Tuesday, December 8, 2009


Gmail Blog Updates [Offline Gmail graduates from Labs | Happy holidays from the Picasa team]

Offline Gmail graduates from Labs

Almost a year ago, we launched Offline Gmail in Gmail Labs. By installing Offline Gmail, you're able to use the normal Gmail interface to read and write mail, search, and organize, even when there's no internet connection. And Flaky Connection mode speeds up Gmail when your connection is slow or unreliable.

Since we first launched in Labs, we've heard from a lot of you who tried Offline Gmail, and your feedback helped us make a lot of improvements. Aside from fixing bugs and making the whole offline experience smoother, we recently added two frequently requested features: an option to choose which messages get downloaded for offline use and the ability to send attachments while offline. Offline Gmail has proven particularly useful for business and schools making the switch to Google Apps from traditional desktop mail clients -- they're used to being able to access their mail whether or not they're online, and Offline Gmail brings this functionality right to the browser.

Now, we're happy to announce that Offline Gmail is graduating from Labs and becoming a regular part of Gmail. If you're already using it, then you're all set. While you'll no longer see it on the Labs tab, you can tweak your settings and turn it on and off from the Offline tab under Settings. If you'd like to get started with Offline Gmail on your computer now, here's how:
  1. Click the "Settings" link in the top-right corner of Gmail.
  2. Click the "Offline" tab.
  3. Select "Enable Offline Mail for this computer."
  4. Click "Save Changes" and follow the directions from there.

Thanks for all of the feedback over the last year -- and for putting up with the occasional bug or two. We're going to have a little toast, and then get right back to working on more improvements for 2010.

P.S. We received some interesting pictures in response to our call for photos of people using Gmail offline in our last post. Our favorite so far came from Ugo, who is at a Saharawirefugee camp in south Algeria, where he uses Gmail offline most of the time and connects via a satellite phone to our servers just once a day.


Happy holidays from the Picasa team

Three weeks ago we made extra storage for Gmail and Picasa Web Albums more affordable, and now we've partnered with Eye-Fi to make it even easier to get your photos into the cloud. Eye-Fi offers WiFi-enabled memory cards which make your existing camera wireless, so it's easy to upload photos and videos right to Picasa Web Albums or to your computer -- no cables required. For a limited time, when you buy 200 GB of Google paid storage for $50, you'll get a free Eye-Fi card (a $95 value). 

Visit picasa.google.com/eyefi.html to get yours today, and happy holidays from the Picasa team!


Source : 
http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/happy-holidays-from-picasa-team.html
http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/offline-gmail-graduates-from-labs.html

Recent Posts :
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/fighting-fraud-online-taking-google.html
http://google-au.blogspot.com/2009/12/relevance-meets-real-time-web.html
http://googlejapan.blogspot.com/2009/12/google_07.html