GMail Blog - Details

Listing ID: 488

Title: GMail Blog

Description: The official GMail blog.

Category: Internet

Owner:

listed on: May 10, 2008 07:42:51 AM

Number Hits: 1 times

Recent Posts:

Gmail on your Google Desktop - 2008-12-01 16:48:00

Posted by James Yum, Developer Programs Engineer, Google Desktop On theGoogle Desktop gadgetsteam, we've seen countless requests for a Gmail gadget over the years. That gadget isfinally here, so if you've gotGoogle Desktopfor Windows, give it a try. You'll see that it covers the basics such as reading, searching, and sending messages. You canstar messages, use the samekeyboard shortcuts, and we didn't forget aboutcontact auto-complete. It doesn't take up much space in your sidebar or desktop, and you can also resize it to show as few or as many messages as you'd like. When I'm at work, I keep two instances of the gadget open: one logged into my personal Gmail account and the other set to myGoogle Appsaccount for work related stuff. Instead of getting lost in a sea of tabs or browser windows, I can bring up the gadgets in an instant (hint: pressing the shift key twice brings up all your hidden Desktop gadgets). The Gmail gadget currently works with thelatest releaseof Google Desktop for Windows.Try it outand pleaselet us knowwhat you think. Update: Changed title to clarify this is for Google Desktop.

Syncing your Google Calendar - 2008-11-25 11:49:00

Posted by Wen-Ai Yu, Support Strategist We on the Google Calendar team work hard to play well with others, so you can synchronize your calendars with a number of mobile devices and desktop applications. This way, you can choose whichever calendars you want to use and keep all of them up to date. Most of these options have been around for a while, and we're happy to announce that Google Calendar now supports the CalDAV protocol -- an evolving, open standard for calendar synchronization. Apple iCal and Mozilla Sunbird You can now sync your calendar with applications that support CalDAV, such as Apple's iCal and Mozilla's Sunbird. Learn more about how to get started in ourhelp center. Microsoft Outlook Google Calendar Sync for Outlooklets you sync events between Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook Calendar. You determine the direction of information flow, as well as the sync frequency. It's compatible with Microsoft Outlook versions 2003 and 2007, and operating systems Windows XP and Windows Vista. BlackBerry mobile devices If you carry a BlackBerry smartphone,Google Sync for BlackBerrysynchronizes your device's native calendar with Google. You can access your Google Calendar even when you don't have network coverage and get alerts for upcoming appointments with sound or vibration. It automatically runs in the background, so you can attend to other tasks and still be reminded of your appointments. Android devices It's easy to connect an Android-powered phone to Google Calendar using the phone'spreloaded Calendar application. New events are pushed in real-time to your phone and any changes you make on-the-go are immediately available on the web. If you have another mobile device, just visitcalendar.google.comfrom your phone, and you'll get a special version of Google Calendar optimized for the small screen.

Spice up your inbox with colors and themes - 2008-11-19 12:21:00

Posted by Annie Chen, Gmail engineer Gmail fans have been building unofficial extensions to spice up their inboxes for a while, but up til now themes haven't been an integral part of Gmail. We wanted to go beyond simple color customization, so out of the 30 odd themes we're launching today, there's a shiny theme with chrome styling, another one that turns your inbox into a retro notepad, nature themes that change scenery over time, weather driven themes that can rain on your mailbox, and fun characters to keep you in good company. There's even an old school ascii theme (Terminal) which was the result of a bet between two engineers -- it's not exactly practical, but it's great for testing out your geek cred. We've also done a minor facelift to Gmail's default look to make it crisper and cleaner -- you might notice a few colors and pixels shifted around here and there. As you can see from these photos taken around our office in Zurich, Switzerland, themes have made their way into more than our inboxes -- that's a character from the ninja theme made out of pixel blocks, customized laptop decals, and a giant Zoozimps character on a beam next to my desk: To customize your inbox, go to theThemes tab under Settings. We'll be rolling out themes to everyone over the next couple of days, so if you don't see them yet, check back soon. As for which theme to choose, don't ask us. We'reneutral;)