1FPS|by David Chartier

Apple has a new support document that further details the new Address-Book-to-Gmail sync feature that debuted in 10.5.3. Here are a few choice talking points:

• The feature now appears in iTunes 7.7 in addition to Address Book’s pref pane
• Apple explains: “Google uses email addresses as the unique identifier for each Gmail contact. If some of your contacts have the same email address, they may not all sync.”
• Also: “Anyone you have corresponded with in your Gmail account will be included in this sync by default.” Google, stop this behavior, or at least give us the option to shut it off.

My favorite bullet point is towards the bottom: “If you are syncing your computer with MobileMe, remember that these contacts may sync to MobileMe as well.” Note that Apple says these contacts “may” sync to MobileMe, instead of “definitely will, because MobileMe is a far more reliable replacement for .Mac.”

It was… their destiny.

According to Google Operating System, Google has finally answered the call of power users everywhere and released an API for syncing contacts with a Google Account. That’s right, contacts aren’t bound just to Gmail, which opens the doors for those who only use other services.

This also means that we’ll inevitably see plug-ins for Mac OS X’s Address Book, Outlook, and other apps for keeping contacts in sync. Combined with Gmail’s not-quite-perfect IMAP implementation, and keeping in mind the Google Calendar Sync plug-in for Outlook released earlier today, Google’s taken a big leap today across the chasm that separates the web and the desktop today.

A big open question with this contact syncing API, however, is whether Gmail will offer a new option for switching off that arguably terrible feature that turns every person you reply to into a contact. Google apparently doesn’t believe users are smart enough to be active about adding contacts to their own address book (is some kind of “add person to contacts” option for the message menu really that hard?); they had to automate it. For any active e-mail users who‚Äîwhether by necessity or habit‚Äîare active about organizing their address book, this “turn everyone into a contact” paradigm can lead to a lot of aggravating bloat. When I used to use Gmail actively online, I would periodically wipe out my entire address book and upload a fresh new copy from my Mac OS X book that I manage myself.

Automation is great, but can you reel it in just a tad, Google?

Still, I, and I’m sure many other Mac OS X users, anxiously await any sort of plug-in for Address Book or SyncServices to get our long-anticipated Gmail contact sync on.

Remember The Milk (RTM), my favorite task management app with a ton of integration, now ties incredibly well into Gmail. Via a Firefox extension, a new customizable Tasks panel can be displayed next to messages. Every aspect of tasks can be edited (time estimates, due dates, tags, location, etc.), and RTM tasks can be tied not only to Gmail messages but Calendar events and even contacts as well. This is really, really impressive. You have to check out the post for yourself to see how good of a job the team did here with a half-supported Gmail API.

Now I’m primarily a Safari man myself, but I typically have to have Firefox running for a variety of reasons such as working in the Ars CMS. I’ve resisted temptation from other extensions to use Firefox a lot more, perhaps even as my primary browser, but this is the first one that’s getting me to seriously think about it. Remember The Milk and its plethora of useful task features and integration has literally changed the way I work and get things done in the rest of my life. Bringing Gmail and RTM together like this is really exciting. I can’t wait to give this a thorough run-through later today.

read more | digg story

Official Gmail Blog: Gmail + chat + AIM = crazy delicious

Gmail is on fire with new features. First the recently released “new Gmail” that brings much faster performance and new keyboard shortcuts. Then yesterday’s colored labels, and now AIM integration into Gmail’s Google Talk panel:

Today we are happy to tell you about a new feature we’ve started to roll out which will enable you to sign into your AIM account and chat with your AIM buddies right inside Gmail. When you log in to AIM through Gmail chat, your AOL buddies will appear in your chat list with friends from your Google Talk network, and you will see the yellow “running man” logo to the right of your AIM friends’ screen names. To your AIM friends it will look like you are logged in to AIM as usual.

No file transfer support, but integrating one of the most popular competing chat networks will allow Gmail to become an even more valuable communication hub.

I also remember feeling like the new Gmail didn’t quite feel like a big enough deal; there were some performance enhancements for sure, but it didn’t feel like there were any tangible new features. Maybe Google’s tactic of rolling out a feature or two over a few days or weeks like this is an attempt to keep the Gmail buzz going for a longer period of time, attracting more new and returning users.

Official Gmail Blog: The next evolution of labels

This is incredibly convenient for me, as just this weekend I finished rerouting all my addresses through Gmail IMAP so I can use either a desktop client or the web UI depending on my needs:

Today, we’re happy to announce the next evolution of labels: the colored label. Until now the label has been a little inconspicuous creature, subtly suggesting categorical associations in its simple green coat. Oh, we’ve seen the colored label here and there, its precursors surfacing in various experiments and Greasemonkey scripts; but the label has never before been so brazen, so bold. How will it use its new colors? Will it disguise itself with the chameleon’s camouflage or clamor for attention with the monarch butterfly’s vivid contrast?

This is also very coincidental for me too, as just earlier today I was kicking around reinstalling Greasemonkey and the Gmail label colors script. Now I don’t have to, or at least soon I won’t have to. I don’t see the feature yet, and the Gmail Editing labels support page that the Official Gmail Blog linked for more info on this new feature hasn’t been updated yet. The post hints that it’s simple though; sounds like it’s a click on “Edit labels” from the main Gmail UI and some sort of color choice/picker option for each label in the Settings area.

Either way, this is a pleasant surprise in my new Gmail/Apple Mail dual existence though, admittedly, I did this so I could send and manage most of my e-mail in the web UI. Things like those bookmarklets I found earlier this year make creating and sending e-mail a breeze, and I’m going to set up some kind of automation to start Mail at night to download and archive my Gmail just in case.

But I wildly digress: colors for Gmail labels. Fanfreakingtastic.

Update:

It’s actually even easier than I thought to colorize your labels. You can do it right on Gmail’s main page, and your changes are reflected in the current message view instantly:

This is excellent. If you don’t see it in Firefox yet like I didn’t, you might need to empty your cache (Tools > Clear Private Data) and/or refresh Gmail.

Google Reveals 2008 Plans For Google Apps | TechCrunch

Well hot diggity damn:

We should also expect Google Docs, Gmail and Calendar to soon work offline via Google Gears

This will be great news to Google app users who also roll with Firefox and Google Gears, but I’m a little disappointed that Google isn’t using the opportunity (or perhaps can’t) to push this functionality with the new HTML5 standards like client-side database storage that WebKit and (by extension) Safari supports. Sure, Google offers a developer section for building Google Gears for WebKit, but that’s a long way from being a “click here to install” operation for the end user.

Of course, I honestly don’t know that much about HTML5 and whether it holds a candle to what Google has done with its Firefox-proprietary Gears extension, so I’m not necessarily disappointed solely with Google that offline access isn’t coming for every browser (and no, you do not have to adjust your display: I did just use “Firefox” and “proprietary” in a sentence without including “Internet Explorer”). I just prefer Safari for its better Mac OS X integration and speed, but the prospect of taking these other apps offline is admittedly damn appealing.

For the last 24 hours or so I’ve been receiving this error message both over Wi-Fi and EDGE when trying to send messages to verified email addresses through both my .Mac and Gmail accounts. The error message states specifically that the particular address I’m sending to was “rejected by the server,” even though I’ve been emailing people at those addresses for months or even years (in fact, in one case, I was emailing something to myself, and my own address is being rejected by the server). To my knowledge I haven’t changed a thing in any of my accounts and I haven’t dropped my iPhone.

Halp?

Update: The problem has since mysteriously fixed itself. The two drafts that were still backed up have sent themselves, and I was just able to send out a brand new message as well. Still no clue what the problem was though.

Gmail finally opened its doors for anyone to sign up (no invite necessary), and now it’s even rumored that they might sell additional space for those who get claustrophobic at 2.8 GB. Apparently, Google must be under the impression that there’s a person or two out there who either haven’t heard of Gmail, or might not know what all the fuss is about.

For these unfortunate individuals, the Gmail team has created a series of four videos intended to offer a fun perspective on some of Gmail’s key offerings. While they’re goofy videos created with in-office props (would you expect anything else out of UGC-ish from YouTube’s new owners?), these videos are so interesting to me as they betray this totally human, fun side of the engineers behind one of the web’s most advanced email services.

The first video is embedded in this post or can be found here. In case you’re new to YouTube, the other videos (Acts 2-4) can be found in the ‘More from this user’ column on the right.

[tags]Gmail, YouTube, humor, marketing[/tags]

Gmail online is starting to crap out on me - a lot. I keep getting ‘error code 007′ whenever I try to switch between labels or open messages. Yesterday reloading Gmail fixed the problem, but this morning even that solution is failing. Am I the only one?

[tags]Gmail, complaints[/tags]