Gmail's labs section is full of tools that help advanced users fine-tune the interface of the free Web mail service. What may be more impressive, though, are its tweaks for the not-so-advanced users, the kind who need a little hand-holding to keep them from firing off e-mails while intoxicated, or missives that they didn't mean to send in the first place.
To add to these two features, Google on Tuesday introduced "got the wrong Bob?", a very simple tweak that, based on first names, will give you a subtle nudge if it thinks you're sending an e-mail to someone outside of the group you usually correspond with. The alert shows up just above the subject line and asks "Did you mean: ____ instead of ____?" Clicking that link replaces the wrong e-mail address immediately.
Gmail's new labs feature checks to make sure you're sending that e-mail to the correct person if it senses that you typed in the wrong first name.
(Credit: CNET)In my testing I got it to work pretty well on family and co-workers, although it misfired a few times on groups of friends with whom I had past group e-mailing history. Obviously the more you send to certain people, the better it should get at identifying the ones who don't fit. However, I think most people aren't bound to get into this kind of trouble with Gmail's contact auto-complete suggestions which are quite good. It shows you the person's full name, and their e-mail address, making it difficult to accidentally select the wrong person. Then again, if you're in a rush, mistakes can most definitely happen.
Gmail has a new feature in its labs section aimed at people with bad connections who still want to use the fancypants JavaScript-filled "new" version of the popular Web mail service. It shows a quick preview of the latest 10 messages while Gmail's loading bar makes its slow march toward completion.
You can't actually read these messages, but you can quickly see if you have new ones. Users on a fast connection will only see the preview for a mere second or two before the in-box opens up. But for those on the very thread of a cellular data line, or on some chuggy dial-up, Google is pitching this as a simple way to see if those latest messages are worth the loading wait.
While relatively useless to users with fast connections, this is still a nice alternative to switching over to the HTML version of Gmail, which survives for the sake of compatibility on older machines and browsers. The switch over to that version forgoes many niceties such as no page refreshing, and the use of Gmail labs features.
The in-box preview shows you the latest 10 messages in your in-box while Gmail quietly loads in the background.
(Credit: CNET)
Translation is making its way into more Google services this month, having just been added to Gmail's labs. If you get a message in a different language, there's a new link that'll show up in the top of the message that lets you translate it to whatever language you have Gmail set to. You can also set it up to do the translation to any language of your choice.
It does the actual translation in just a few seconds, and gets both the subject and body while retaining the original. You can switch back to it by hitting the translate link again.
Once items have been translated they don't stay translated, which means you'll have to re-translate every time you're viewing that message again. The translated text is also not indexed into Gmail's search engine, which means you have to remember the word phrase in its original language to find it. Assuming you don't get too many e-mails in an alternate language this shouldn't be too much of a problem, though.
I anticipate having great fun with this in my spam folder, which is frequented by non-English grammar train wrecks. As with other Gmail labs items this must be turned on from the labs menu settings before you can use it.
Note: Changed the headline in light of the fact that Nigeria is an English speaking country. Thanks to those of you who pointed this out.
Recently: Google Friend Connect gets comment translation
Gmail users can now make use of translation right from their e-mails with a new Gmail labs add-on.
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Google has added the ability to search Google directly within Gmail, a move that increases the centrality of the e-mail service and gives Google a new opportunity to show advertisements.
The experimental feature, part of Gmail Labs, presents a search box to the left of a message you're composing. Typing search terms in it pops up a miniature window with a handful of results, and an individual result or its URL can be copied into the e-mail message body or into a separate message.
Google can show search results--and search ads--while you're composing a message. The 'sponsored links' text on the upper left refers to the ads already shown in the Gmail message window.
(Credit: Screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET)... Read more
Google's Gmail Labs has just rolled out a useful, but mildly creepy feature that gives you suggestions on who you should e-mail based on previous conversations. So, if you've had threads going with a group of people, it will recommend some of those folks once you've added at least two addresses in the recipients field. Best part is, they don't even have to be in a group of contacts you've created in Gmail's contacts manager.
I got this to work to an almost uncanny level. It handles things like family members without a hitch, but where it gets useful is in pulling up people you've recently been corresponding with and giving you a one-click link that adds them to the message. Short of organizing these people to a group (in which you may need to add or delete someone on a per-message basis), or doing a reply-all on an old message, this is a really fast way to get another thread started with the same group.
Now all Gmail needs is a quick way to take these contacts and add them to a sending group without leaving the message, something that can only be done in Gmail's contact manager.
Gmail can now figure out if you're trying to start up another conversation thread with people you've recently been talking to, saving you some time on starting a new message thread, or simply using a reply all on an old one.
(Credit: Google)
Gmail's got a new option in its labs section that lets users insert images directly into their e-mails, and not just as attachments. This has been something you've been able to do in standard e-mail software for ages, but Gmail's way of handling them for the last five years has simply been to stick them on as attachments that show up in the bottom of your outgoing message.
This wasn't the worst way to view images, but if you were using Gmail to put together a short photo tour of your travels, or a family newsletter, it's come up short compared with software e-mail clients like Outlook, Thunderbird, and Apple's Mail that offer much richer creation tools.
Now, when you want to insert an image into your e-mail you can either upload it from your computer or grab it from a URL (like you're able to do in Google Docs). It sticks it right into the message where it can be resized and aligned to fit in with the rest of your message. Gmail warns that while going the URL route is easier, if your recipient's using Gmail or some other Web mail service they'll have to click on the "display images below" link since it doesn't load them to keep spam at bay.
My own personal request is for Gmail to offer the same kind of simplicity for videos. Does a friend or family member have a video they want to share via e-mail? Great, but it probably won't fit as an attachment. If Gmail were to build in an integrated YouTube uploader, I'd be in heaven.
Inserting pictures in Gmail with the insert images item flipped on lets you drop images into your e-mail just like you do in Google Docs.
(Credit: CNET Networks)Google has unveiled a new Gmail Labs add-on that helps users determine if their Gmail contacts are awake.
Green means you're good to go.
(Credit: Google)Dubbed Sender Time Zone, the feature, which can be turned on in the Labs tab in Gmail, displays a green phone icon next to a contact in another time zone who's probably awake and reachable. A red phone icon will be displayed next to those who could be sleeping or out of the office. According to a post on Google's Gmail blog, the green icon will be displayed between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. in the sender's local time zone.
The add-on uses Gmail's message headers to determine time zones. If time zone information isn't readily available in the message header, neither the green nor the red icons will be displayed.
The Sender Time Zone add-on is available now in Gmail Labs.
Gmail has released a new labs add-on (the fifth this month) that tweaks the service's search tool, providing suggestions for contacts and search modifiers as you type. This means that when searching for messages from a specific person it will automatically begin to provide suggestions of who you're trying to search for, just like it does when you're composing a new message.
What's nice is that this same system also works for remembering any of Gmail's search operators, so you can do things like type in what date range the message should be from, what kind of media an attachment should be (like videos, pictures, or zipped files), or simply look up things by file name. All the while it sticks the modifier in there for you, and without you having to remember the proper nomenclature or where to stick the semicolons and parenthesis.
While you could get many of these options just from using Gmail's advanced search tool, I like this add-on because it puts everything in main search bar, which sticks with you no matter what you're doing on the service. You can find it near the bottom of the Gmail labs add-on page.
With the auto-complete labs add-on flipped on you can simply start typing and it will start giving you suggestions for your search. This includes search operators, which you see below the list of recommended contacts.
(Credit: CNET Networks)
Gmail Labs, which lets people customize their Google e-mail application with a choice of 43 options, has extended beyond the United States.
The feature is available in 49 languages, according to a blog post by Gmail Engineering Manager Pal Takacsi on Monday. Most Gmail Labs options are translated into all Gmail's supported languages "except Hebrew, Arabic, and Urdu," Takacsi said.
"The majority of Gmail users are outside the U.S., so it's no surprise that since we launched Gmail Labs last year, people around the world have been asking for these experimental features in their local languages. As of today, we're making Gmail Labs available internationally," Takacsi said. "You may wonder, since most Gmail features are available in almost every supported language immediately at launch, why Labs hasn't been. The truth is that Labs itself is a bit of an experiment--it came out of people's 20 percent time, and we weren't sure if it would really work."
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Gmail has four new items in its labs section, all of which enhance the links people have included in their messages. You're now able to flip on support for Yelp, Flickr, Picasa Web albums, and YouTube. Doing so will turn a link from one of those sites into a full-quality preview of the content you'd find on that site.
For instance, if someone has included a YouTube link, it simply shows up at the bottom of a message, just as if they had included it as an attachment. (You are less likely to get Rickrolled, that way.) The same goes for Yelp reviews, and individual photos and albums from Picasa and Flickr.
Gmail had previously done this for information embedded within messages, including package-tracking numbers, dates, and addresses, all of which led to a related Google service. However with the addition of Yelp and Flickr, Google is opening this up to third parties.
In fact, the official Gmail blog is encouraging interested parties to submit their own site to be added as a preview, which could lead to a whole new subcategory within Gmail labs.
With this addition, it also brings the tally of Gmail labs add-ons past 40. It may be time for a better way to sift through all that information, especially if the company intends to add more of these site preview options. In a meeting I had with Google back in December, Gmail product manager Todd Jackson had said this was something that was being considered.
Gmail can now give you previews of what people are linking to, as long as it's from Picasa Web albums, Flickr, YouTube and Yelp. More sites are on the way though.
(Credit: CNET Networks)
