The following snippet from Warren’s post should clarify:
Several years ago I set up a gmail account for my daughter so she could send email to her grandparents. At the beginning of this school year, she started using it much more actively to send messages to her friends and classmates. She also started a blogger blog as a class project.
Then, we woke up this morning to find that Google had disabled both her blog and her email account–apparently because she is under age.
Now, I don’t remember seeing anything about the age restriction when I originally set up her account. And I understand that Google needs to comply with COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act), but all of that is really beside the point.
My complaint is about the way Google has chosen to act in this matter–both the fact that they didn’t notify us at all–they simply turned off the account without any warning, locking up all her data, preventing us from accessing it… [Emphasis added]
So, a father starts a Google account for his daughter and as her exposure to the Internet increases, she began using it to correspond with her grandparents, and once she got into school, her friends. Apparently, however, her underage status was enough reason for Google to lock her account, as well as the content that was stored within.
Even though Google is essentially asking their followers to do the exact same thing in “Dear Sophie.” Observe:
Now, someone in Warren’s comment stream said this was a different scenario, but really, is it? In “Dear Sophie,” the parent creates the account for his daughter, and populates it with content of her childhood. In Warren’s scenario, he, too, said he started her account “years ago” so she should could keep in touch with her extended family. The difference being, at least the comment, was the father wrote messages to Sophie, while Warren allowed his daughter to use the account he made for her.
My observation is, at least regarding “Dear Sophie,” comes from the idea that the father in the commercial would, at some point, give Sophie access to all the content he’s been sending her, in essence, turning the account over to the person he made if for. Otherwise, what’s the point of making the account in the first place? Why would you send all of this content about Sophie’s young years if you aren’t going to turn the account over to her at some point?
In Warren’s real life scenario, he did turn over access of the account he created to his daughter, and because of her young age, Google decided to block access to her account without any warning, or, well, provocation. Or, as Warren puts it:
Google could have made other choices–choices that are more customer friendly, more child friendly and more parent friendly. But they didn’t. They’ve chosen to act in a dogmatic, inflexible way. They’ve chosen to ignore parental consent and opinion. They’ve chosen to act apparently without ever considering how their actions might affect the people who use and rely on their services. Damn the consequences, they did what they wanted to do and ignored everything else.
Pretty much.
The next question is, did Google overstep their boundaries with these actions? Furthermore, did Google show off a hypocritical side, one that flies in the face of the company being promoted in the “Dear Sophie” commercial? Thoughts? Reactions? Let us know in the comments.
Not only does this represent the continued merger among Google user-identifying products, it represents increased integration of Google+ into Gmail, which has been expected since Google+ first launched. It may not be the last integration we see between Google+ and Gmail, but it certainly illustrates the first major integration between the two, beyond the link in the navigation bar at the top of the screen.
Google+ users can grow their circles, filter emails and contacts by circles, keep contact info up to date automatically, and share photos to Google+ from Gmail and Contacts, Google says.
“Now when you open an email from someone on Google+, you can see the most recent post they’ve shared with you on the right-hand side of the conversation,” explains engineering director Mark Striebeck. “If they’re not in your circles yet, it’s easy to add them straight from Gmail.”
“Looking for the info on an upcoming family holiday gathering but can’t remember who sent it?” he continues. “If you’ve spent time building your Google+ circles, you can now quickly use them to filter your mail, saving yourself from having to sift through that pile of daily deal emails and newsletters. You can see messages from all of your circles at once or from each individual circle. And if you want, you can show circle names on emails in your inbox. Contacts can also be filtered by circles, making it easier to view your social connections.”
As you can see from the image above, Circles is in the left-hand menu now.
When users’ contacts have Google profiles, their contact entry in Gmail will be updated with the profile info they share. This includes phone numbers, email addresses, etc. If that contact info is changed on the profile at a later date, it will continue to automatically update in your contacts.
I’d be surprised if some people don’t freak out about this from the privacy perspective, but if the info is available on the profile, it’s out there anyway.
Gmail users can also share image attachments to Google+ from a simple share button that appears next to the usual “view” and “download” options.
The changes will be rolling out over the next few days. Google Apps users will have to wait a bit.
Yesterday marked the launch of Wikileaks’ newest project, the Spyfiles, following an announcement from Julian Assange while speaking on a panel at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism at the City University of London. Addressing the audience, Assange casually dropped the bomb that a new batch of files uncover the “international mass-surveillance industry.” From the conference:
In what sounds like the most dystopian novel I’ve ever read, Wikileaks explained the extent of the surveillance operation in a release:
International surveillance companies are based in the more technologically sophisticated countries, and they sell their technology on to every country of the world. This industry is, in practice, unregulated. Intelligence agencies, military forces and police authorities are able to silently, and on mass, and secretly intercept calls and take over computers without the help or knowledge of the telecommunication providers. Users’ physical location can be tracked if they are carrying a mobile phone, even if it is only on stand by.
But the WikiLeaks Spy Files are more than just about ’good Western countries’ exporting to ’bad developing world countries’. Western companies are also selling a vast range of mass surveillance equipment to Western intelligence agencies. In traditional spy stories, intelligence agencies like MI5 bug the phone of one or two people of interest. In the last ten years systems for indiscriminate, mass surveillance have become the norm. Intelligence companies such as VASTech secretly sell equipment to permanently record the phone calls of entire nations. Others record the location of every mobile phone in a city, down to 50 meters. Systems to infect every Facebook user, or smart-phone owner of an entire population group are on the intelligence market.
The Wikileaks release also explains that citizens involved in overthrowing their respective dictators during the Arab Spring this year discovered listening rooms “where devices from Gamma corporation of the UK, Amesys of France, VASTech of South Africa and ZTE Corp of China monitored their every move online and on the phone.” Further, the Spyfiles announcement details how surveillance entities in the U.S., Italy and France have manufactured viruses to infiltrate private computers and smart phones – they’re looking at you, iPhone, Blackberry, and Gmail users – in order to essentially hijack the device and record its every movement.
Wikileaks cohort OWNI have taken the Spyfiles release and created a remarkably fascinating – and outright terrifying – interactive map to help make sense of this new information to the visually-inclined. Go ahead and play around with it and become scared.
Not included in the video above is an extended account of how intelligence surveillance isn’t only limited to certain regions of the world:
But software users in the West are not safe either. Assange and other members of the panel told reporters how Western intelligence services used electronic devices to monitor the activities of its citizens. In Britain MI5 apparently used specialized voice recognition software implanted into cell phones that could make out who was speaking to whom. Other intelligence agencies had the ability to figure out where exactly the user was located, what they were typing and what they looked like. One of the programs allowed agencies to take photos of unsuspecting victims by using cameras implanted into their phones.
One intrepid tweeter already seems to have corroborated Wikipedia’s claim:
More mysterious is that Wikileaks seems to be experiencing some accessibility issues with their website right now following the release of the Spyfiles:
Not to be crass about what has been a pretty sobering article up to this point, but does this mean that I should hurry up and pay my parking tickets now or is it really just too late to even worry about that?
At the very beginning on this month, Google released a long-awaited Gmail app to the Apple App Store. Many had been wishing for a native Gmail client for their iPhones, due to to the fact that so many Gmail features were lost by running it through the native iOS email app – and running Gmail through a browser doesn’t allow for the all-important push notifications.
So sunshine, lollipops and rainbows, right?
In theory, yes. But the launch of the Gmail iOS app was met with harsh criticism – mainly due to numerous bugs that rendered the app nearly unusable. The all-important push notifications weren’t functional, and some users even reported that the app would crash on startup. Google took a lot of flak for their missteps, and quickly pulled the app from the App Store.
Now, Google has announced that they have reintroduced the Gmail app to the App Store:
Two weeks ago, we introduced our Gmail app for iOS. Unfortunately it contained a bug which broke notifications and displayed an error message, so we removed it from the App Store. We’ve fixed the bug and notifications are now working, and the app is back in the App Store.
Part of the complaints when the app originally launched dealt with its lack of features. Google says that they have heard those complaints, and are working to bring those features to users in the near future.
In the short time the app was public we received a lot of helpful feedback and feature requests. This included requests for everything from bigger features like multiple account support to customizations like improved notifications and mobile specific signatures.
We’re just getting started with the Gmail app for iOS and will be iterating rapidly to bring you more features, including all the ones listed above plus many more.
If you want to give the Gmail for iOS app another go, it’s now available for iOS 4 and above. If you have the old, buggy version installed you’ll have to uninstall it before you can access the new, hopefully unbuggy version.
What do you think about the Gmail iOS app? Let us know in the comments.
Today, Google released their highly-anticipated native Gmail app for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. According to the official Gmail blog, the app “combines your favorite features from Gmail mobile web app and iOS into one app so you can be more productive on the go.”
Except apparently, it didn’t really work.
And that’s why Google has yanked the app from the Apple store, only hours after its launch:
@gmail GmailThe iOS app we launched today contained a bug with notifications. We have pulled the app to fix the problem. Sorry we messed up.8 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto
Many users reported errors upon launching the app. Sarah Perez of Tech Crunch writes that it is “unusable.”
“It doesn’t even launch properly, displaying an error message upon startup.”
Not only did it fail to launch on many occasions, but one of it’s key features is failed right out of the gate: push notifications. One of the biggest reasons that a Gmail user would want a native iOS app is for these push notifications, which aren’t available when running Gmail from the web or from Apple’s native Gmail client.
Even without the bugs, users are complaining that it was poorly designed, with little added features to make it a competitive email option. For one, there is no way to manage multiple accounts with the new app.
@flyosity Mike RundleStack Overflow says that error on launch of the Gmail app means push notifications weren’t enabled when it was code-signed. Whoops!26 minutes ago via Twitter for Mac · powered by @socialditto
@mgs Matt ShermanGmail app… Very disappointing. Not because of the implementation technology. Because of the poor user experience. Hope for improvements.15 minutes ago via Twitterrific · powered by @socialditto
@KunalCAgarwal Kunal Agarwalcome on google you’re better than that..hard to read new gmail interface and gmail app for iphone is unusable..get your team together Larry16 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto
This is a pretty big screwup for Google. Having to pull the app amid such negative feedback is rather embarrassing – especially given what the app was. People have wanted a native Gmail client on iOS for years. And this is not the launch they had envisioned.
Gmail has a new look, and it’s live for everyone who wants to make the change.
In the coming days, Google will switch everyone over to the new Gmail, but those of us anxious to see the new look can switch right now. Just hard refresh the page and look for the “Switch to the new look” link at the bottom right-hand side of the screen.
Here is what’s new about the Gmail redesign:
Conversation view has been redesigned to be more streamlined. Profile pictures of contacts now show up in the view, and it had been stripped down in order to make it more user-friendly.
Google says that Gmail now has a better search function. There’s a new advanced search panel in the search box that is supposed to make it easier to find what you’re looking for.
Google has rolled out new HD themes, provided by iStockphoto.
New “elastic density” automatically changes the spacing between elements based on the size of the display you’re currently using to view Gmail. You can still change the density manually if you’d like.
The left-side navigation panel keeps labels and contacts there at all times, and there are more customization features.
From what I’ve noticed, the interface has been cleaned up a little as well, hiding certain functions until they are necessary to be displayed. All in all, the new Gmail looks cleaner (possibly simplistic to some) and more compact – considering you set the density levels to suit your needs.
Twitter gives us a look into some of the early feedback, which seems to be split:
@suehle Ruth SuehleIf the new Gmail look feels a little too spread out, click the gear at the upper right and pick a new density. (Thanks, @mediamacaroni!)33 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto
@njhamer Nathan HamerI don’t have a problem with Gmail getting a new look, I just don’t see why it has to look like a poor first attempt at a Geocities website.5 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto
A couple weeks ago, we pointed to a video from Google that leaked, showing off a new Gmail redesign. This came out around the same time that the Google Reader redesign was announced.
Well, now that Google Reader design is here (for better or for worse), and it looks like that Gmail redesign isn’t too far behind. It hasn’t rolled out completely yet, but it’s been officially announced on the Google Blog.
Here’s that video, to refresh your memory:
“Conversation view has been completely redesigned to help you read through your email threads,” says user experience designer Jason Cornwell. “You’ll now see profiles pictures for your contacts, so it’s easier to keep track of who said what. We also stripped out as much as possible so you can focus on communicating with your friends and colleagues.”
“We know that you use Gmail from a variety of screen sizes and devices, so now the spacing between elements on the screen will automatically change based on the kind of display you’re using,” he says. “If you prefer a denser view all the time, you can change your density manually in the Settings menu.”
The left panel keeps labels and chat contacts in veiw all the time, and has more customziation features. There are also some new search features:
Finally, there are new HD themes.
The new Gmail will be implemented for everyone soon, but Google is rolling out a “switch to the new look link” in the bottom-right corner over the next few days.
Now, it will be interesting to see if this redesign attracts the same kind of backlash the Google Reader design is. I am a little surprised there aren’t more Google+-related features included in this refresh.
Google is letting users of Google Search and Gmail block ads.
The company announced that it is placing a “Why these ads?” link on Google search results and Gmail, and when the link is clicked, you get an explanation about why you’re seeing specific ads. Users can also access the ads preferences manager for search and Gmail.
“Here, the user can choose to block ads from specific advertisers or opt out of personalized ads,” explains Group Product Manager Ginsu Yoon. “Because we can show fewer, more relevant ads when users have opted-in to see personalized ads, we describe these benefits with text and video to help them make an informed choice.”
Here’s that video:
“As an advertiser, you might wonder how these changes could impact your AdWords performance,” says Yoon. “When a user opts out of personalized ads on search and Gmail, your ads can still reach them but the targeting might be a bit less precise. If users block your ads, they won’t see your ads in the future. The number of blocks you’ve accumulated does not directly affect calculations of your Quality Score and Ad Rank.”
That’s not the only targeting change Google has unleashed on advertisers this week. They also announced changes to location targeting, and the termination of polygon targeting altogether.
Google’s announcement in relation to Gmail comes at a particularly interesting time, as Google is getting ready to (finally) launch a Gmail app for the iPhone. Why is this interesting? Because iCloud comes with ad-free email. If you followed its announcement earlier this year, you may recall Steve Jobs making a big deal about this.
“”No ads,” he said. “We build products that we want for ourselves, too, and we just don’t want ads.”
Perhaps realizing that a lot of iPhone users might feel the same way, Google makes this announcement. Or maybe it’s just coincidence.
Today, you’ll find that a lot of people have iPhones. You’ll also find that a lot of people use Google’s Gmail as their primary email. And a lot of those people with iPhones use Gmail – this writer included. And if you’re one of those people, you know that there is no native Gmail app for iOS.
Gmail users with iPhones have had to resort to one of two less-than-perfect solutions to this problem. They can either set up their Gmail account through Apple’s native email app (which lacks keys Gmail features) or they can use the Gmail web interface (which is pretty good, if not perfect).
Until now. MG Siegler is reporting that multiple sources have confirmed the imminent launch of the native Gmail app for iPhone.
He says that the app has already been submitted to Apple for approval, and it should be approved pretty soon.
According to his sources that have seen the Gmail app, it’s not going to disappoint.
The new Gmail app for iPhone will bring the all-important push notifications, a functionality that is a real pain without the native app.
The new app will also have other important abilities like Priority Inbox and one-click starring of messages. It’s possible that the app could even contain some new Gmail features like contact icons and deep searching. Siegler speculates that it could even include some Google+ integration.
Considering that the Gmail app for iPhone is a solid app without bugs and design problems (and these sources seem pretty confident of that fact), then this is great news. Users have been waiting years for a native Gmail app for their iOS devices. Hopefully, everything works out and we see it pop up in the app store in the upcoming weeks.
Back in June, Google announced a big Gmail redesign. While Google has not officially announced its launch yet, the following video appears to have just leaked from the company, and is trending on Google+.
In the video, Google’s Jason Cornwell, who wrote a blog post about the redesign in June talks about it some more.
“To start, we’ve completely redesigned the look and feel of Gmail to make it as clean, simple, and intuitive as possible,” he says. “In addition, the new Gmail automatically adapts to fit nicely into any size window. If you prefer a specific display density, you can easily set that as well.”
“Some people use a lot of labels. Others chat a lot,” he continues. “You can now adjust the size of the label and chat areas to meet your needs. Even if you do nothing, Gmail adapts to you. The new look allows themes to really shine. We’ve updated many of them with new high resolution imagery.”
“Conversations in Gmail have been redesigned to improve usability and to feel more like a real conversation,” Cornwell says. “We’ve also added profile pictures, so that you can see who said what. Searching is at the heart of Gmail. The new search box makes it easy to customize your search to find exactly what you’re looking for. You can also create a filter right from the search box.”
The design feels a lot more Google+y – particularly with the profile pics and whatnot. It will be interesting to see how people like it once it has rolled out.
Google has launched a few new features for Gmail for mobile. These include: multiple sign-in support, mobile-specific signature and vacation auto-responder.
Google has offered multiple sign-in for for the desktop for a while, but mobile users have had to get by on one account at a time. To do so, just click the account switcher at the bottom of the threadlist and click “sign into another account”. Then you can switch back and forth by selecting the account from the accounts menu.
“As part of added multiple sign-in support, we’ve updated URLs so that each account can have a separate bookmark,” Google notes. “For those who have previously bookmarked Gmail for Mobile, please update your bookmark.”
You can now set your auto-reply message from the mobile interface. It works pretty much the same as the desktop version.
Google gives a pretty good reason why you might want to use the mobile-specific signature feature. “We know that autocorrect and other mobile spell-checks can be frustrating as you are typing on the go,” says mobile software engineer Dominic Leung. “Let your friends know that you are responding via your mobile phone so that they understand why you might have sent a message that you are meeting for ‘monitors’ and not ‘mojitos’.”
To set up a mobile signature, go to settings, choose a signature, and check the box to activate it. Just uncheck it in the future if you want to disable it.
While some are immediately contemplating the privacy issues involved–a thorn Google will never be able to remove, it seems–the Google+ integration with other Google products so many are calling are starting to sprout.
Now, thanks to a Google+ post by Gmail engineer, Mark Striebeck, we now have knowledge about posts from Google+ appearing in Gmail. Now, this isn’t a carbon copy email of a post being made in Google+, at least, not yet. No, this feature informs you about people you are following, offering notifications concerning recent posts they have contributed.
In Striebeck’s words:
You can now see the most recent Google+ post that the sender of the email shared with you in the Gmail people widget – see screenshot below.
Google+ Gmail Notification” />
Click for larger image
As you can see, the email was sent from Bella Kazwell, another Gmail developer, to Striebeck. The circled area shows Kazwell’s recent Google+ activity, although, in this case, the posts were made on Unicorn. What is “Unicorn,” you ask? Striebeck is already ahead of you:
Oh, and before you ask, ‘unicorn’ is what we nicknamed our internal Gmail test environment.
Logically, the non-test Gmail notifications would replace Unicorn with Google+. Over at 9to5Google, a point was made about potential privacy issues from the Gmail/Google+ notification service:
Hopefully, those are only public posts or posts meant to be shared with the recipiant or oh, boy another privacy stink coming.
Granted, if they are private posts, and the person receiving the notification is only on a “Limited” basis–meaning they can’t see non-public Google+ posts, it won’t matter if they are notified about recent activity or not, unless, of course, these notifications would allow the “Limited” access to posts they are not privy to.
If that loophole is opened up by the new Gmail notification system, then yes, Google will have yet another privacy uproar on their hands.
Google may have announced the impending shut-down of Google Labs, but Gmail Labs is still putting out new optional features for Gmail users.
Google has released the “Preview Pane” as a Gmail Labs feature. This allows users to preview messages in their inbox using a layout similar to how Gmail looks on a tablet device.
“When I check my email, I often rely on the message snippets to figure out which messages to open first,” says Gmail Associate Product Manager Maciek Nowakowski. “Sometimes, though, I want to see more than snippets, which is why I’m happy to announce that you can now preview messages in your inbox using a new feature in Gmail Labs called Preview Pane.”
Like all Gmail Labs feature, you have to enable it in settings. Once you’ve done so, you’ll see a toggle button in the right corner of your message list. This lets you switch between preview and list views. The button looks like this:
“For those of you who have more vertical space you can also move the preview pane below your message list. You can enable this using the dropdown arrow next to the toggle button,” notes Nowakowski. “By default there is a 3-second delay in marking a conversation as read after previewing it. If that doesn’t feel natural to you, you can change the timing in the General tab of settings.”
“You can now buy calling credit in your choice of four currencies (Euros, British pounds, Canadian dollars or U.S. dollars) and there are no connection fees, so you only pay for the time you talk,” says Gmail Team Product Manager Pierre Lebeau.
Google is also reducing calling rates to over 150 places. “For example, it’s now only $0.10 (or €0.08) per minute to call mobile phones in the U.K., France or Germany (landlines are $0.02/min), $0.15/minute to call mobile phones in Mexico and $0.02/min to call any phone number in China and India,” said Lebeau.
“Calls to the U.S. or Canada placed within those countries will continue to be free at least for the rest of 2011. Calls to the U.S. or Canada placed from outside these countries will be charged $0.01 per minute (or €0.01, £0.01, C$0.01 per minute),” he says.
Google says it’s rolling the feature out over the next several days. Users will see a green phone icon at the top of their chat list when it is available. A voice and video plug-in is required.
The feature works in Google Apps as well, but the domain admin has to have Google Voice and Google Checkout enabled.
Google didn’t exactly announced a new Gmail feature today, or even a Gmail Labs feature. The company announced a script rather, which you can use to add a new feature to Gmail yourself.
Interesting way of doing things, but whatever…
“One feature that some of us really wanted was for Gmail to let you ‘snooze’ an email,” says software engineer Corey Goldfeder on the Official Gmail Blog. “Snoozing means archiving an email for now, but having it automatically reappear in the inbox at some specified time in the future. With Apps Script you can extend Gmail to add this functionality and a lot more yourself.”
Users can set it up by copying the code provided here, pasting it into a Google Docs spreadsheet, and choosing “Script Editor” from the “Tools” menu. After that, click “save,” and give it a name.
“In the dropdown labeled ‘Select a function to run,’ choose ‘setup’ and click the blue run arrow to the left of it,” Goldfeder explains. “This will ask you to authorize the script, and will create the necessary labels in your Gmail. Then go to the ‘Triggers’ menu and choose ‘current script’s triggers.’ Click the link to set up a new trigger, choosing the ‘moveSnoozes’ function, a ‘time-driven’ event, ‘day timer,’ and then ‘midnight to 1am.’ Click save and you’re done.”
The following video also demonstrates how to do it:
Once you’ve done all of this, you will be able to “snooze” a thread in Gmail using the “move to” button to move the thread into the Snooze for however many days you wish. You can also label and archive it. After the set amount of days passes, the message will reappear in the inbox.
The code, as Goldfeder points out, can also be edited if you’re the programming type.
Could a leaked video slamming Google (specifically Gmail) for targeting keywords be a “rally the troops” exercise from Microsoft?
A video entitled “O365 MGX Copy” was posted to YouTube yesterday and already has amassed over 100,000 views. The video stars the “Gmail Man,” a mailman who walks around reading people’s mail and confronting the individuals with advertisements based on specific keywords in the mail.
The Gmail man strolls down the street looking through mail in envelopes that bear the Gmail logo, repeating words to himself like “zucchini,” “volcano” and “polar bears.” A little girl stops him and asks “hey mailman, are you looking at our mail?”
He laughs and says, “No. I’m looking at everyone’s mail.”
“Sometimes, when a person loves their Gmail very very much, the two get together and an ad is born,” he goes on to say.
As you can see, the video ends with a jingle about switching to Office 365. Apparently this video was shown at last weeks’ Microsoft Global Exchange sales conference. Although Microsoft put a tight lock on Tweeting and Blogging, this video somehow made its way out and on to the interwebs.
ZDNet’s Mary-Jo Foley procured an official “no comment” from Microsoft when she asked about the video’s legitimacy. She thinks that it is real, however, and here’s why:
I have to say I think it’s the real deal. It has all the hallmarks of a real Microsoft production, including the fact that the name on the company doors that Gmail man opens when visiting an office is Contoso Ltd. As Microsoft customers, partners and watchers know all too well, Contoso is Microsoft’s favorite fake company name, and is used in demos for all kinds of Microsoft products.
The video was leaked on the same day that Google launched their “Email Intervention” campaign. This launch was also accompanied by a humorous video and asks current Gmail users to save their friends from “embarrassing” and “outdated” email address by sending them an email spurring them in the right direction.
Could this be a viral campaign by Microsoft to advertise Office 365?
For the record, Google told ZDNet that “there aren’t ads in Google Apps for Business. But admins can choose to enable the ads if they want- some find them useful.”
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