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Google Calendar to get Gears support?

Google Calendar could be the latest Google service to get the much-hallowed Gears treatment--Google's offline site viewing extension for Firefox and Internet Explorer. Earlier this morning, a post by Andy Beal on the Marketing Pilgrim caused a stir when he noted that he got a Google Gears security access request while logging into Google Calendar. Despite the pop-up, there was no offline functionality added to the service, or screenshots for proof.

Since publishing the post, Google has officially responded to Beal, stating that there are no specific announcements for any services that will end up with Gears functionality or … Read more

Hands-on with Gmail's new IMAP support

Gmail is getting support for IMAP clients like Outlook, Thunderbird, and the iPhone. This means Gmail users will no longer be limited to the Gmail.com user interface or to the weak integration they might get from clients using the much more rudimentary POP e-mail protocol.

There's no word on the official rollout schedule for IMAP support. Some users have it, some don't. I do. Don't ask me why. To see if you have support, click the "Settings" link to see if you have a "Forwarding and POP/IMAP" tab.

Update: IMAP rollout … Read more

Better Gmail gets even better

If you're tired of waiting for Google to make some much-needed improvements to Gmail, Better Gmail has been adding useful functionality to the e-mail client since earlier this year. An update earlier this month finally gave Gmail what users have been clamoring for: integration with Google Reader.

Written by Lifehacker editor Gina Trapani, the extension is basically a collection of her favorite Greasemonkey scripts. It does more than just slap your feeds onto the bottom of your in-box, though. It adds a Collapse/Expand Gmail link to the top-left nav, just under the Compose link. This hides your e-mail and pulls the Reader up to the top, and swtiches to Expand when the in-box is hidden. It also adds a control panel to central left nav for managing your feeds, a neat work-around so that you can collapse the Reader's built-in navigation. The Reader pane is collapsible, too, so you can hide the perpetual distraction of feeds from the perpetual distraction of e-mail.

Google ups storage for Gmail, Google Apps users

Gmail users running short on storage are getting a reprieve starting today. The company has announced they'll be increasing the speed in which they've been adding storage to their popular e-mail service, along with bumps to Google Apps users. You might have seen the storage counter that's been running on the Gmail's start page, which is nearing the 3 GB mark bit by bit--and now, it's doing it just a little bit faster. Meanwhile, Google Apps users are getting a slightly better end of the deal. Standard and Educational users are getting a size match … Read more

Gmail and Google Calendar get mobile face-lifts

If you're a user of the mobile versions of Google's Gmail, and Calendar, you'll know that they're incredibly useful if you're on a carrier with less than 3G data speeds. Not as useful as the full desktop browser versions, but great if you're out and about and need to check your calendar or inbox without having to rely on the sometimes clunky POP implementations on the built-in e-mail apps on some phones. Both services have received substantial mobile updates within the last few days, here's what's new:

Gmail mobile (http://m.gmail.com)… Read more

Is a Gmail update coming down the pipe?

Gmail may be getting a long overdue user interface (UI) update soon. Gmail's interface has been essentially the same since it launched more than three years ago, so it should be interesting to see how the update looks.

According to Garett Rogers over at ZDNet, Google has been asking users to translate snippets from the new UI through their Google In Your Language program. The users were asked to translate the phrase, "Newer Version," for a service called Gmail UI.

There aren't any specifics on what exactly we will be seeing in the upgrade yet, but … Read more

Orgoo mashes up your mail and IM in a good way

Orgoo is a new service for aggregating all sorts of communication platforms together, in one solution. The easiest way to describe it is a mix between a Web mail client and an IM app. You might say, "well my Gmail and Yahoo Mail already have IM built in." To that I'd say you're right, but Orgoo's take is a little bit like Meebo--take all your existing services and integrate them together in one place.

To start out, just plug in any accounts you want to access. Orgoo will handle five of the major IM clients, along with a handful of Web mail providers including Gmail, .Mac, and Yahoo and Microsoft's premium Hotmail services. You can also drop in any old e-mail account that can be accessed via POP or IMAP. The service can save your passwords and login information, so every time you log in to Orgoo, it will pull in each and every account. I found it really helpful with Gmail, since I could be logged into several accounts at once--which usually requires juggling two different kinds of browsers.

Orgoo's interface is a mishmash of the classical mail inbox. Besides your e-mail reader, which takes on an appearance much like that of Yahoo Mail, you've also got an entire buddy list that resides on the right side of the screen. Orgoo employs drag-and-drop to organize your messages and IMchat logs, and you've got a list of folders which can contain several levels of user created nesting; meaning you can store a message within a folder within a folder within a folder, to your heart's content. You can also organize your IMs into tabs on the top, or pop them out (virtual-desktop style) if it's easier for you to manage.… Read more

Offline version of Gmail in the works?

According to the Hindustan Times, Google plans to release an offline version of Gmail. I think that it's safe to assume that it would run on Google Gears, much like Google Reader's offline feature does.

Obviously, the lack of offline e-mail reading is the one huge downside to using Web mail. If Google implements this correctly, it could be a pretty big deal, but we will see if the functionality of a browser-based offline solution can compare to an actual desktop client.

It should be noted that Windows Live also currently has its Live Mail Desktop client available … Read more

New iPod gets Wi-Fi iTunes Music Store, YouTube, Web browsing

This morning, Apple unveiled the iPod Touch, this year's latest must-have gadget that's the first bona fide iPod to have built-in Wi-fi, the Safari Web browser, and the YouTube app iPhone owners have come to love. That's not the most groundbreaking aspect, though--this thing's got a full version of the iTunes Music Store that you'll be able to use for shopping right on the device. You can preview and buy songs that will sync up to your iTunes library when you plug it in back at home. The idea is similar to the Music Gremlin, … Read more

Data miners 'dig' your life story

Information is the new currency. When it comes to social-networking sites and many other online enterprises, your attention is the product that is being sold. So it is not surprising that data mining, particularly efforts to link your online behavior to specific opportunities to market to you, is an exploding trend.

Data mining in itself is not inherently good or bad, but it raises many social issues whose implications we all need to understand and include in our ongoing dialogue. Data mining has benefits, including an opportunity to create a customized online experience that truly serves you better. Misuses can lead to serious breaches of privacy. I encountered several stories on data mining Tuesday that caught my attention.… Read more