Sometimes things can become worse from being good, just in the name of innovation. A current example of such a thing is the newly introduced change of features in the Labels of GMail inbox.[Read: Labels, drag and drop, hiding and more] Innovation is supposed to bring with it, ease of use and user-friendliness. But with this new feature, what we have is completely the opposite.
GMail has pioneered user-freindliness, and I was overjoyed when I was given the facility to use the GMail Lab – Right side Chat. It allowed to manage my inbox space in a much more organised fashion. I did not bother if my hundreds of labels would mean my Chat Window would get buried down in deep underground. Everything was jolly good.
With the new features though, Label is back to a space above its original position – which is just below the default Inbox Tabs, and above chat. Sure, there is a summarizer which wraps up the Labels, which again questions its utility now. For one, I am not used to the Left-sidedness of it. Secondly, if the Labels tab is wrapped up, it only means, that when I drag and drop my messages to the left, it is going to unwrap then. The wrapping up of the Labs to show only the most used Labels is also quite questionable. This is because I have lots of Labels which I use frequently, but GMail Inbox now shows only 4 of them. For sure, I can use the “Move to:” feature still, which completely negates the drag and drop feature introduction.
I know GMail introduced the ‘drag and drop’ feature to replicate the Folder scenario as seen in Yahoo and Hotmail. But to do so here, users have to strategically place the mouse between a space so small that it can only fit a hair. This space is at the extreme beginning of the email, and before the checkbox. Yes, can you SEE it even? Talk about user-friendliness.Pffft!
And yes, Right-Side Label Labs is dead. WHYYYY????? I cannot send my Chat to the Right, because the popped up Chat Windows block the Contact list. So it did mean more sense for Right-Side Label to be enabled. I can only request, along with all the other users to bring Sexyback – Imean Right-Side Labels. Puhhhleeeeeeeezz!!!
GMail has just realeased a list of smart shortcuts to easily manage your day-to-day activities with the GMail Inbox. Most of it is widely known to most users, such as using stars to favorite mails, or labels and even archiving. In the latest blog post from GMail Blog , they have talked about the different levels with which they have distinguished the tips and tricks to use GMail more efficiently. Of course, it is the same inbox, but it is upto the user how well he/she manages it.
For e.g. simple keyboard shortcuts like C for compose, Y for archiving or O for opening a mail can make life a lot easier. [Of course, keyboard shortcuts has to be enabled in the Settings, and for that matter, people who are not very familiar with using Keyboard shortcuts will get so much irritated by unexpected opening of mails or the compose mode.] [Read more →]
The new version of Firefox which is 3.5 is a substantial upgrade from the previous version and features a lot of new functionalities with the default install – yes without the addons duh! Here is a rundown of the ones to watch out for.
##Tab Tearing:
This is similar to the feature that Google Chrome has. Users will be able to hold a single tab and drag it to make it as a new Window. The reverse is also possible ie. opened browser windows can be dragged into tabs as well. Here is a video exhibiting the same.
The new iPhone is here, and in full 3GS glory. Here S stands for Speed, and it is claimed to be the fastest iPhone yet. It has major hardware upgrades for a faster performance. Plus a 3MP video camera, Digital Compas, Voice Controls and an impressive price-tag [ for the current version]. Explore the Launch of the new iPhone 3GS in the pictures below. Cheers!
We have liveblogs and then some more liveblogs. I remember somebody did say “Pictures speak louder than words”. So here we are recreating the WWDC Keynote 2009 and telling you the tale of the event at Moscone West, San Fransisco in the form of images. This is a three part post; the first part which is this one, will be carrying images of the Macbook Launch and the Snow Leopard, the second part will be carrying images of the iPhone OS 3.0, and the final part will have images of the new iPhone 3GS launch. So do stay tuned for the next posts which will be up soon.
Just a couple of Images to set the mood right for the WWDC 2009. The geeks are in the room, and Phil is just about to begin the Keynote [coz, it's just 5 minutes to 6pm, London Time, that's why!]. But here we are still sharing some good pics from WWDC, before we go for the Liveblogs of the Event.
First up: A Graphical Roundup of all the iPhone Rumors in one image [via TGRBlog]
For the High Resolution picture, click here.
For all GMail users, we often tend to face one big problem which keeps compounding with the ever increasing inbox that GMail offers. Yes, the problem is to retrieve an old email which I might have indexed somehow with a star, a label or something that I can’t remember properly. We know how to get to the labels, but even the labels could be a bit tricky and not so helpful in giving the specific output that we need. And this is when the necessity of the G-Hackman [such a cool name] rises. I am talking of some search keywords to drive away all your Inbox Mail Search worries. [Read more →]
Just a couple of hours from now [ exactly at 6 pm, London time ] the WWDC 2009 keynote will be held at Moscone West, San Fransisco. Unlike previous year, and the years before, when Steve Jobs took the centrestage to unveil many a fabulous products that Apple has, this year it will Apple’s SVP for Product Marketing, Phil Schiller, who will be presenting the keynote. And by this time, since the first announcement of the dates for this year’s WWDC, the internet and the blogosphere has been buzzing around with rumors and predictions on what possible products will Apple lift the curtains from. This post covers all of them, and also gives you the essential links you will need to stay connected to this year’s WWDC. [WWDC image source: Adam Jackson's Flickr Photostream]
First up: The Liveblogs:
Yes, these are the bunch of ‘Apple Groupies’ who will be tearing off their Tees, and screaming out loud with whistles blowing et al. They will be covering the event live through their Netbooks, Macbooks etc. Here is the elite list.
The New iPhone 3GS:
What does ‘S‘ stand for? Is it Super or could it be Speed? Does that mean better processing speed, i.e. faster processors and more RAM. Also does it mean more storage? And oh, S could also mean (more) Saleable -i.e. a budget range product with a budget range price-tag. All these rumors have been making waves since the last couple of weeks. Let’s discuss them.
Well from different sources [mentioned below] we have collected the following data that the new iPhone 3GS is going to have the following features.
..significantly faster processors, twice the RAM, and twice the storage.
..expected prices to remain the same as the current lineup: $199/299 for 16/32 GB, respectively.
..better Battery life. [via Daring Fireball] [Read more →]
Twitter is on a rampage to improve user experience not only in terms of simpler user interface and ease of using, but also by emphasising on the User Identification methods. A large portion of Twitter users are followers of their favourite celebrity tweeters [like Jonathon Ross, Ashton Kutcher, Stephen Fry, Demi Moore - the list is endless]. Now with fame and power comes the curse of image vulnerability. For e.g. the existing Twitter account for some celebrities like famous Bollywood actor Aamir Khan and James Corden are not real. Those are fake ones, and Twitter is pushing it hard to do a check on these, so as to prevent such acts of creation of fake accounts.
In the latest blog post on Twitter, they have discussed how a certain manager, Tony La Russa has filed a lawsuit for impersonation of his name to create an account. Twitter, however has not agreed to pay any settlement for the lawsuit. To prevent occurence of any such future activities, Twitter will be rolling out identity checks termed as Verified Accounts. This check will show a tick mark next to the Profile name of a user, and will be performed on select users [comprising of public figures, officials, organisations etc.]
An important tip to check the identity of a Twitter user is to visit the URL linked in the user profile. Fake users often tend to use the Official URL of that particular user [searchable on Google]. If this particular URL links back to the twitter ID, it is certain, that the user is real and not a fake one.
Issues with this form of verification though, is that there are loads of users out there, who have shortened URLs on their profile, and these URLs lead to some dodgey website [often having an appended username at the tail] talking about affiliate marketing or money making on the internet in the next 2 hours.
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For all GMail users, we often tend to face one big problem which keeps compounding with the ever increasing inbox that GMail offers. Yes, the problem is to retrieve an old email which I might have indexed somehow with a star, a label or something that I can’t remember properly. We know how to get to the labels, but even the labels could be a bit tricky and not so helpful in giving the specific output that we need. And this is when the necessity of the G-Hackman [such a cool name] rises. I am talking of some search keywords to drive away all your Inbox Mail Search worries. 
Twitter is on a rampage to improve user experience not only in terms of simpler user interface and ease of using, but also by emphasising on the User Identification methods. A large portion of Twitter users are followers of their favourite celebrity tweeters [like Jonathon Ross, Ashton Kutcher, Stephen Fry, Demi Moore - the list is endless]. Now with fame and power comes the curse of image vulnerability. For e.g. the existing Twitter account for some celebrities like famous Bollywood actor Aamir Khan and James Corden are not real. Those are fake ones, and Twitter is pushing it hard to do a check on these, so as to prevent such acts of creation of fake accounts.
