Webware

Gmail is becoming more popular by the day, but it's far from perfect. Let's take a look at some tools that will extend its functionality and makes it an even more worthwhile service.

For the desktop

gBooks: If your browser's bookmarks folder doesn't do enough for you, this clever tool turns your Gmail account into a bookmarks server. It makes your bookmarks available to you any time you log in to your Gmail account from anywhere.

gCount: If you don't feel like firing up a browser to check your Gmail account, use gCount. Running on Mac OS X, the lightweight app sits in your Dock and gives you real-time updates on how many e-mails you have in your in-box.

Gmail Drive lets you upload files quickly.

(Credit: Gmail Drive)

Gmail Drive: Gmail Drive (for Windows) creates a virtual file system on top of your Gmail in-box. It lets you upload documents, photos, or practically any other file to Gmail Drive. Those files are available for download anywhere you can access Gmail.

Gmail Loader: Gmail now makes it easy to import e-mails to your account, but one solution for Windows or Linux PCs works just as well. This software reads the e-mails in your current e-mail program (most of the well-known services are supported) and automatically forwards them to your Gmail account. E-mails can be sent to either the in-box folder or sent items folder.

gMail Notifr: Gmail Notifr is an open-source tool for Mac OS X that allows you to check your Gmail in-box at specified intervals. It includes Growl and sound notifications. You can check multiple accounts simultaneously.

gotMailG: gotMailG is a dashboard widget that just tells you how many unread messages are waiting for you--useful if you don't want your primary workspace cluttered with Gmail icons or alerts.

GPeek: If you don't want to read through every message but want to see what just came in, use GPeek. The service lets you see the subject of an e-mail, the sender, the time it was received, and the first few lines of the message. It supports multiple accounts, so you can check all your e-mails in one sitting.

Send to Gmail makes it easy to upload files to Gmail.

Jiffy Gmail Email Creator: The Jiffy Gmail Email Creator makes configuring and maintaining your Gmail account easy. It allows you to create an auto-responder without going online. You can also forward messages automatically, use random names, enable POP3, and use multiple exporting options from your desktop. It's for Windows only.

Send to Gmail: Send to Gmail (for Windows) makes it easy to upload any file on your hard drive to Gmail in just two clicks. Simply find the file you want to upload, right-click on it, and you'll be given the option to "Send to Gmail." Once you click that option, the file is sent directly to your Gmail account.

Send a file to a buddy in Skype 3.0 beta.

(Credit: CNET)

Skype's latest mobile beta for Windows Mobile phones graduated to version 3.0 on Tuesday. Skype 3.0 beta for Windows Mobile integrates two big features from the desktop version--file transferring and SMS. Both are welcome additions that bring the mobile VoIP application much closer in line with the newly updated desktop version, Skype 4.0 for Windows.

The SMS feature has been seamlessly added as a shortcut icon on the contact list page (it's the black circle encasing a tiny cell phone), but you can also initiate a text message by selecting "Send SMS" from the Menu options--the cost will come out of your Skype Credit. The file transfer feature is a bit more buried. To use it, select "Contact Options" from the Menu choices, and then "Send File." This will incur a data charge, so it's best to have a data plan in place before going wild with transfers.

As soon as you ship your image, song, or document out to your buddy, a new tab opens in Skype for Windows Mobile 3.0 beta that keeps track of the transfer and lets you know when your contact has accepted the download. File transfers work both ways, of course, so you'll be able to accept files sent through Skype while you're on the go--crazy photos and important business documents included. File transfer worked without a hitch over our 3G network, as did SMS. Wi-Fi will make them even faster.

Update your status message and buy Skype credit in Skype 3.0 beta.

(Credit: CNET)

After SMS and file transferring, the next biggest change is a technical one that most people shouldn't notice--the fact that you won't have to decide between downloading the version for Windows Smartphones or for Pocket PCs. A single one-size-fits-all download makes installation blissfully brainless. In addition, the beta has undergone a few understated, but useful changes to its layout, like being able to update your status, add hyperlinks to chat messages you may have missed, and the option to buy more Skype Credit.

Skype 3.0 beta for Windows Mobile 5.x and 6.x phones is available to try for free. Download it to your PC here or get the CAB file over the air. We're expecting to see the full release available in the next few months, but some of Skype's timeline may depend on the kind of user feedback they get. For our two cents, the additional features have been integrated well, and we hope to see more mobile-specific features in the future, like the capability to snap a picture from within Skype and transfer or SMS it to a pal.

LogMeIn has always been a personal favorite of mine for starting a big download or accessing certain files while away from my home machine. But let's face it--playing Crysis would be a little more fun.

The folks at StreamMyGame have the same idea and have a wonderful solution that lets you stream your games over the Web. Tuesday morning the company announced support for a breadth of UMPCs like the ASUS EeePC and HP Mini-Note, the kind of computers designed with minimal computing in mind.

The app works by having you install a small server on your machine that ties into the start-up files for your favorite games and apps. A specialized player app on the remote machine will let you access any of these at high frame rates up to various resolutions depending on what plan you're on. The premium plans let you play games at even higher resolutions--which are effectively only limited by your broadband connection.

The StreamMyGame team has put together a demo video of an ASUS EeePC playing Crysis and Quake 4. Keep in mind that the 701 model being used only has a maximum resolution of 800×480, which isn't nearly big enough to make detail-heavy real-time strategy titles or first-person shooters easy on the eyes. See the entire list of compatible laptops here.

Not every social networking concept strikes gold, even when the coalescing factor is the common interest of finding a good Internet cafe. In the case of WeFi, a hot-spot-finding application with a social community tacked on, various CNET editors have raised a collective eyebrow at some of the more intense methods of attaining human connection, but largely agree that being able to chat with verified friends or nearby Internet surfers adds a useful dimension to the search for reliable Wi-Fi access in comfortable coffee shops.

This First Look at WeFi for Windows laptops and WeFi for Pocket PC tours WeFi's easy-to-use interface and automated hot-spot-sniffers from two Internet-thirsty devices.

If there are lessons to be learned about the need for big companies to create platform-agnostic services, the BBC's iPlayer project may be one of the most shining examples.

Since the launch of the iPlayer, the BBC has been under fire not only from its viewers, but also members of the British Parliament. Parliament members have come down on the broadcasting corporation for its lack of support for open standards, and soaring costs in the development of the Windows-only software whose cost is estimated to be close to £6 million pounds (nearly $11 million dollars).

We've blogged about the service before, although haven't been able to test it because of the application's use of geo-IP tracking to (rightfully) limit viewing to the tax-paying UK citizens who fund it. Many users say the clunky interface and tough DRM make the software anything but user friendly.

The iPlayer software continues to be a Windows-only application, which has led to the controversy of those paying citizens using Mac or Linux who were unable to use the program to catch up on BBC programming without the need for a television. The iPlayer software uses Windows Media Player-based DRM that requires users to have the latest versions of Windows XP or Vista, leaving Mac and Linux users out of the picture.

UK residents can access a variety of BBC programming on the Web via streaming. Windows users can also download the programs to watch while offline.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

In mid-December, the BBC responded by releasing a streaming version of the player that runs in Web browsers using Adobe Flash. Already the service has been a runaway success. According to a blog post earlier today from the BBC's director general, Mark Thompson, 90 percent of the users of the streaming service are running Windows, while 9 percent are using mac, and 0.8 percent are using Linux. Despite the 9-to-1 user ratio, Thompson again confirmed that the BBC was still working on a Mac version, scheduled to be released by the end of the year. He also said the initial rush to make the service available had led to the single-platform offerings.

Based on the early success of TV on demand service Hulu.com in the states, and the recent roll out of Apple's timed-DRM, it's worth wondering if a standalone software version of the service is even worth the headache. The trade off of course is that the software users can "stack" episodes of their favorite shows and watch them without having to be tethered to the internet (except to connect to servers for the DRM). Time will tell.

Asus' Eee PC is now available in the U.S.

(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET Networks)

The mini-laptop from Taiwanese computermaker Asus made its official U.S. debut Thursday.

In an outdoor courtyard of the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, Calif., the computer's intended audience--schoolkids--were in ample attendance. Like most animated Disney films today, the Eee PC is on the surface intended for children, but has plenty to keep the attention of adults too.

The Eee PC is similar in idea to the XO from the One Laptop Per Child initiative and Intel's Classmate PC. But unlike the former two, the primary audience for the Eee is not children in developing nations. Instead, it's intended as a device for the general public.

Classifying the product and its category may be slightly confusing for customers. It looks like a laptop, and mostly acts like one, but Eee PC product manager Donald Leung goes out of his way to say that the tiny device is not that.

"We want to emphasize that it's not a laptop," Leung said. "We'd rather call it a 'super mobile Internet device.'"

Besides its low-power Intel mobile processor, it has 512MB of memory, a 4GB flash drive, built-in Wi-Fi, and standard USB and monitor ports, so it looks and acts like a portable PC. It weighs a scant 2 pounds, and has a 7-inch LCD screen with a built-in camera. The kid-friendly computer runs Linux, and by the end of the year will be available with Windows XP. Color choices include black, white, and three pastels: pink, green, and blue.

For now, the first model, the Eee PC 4G, is available on the Asus Web site, a variety of regional computer dealers, national chain Microcenter. Next month it will be sold on BestBuy.com and Costco.com for $399. More national chains will carry the product in coming months, according to Asus North America President Jackie Hsu.

Also on the agenda are lower-priced versions of the Eee. A $349 version--sans built-in Web camera--and a $299 version with a smaller 2GB flash drive are on the way.

Though it is still in the beginning stages of the process, Asus also intends to follow the initiative of OLPC and Intel. In the next year, Asus plans to ship 1 million Eee PCs to schoolchildren in third-world countries, said Hsu.

Until then, Asus believes the laptop will sell well among parents as a gift for their kids, as well as among stay-at-home moms (for "recipes and online auction-monitoring") and first-time computer users. But its portability could make it attractive for bloggers and mobile workers, too.

The $198 Google-approved Web 2.0 gPC.

(Credit: Everex)

On Thursday, WalMart begins selling the Everex Green gPC TC2502, a $198, low-power, Linux-based PC designed primarily for running Web 2.0 applications.

When users first fire up their gPC, they'll get a Mac-like desktop with a series of program icons "docked" across the bottom. The icons are bookmarks to popular and useful Web 2.0 services from Google and other vendors. There are icons for Google Docs, Gmail, Google Maps, and YouTube, for example, as well as Meebo, Facebook, and Wikipedia. Sprinkled into the lineup are some non-Web-based apps, like Skype and Gimp, but the novice user won't know, initially, which are local applications and which are Web services.

Isn't that as it should be? An app is an app, so why should users know or care if it's running on their local PC or in the cloud?

The gPC icon dock

(Credit: CNET)

Unfortunately, using the gPC's Web apps isn't as transparent as we'd like, although that's not Everex's fault. Web apps still run in a browser (and the gPC won't ship with Adobe AIR or another runtime platform that runs online apps in their own windows), so each time a user clicks on one of the icons that's pointing to a URL, it will fire up Firefox or a new tab in it. Also, Web apps require their own online logins (though if you're logged into Google, you have to worry about that only once per session). And, of course, there's the question of where one's data is stored. The gPC has a hard disk, but users of the Web apps won't be putting files on it. (It also has OpenOffice installed on it, but users will have to dig to find the suite.)

My criticisms are aimed mostly at Web apps in general, and this is nonetheless a great product. It costs less than $200 and you don't have to buy one for a child you've never met to get it (not that that's a bad thing, but it would drive up your cost). It will do what most of us need, thanks to all the Web 2.0 sites and services that are available now and that don't require the equivalent of a Cray supercomputer to run acceptably fast. The gPC, which Everex is selling with Google's blessing, gives us a look at what a Web PC should be: A much cheaper but almost-as-capable alternative to a regular PC or Mac. This is the closest thing I've seen to a Web appliance that might actually sell.

The gPC runs a 1.5GHz VIA C7-D processor and ships with 512MB of RAM and a 80GB hard drive. The operating system is gOS, from a new company of the same name. It's a version of Ubuntu 7.10 with the Enlightenment window manager. The $198 price tag does not include a monitor. But it does include 24/7 800-number tech support.

The gPC will be available at Walmart.com and at these Wal-Mart retail stores.

See also these interesting Linux-powered products from Everex competitor Asus: The P5E3 Deluxe/WiFi-AP motherboard with embedded Firefox, and the Eee PC 4G, and low-cost Linux laptop

The gPC runs all the Web apps you'll need as well as several useful Linux-based desktop apps.

(Credit: CNET)

(Credit: Asus)

It's official: Asus has announced that the Eee PC (which we've been tracking since August) will be making its way to North America within the next few weeks. The 2-pound, 7-inch, Linux-based laptop will be available in three configurations priced from $299 to $399.

Though the company has yet to offer details on North American specs, it seems reasonable to believe that we'll be seeing the three top models listed on Asus' global site. The highest-end Eee PC 8G includes an 8GB solid-state drive, 1GB of RAM, a built-in Webcam, and a promised 3.5-hour battery life. The Eee PC 4G incorporates a 4GB drive, 512MB of RAM, a Webcam, and the 3.5-hour battery; while the low-end Eee PC 4G Surf lacks the Webcam and promises only 2.8 hours of battery life. (The entry-level 2G Surf, with a 2GB drive and 256MB of RAM, likely won't be available in the U.S.)

Despite including "PC" in the product name, Asus has gone to great lengths to avoid calling the Eee PC a computer: today's press release describes the device as "a 7-inch gadget designed for first-time mobile Internet gadget users." The emphasis is on a simplified interface that lets users access e-mail, send text messages, and share files. Add in your favorite Webware, and it's possible you might not even need a full-fledged laptop.

Given the fate of that other Linux-based mobile Internet device, the Palm Foleo, we'll be keeping a close eye on this one.

Excerpt from Randall Monroe's 'xkcd' Web comic.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Whoever said geeks have no sense of humor was wrong--laughably so. Some of the funniest comics out there are Web comics (or those rendered for the Web,) written by techies, for the techies who love them. Here's a bushel of geeky favorites, in no particular order.

1. xkcd
Randall Monroe, physicist, cartoonist, and at-heart romantic, is behind xkcd, a Web comic whose name curiously holds no mathematically obscure meaning. In his own words, Monroe's stick-figure style "occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors)." See? Funny.... Read more