Whenever I open up my inbox at work, I’m never surprised to find several new messages waiting to be read. The same thing can’t always be said about my personal Gmail account. Sometimes I end up checking my mail only to find nothing new there.

No big deal, really. But now imagine that you access Gmail on a super slow connection from a remote place in Ethopia where it might take minutes to completely load your inbox. The disappointment is larger when you find out that there is nothing new to read and you could have saved all that time.

To ease this pain a bit, Google created a new feature in Gmail Labs called Inbox Preview. While Gmail is loading, a simple, static preview of your inbox with your ten most recent messages is displayed. Turn it on from the Labs tab under Settings, and if you’re on a slow connection you’ll know from the start if it’s worth the wait.

Analyst Opinion – It’s been two-and-a-half years since Google bought YouTube for $1.65 billion. At the time, the 18-month-old online video sensation was struggling to figure out how to convert its immense popularity into sustainable revenue. It’s still struggling. Which begs the question: Will Google’s patience eventually wear out?

It’s a valid question. Figures just released by Credit Suisse project $711 million in YouTube-related operating costs through 2009. A relatively paltry $240 million in ad revenue leaves parent Google $471 million out of pocket. As the deepening recession continues to send advertisers scurrying for cover, it’s increasingly clear that these numbers won’t improve anytime soon. How much longer can Google keep footing the bill?

Storing and distributing all those videos of kids making fools of themselves in their backyards and pets destroying the house isn’t cheap. While some conventional media providers have toyed with charging subscriptions, I doubt anyone would pay to see teenagers falling off their skateboards. After four years of free YouTube, users feel entitled, and will quickly find other ways to share teen-skateboard videos if YouTube initiates subscriptions.

Read More @ TGDaily.com

Try out these and other experimental features from the Labs tab under Settings:

		YouTube, Picasa, Flickr, and Yelp previews Instead of just links, see previews of photos, videos, and reviews right in your email.
		Undo send Oops, hit “Send” too soon? Give yourself a grace period of a few seconds to cancel sending, then edit your message before sending again.
		Tasks mobile Take your to-do list everywhere you go. Just go to mail.google.com/tasks from your mobile browser
		Offline Make Google Mail work even when you’re not connected to the internet.

Google Voice is a service that gives you one number for all your phones, voicemail that is easy as email, and many enhanced calling features like call blocking and screening, voicemail transcripts, call conferencing, international calls, and more.

Google Voice is currently available for GrandCentral users only, but will be open to new users soon.

Read More Features @ Google Voice

Written by Octavian “Vivi” Costache, Software Engineer

Octavian says …

I’m seriously into filters and labels. All the email I get related to Flash goes under my “flash” label, everything about paragliding goes under “flying,” and they all skip my inbox because that’s how I like to stay organized. But when new email arrives I have to switch to the “flash” label first, then click on “paragliding,” etc. I wanted a way to see it all at once.

So when I heard about Gmail Labs, I started implementing a Labs feature in my 20% time that would help me (and you!) spend less time monitoring important messages that may end up getting filtered away. Starting today, you can try Multiple Inboxes, a Labs experiment which makes it possible to have more than one ‘inbox’ in your default Gmail view.

An image is worth a thousand words, so here’s what my inbox looks like:

In addition to a quick view of my important labels, I also like to keep all my starred and draft messages in separate panels.

After you turn on Multiple Inboxes from the Labs tab under Settings, you can configure what you want to see, as well as set the number of messages displayed and the positioning of your panels from the Multiple Inboxes section under Settings.

However you choose to use it, let us know how we can improve the Multiple Inboxes experiment — all feedback is welcome.

Location is the feature du jour at Google as of late. First they released, Latitude, a new location sharing service. Now, the Gmail team has announced a new Labs feature that allows you to automatically append your location information to your signature.

Why would you want to do this? Maybe you want to highlight your jetsetting lifestyle. Maybe you want to remind the recipient that you’re in a different time zone. Or you might just want to use it as a mnemonic device for searching sent email based on the location from where it was sent.

If you want to try it, don’t forget that it takes two steps to activate the feature. First, go to Labs and enable the feature. Then, go to your signature settings and check “Append your location to the signature.”

Bear in mind, it’s a Labs feature, so it’s not without foibles. The location, for example, is based on IP detection. So it may not be as accurate as you would like – like if the corporate IP address of the connection you’re using is attributed to a different location. Want more accuracy? Install Gears so the location module can use wi-fi access points to hone in on your whereabouts.

Don’t want that certain someone to know that you’re not where you’d said you would be? Simply delete the location line before sending the message. (The signature and location are appended to the message when the composition window opens.)

VentureBeat and its readers were wondering why Google didn’t tie this feature to Latitude. We were, too. But we’re guessing that – given that this was a Google 20% project – the two were on separate trajectories. Perhaps if “location in the signature” ever makes it out of Labs, it will leverage Latitude.

If you’re into testing geolocation features – or letting people (and Google) know where you are – this could be the Gmail feature you’ve been waiting for.

Where you are is as important as what you’re looking for. That’s why more and more services are looking to location as a filter for providing relevant information when and where we need it. So it only makes sense that Google – a company known for its ability to deliver relevant information – get into the location-aware app game. Today, they jumped in with both feet by releasing Google Latitude, a way to keep track of your friends’ current whereabouts – and let Google have a view into your nomadic or sedentary habits.

Google Latitude allows you to share location-based information with friends. And it’s incredibly easy to get started. Simply install the app on your smartphone (no iPhone yet) or iGoogle. You have the option of sharing your location by dynamically updating the service using your phone or by manually updating your location on the Web.

view Complete Story @ ReadWriteWeb