» Smart Phones, Web Design, Google or whatever
Posts tagged google
Android’s Gmail App Hits the Eject Button
Sep 21st
As of yesterday, Google announced that Android’s Gmail app has hit the eject button and punched out on its own, meaning Gmail app updates aren’t tied to Android updates any more.
As always you should check out the link above for all of the 411, but here is a quick rundown of some of the new features now that the Gmail app on Android has cut its tether…
- most important message actions will now stick to the top
- improved message replies
- access to quoted text (view previous message in thread)
- updated to support Priority Inbox
For more details including required Android OS version, a QR code to scan, and availability on phones, check the Gmail blog.
Google Calendar gets cool Scheduling Options
Aug 27th
Google Calendar is getting some cool scheduling options over the next day or so according to their Easier event scheduling in Google Calendar post. Finally, we’ll be able to choose to repeat an event on a Friday, every 2 weeks. From the screenshot (provided by the folks at Google) we can also choose how often the even recurs, ends never and it displays a summary of your choices (as on the screenshot: Weekly on Wednesday).
I’ll appreciate seeing this feature go live, its one of the things I’ve actually been waiting for to hit the Calendar… My geeky mind is happy!
Their post also notes that they’ve redesigned the interface and moved more used options closer to the top.
Call Phones in Gmail
Aug 26th
Filed under ‘new and cool things you can do with your computer’ Google has rolled out an improvement to Gmail voice and video chat that lets you call regular phones (with your headset/microphone).
Call Phones in Gmail
According to Robin Schriebman a Google Software Engineer:
Calls to the U.S. and Canada will be free for at least the rest of the year and calls to other countries will be billed at our very low rates. We worked hard to make these rates really cheap (see comparison table) with calls to the U.K., France, Germany, China, Japan—and many more countries—for as little as $0.02 per minute.
Just click the new “Call phone” button ion your chat window, and search contacts or dial a number on the keypad window and you can start enjoying this new feature.
You can also get phone calls in Gmail (just click the link to see how)!
Outlook 2010 users get Google Calendar Sync (32-bit only)
Aug 17th
For Outlook 2010 users out there (with 32-bit systems) who want to sync with Google Calendar your prayers have been answered…
FROM THE” GMAIL BLOG:
Google Calendar works with a number of desktop applications and mobile devices including iCal, iPhone and iPad, Blackberry, Android, Nokia/Symbian, and Windows Mobile phones. Google Calendar Sync for Outlook is also available, but one thing was missing — until now.
Now take the power of Outlook’s Calendar and sync with Google Calendar to get maximum flexibility and usability by extending yourself to the web – easily.
Share Your Calendar (GCalendar)
MORE
HTML5 Gmail Video Game
Aug 16th
Play Galactic Inbox, a free, keyboard-based fun game by Creative Technologist Paul Truong. No sound, and its not going to replace your favorite video game, but its a fun play, blast-from-the-past for those old enough to remember Space Invaders or Asteroids.
As the post says “make sure you’re using a modern browser that supports HTML5 first”. Not sure if your browser supports HTML5? Try this test:
http://www.html5test.com/
I’m using Firefox 3.6.8 which scored 139 of 300 points and it plays the game.
Updated Contacts and Gmail
Aug 10th
Logging in to Gmail tonight I was greeted with this popup:
Contacts has been renovated and Gmail has some spruced-up changes, moving email closer to the top of your window, about 16 pixels higher, according to the Gmail blog. So I read a little bit of the writeup in Gmail help and checked out the new look. Contacts is surprisingly different and I’ll probably be checking that out for a while since its the biggest change.
CONTACTS
Its now simpler to add or edit a contact, the interface is cleaner and less distracted. Contacts are displayed more like mail in a long list, and adding contacts to different groups is very easy. Also, you can undo changes now, very handy. Ooops, was that DELETED? No problem, just UNDO.
There’s also automatic saving and more standard name fields.
GMAIL
Mail, Contacts and Tasks are now at the top, followed by Compose Mail which is now a button instead of a text link. Now I am waiting for ActiveInbox to update so I can use it again since that interface has disappeared!
Emails (as mentioned previously) are just a little closer to the top of the window now, and the left sidebar seems different, though I guess that could be due to my Gmail theme.
Gmail / Google Multiple Account Access in one Browser
Aug 6th
Wow, I just noticed this new access multiple accounts in one browser feature at the end of my lunch and had to write a a quick bit about it. First, a message from our sponsor (lol). But seriously here’s an interesting quote from Macduff Hughes’ post on the Gmail blog…
Now, you can visit google.com/accounts and click the link next to “Multiple sign-in.” After you sign into your first account, you can sign in with up to two additional accounts from the new accounts menu in the upper right hand corner of Gmail, then easily toggle back and forth between them. You can even open multiple Gmail tabs — one for each of your accounts.
- Gmail Blog, Access two Gmail accounts at once in the same browser
I’ve got to check this out more later and add more – its such an exciting feature with possibilities. One caution, read the Gmail post because access via one browser to multiple accounts is not working universally yet and the post lists these exceptions and notes.
Gmail Now with Drag and Drop attachments onto your desktop
Aug 4th
Yesterday the Gmail Blog posted Drag and drop attachments to save them to your desktop … for now it looks like it may only be available on Chrome.
Dragging and dropping files is an easy way to save time in Gmail. We’ve previously blogged about dragging files to upload as attachments and dragging images into new messages. Now, if you’re using Google Chrome, you can also drag attachments out of messages you receive to save them to your computer.
- Gmail Blog
More later….
