Like it or not, Google’s Gmail service is a seemingly insurmountable giant. With that said, there’s only so many ways to re-invent the wheel — in this case email in general — so many features you can add, and so many UI tweaks you can push out before the supply of creativity runs dry. But naysayers be damned, Yahoo is pushing ahead, and pushing Facebook and Twitter into your inbox…
Fans of the sleek and very sexy Sparrow email client for OS X should head on over to the official website or Mac App Store to snag the latest 1.2 update. Several new features have just been unleashed:
First and foremost we must highlight our favorite new feature — unified inboxes. Said feature is simple in design — it allows you to view multiple accounts within a single column — yet powerful, not to mention highly useful.
Breaking the scope of your traditional email client comes by way of support for Facebook Connect which allows users to display friends’ Facebook pictures next to emails. In similar fashion, Gravatar support has also been added. Finally, Sparrow now caters to 8 additional languages: simplified Chinese, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, German, Japanese, French and English.
If you haven’t bought Sparrow yet we highly recommend it. At first, $9.99 may seem like a bit much for an app that simply displays free email. But after several months of using it ourselves, we must admit that we can’t go a day with out it.
Update: Sparrow 1.2 now live in Mac App Store.
If you’re one of the hundreds of millions of Gmail users logging in this morning only to find missing items and/or being greeted as if it’s the first time you’ve logged in, you’re not alone. A check with Google’s apps status dashboard confirms that the email provider and search giant is in fact having some pretty serious issues. If you have offline copies of your email, consider yourself one step ahead of the game. Otherwise, it’s all in Google’s hands at this point should you find parts of your digital life missing. Stay tuned for continuing updates as they are posted…
The latest update at 8am says…check back at 10.
New update: Check back at 11…
New Update: More of the same. Check back at 12…
New Update: 12:30 is the new time to watch…
Google Mail service has already been restored for some users, and we expect a resolution for all users within the next 10 hours. Please note this time frame is an estimate and may change.
The remaining 0.012% of accounts are being restored on an ongoing basis.
This out of a total of 0.02%-0.08% GMail userbase.
Have you been affected?
The latest update in the India vs. RIM debate shows us that the argument rages on, with RIM promising end users that corporate email won’t be cracked, and that it is in fact impossible to do so. The Indian government on the other hand has stood their ground, stating that either access will be granted or BlackBerry services will be shut down in the country. From a business standpoint, being blocked from providing services in India is a bad thing considering the tens of millions (and more) potential customers. On a human level, the government doesn’t need or deserve access under the false guise of “security”.
I guess we’ll find out who cracks soon — the deadline was set for the end of January. And so far, neither side is budging.
BGR has hit the mother load and completely outed a good chunk of RIM’s 2011 product launch schedule. First, there was the qwerty + touchscreen “Dakota”. And now, two more devices (Curve and Torch 2) have been revealed. The Curve is yet another refresh of RIM’s tried and true full-qwerty BlackBerry that has made the company millions. The Torch 2 is the company’s most recent addition that brings a new horizontal-sliding form factor. As far as specs go, the new Curve features quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE and tri-band UMTS, 512 eMMC/512MB RAM, HVGA 480 x 360 display, 5-megapixel camera, WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth, GPS, NFC and Tavor MG-1 800MHz CPU. The Torch 2 ups the ante a bit with a 2.8″ 640 x 480 display, 768MB RAM, 4GB of internal storage, WiFi g/n on 2.4GHz + 5GHz frequencies, 3G mobile hotspot support, NFC, Magnetometer/Accelerometer/Proximity sensor, and the same quad/tri-band of radios.
For a BlackBerry, they’re getting sleeker and (finally) more powerful. But I’m afraid without the new and exciting QNX operating system it’s nothing but more of the same.
It used to take a high-end, expensive smartphone to get mobile email. And in the earliest days of mobile email, the service and quality were terrible. These days, however, email is no more challenging the standard SMS/text messages. Highlighting this fact comes by way of a press release from Verizon this morning, detailing their new Microsoft Exchange-powered Mobile Email 4.0 app for feature phones. Yes, folks. Feature phones are now officially “smart” too. On top of ActiveSync support, the new email service sports a heavily revamped UI that according to Verizon, will make it easier for end users to navigate and use on a daily basis.
I’m more than happy with my iPhone at the moment, so I’ll forgo this new low-cost push email service. But for those who fit the bill, it’ll set you back $5/month on Pay-as-you-Go plans and bundled in free of charge on all data plans costing $15 or more.
While we tend to cater more towards the mid to high-end cellular market, the truth of the matter is that there is still a massive demand for lower-end smartphones and less complex connected devices. Take for example, the data-only Peek. It’s not a phone and it’s not a web browsing device. In fact, when the device was first launched in late 2007, the only supported feature on its monochrome screen was email. By this years introduction of the Peek9, weather, RSS feeds, Twitter, Facebook and several other bits of information have been thrown into the mix as well as a full-color display. With the Peek 9 encroaching ever further into the world that smartphones typically cater to, can it and the company survive?
We may not talk much about Symbian ’round these parts, but every now and then something news worthy comes through the wire that is worth a nod. Truth be told however, it isn’t because of some new advancement by Nokia or the Symbian backers at large. Instead, a single developer by the name of Asri al-Baker is the star of the day and the brains behind a repackaged Gmail Mobile.
Specifically, al-Baker took the iPhone optimized Gmail web page repackaged it into a web app for Symbian devices. With that said, the link itself is just “http://mail.google.com/mail/x/gdlakb-/gp/”. Though you can pick it up already packaged up nice and neat right over here
If you’re a Symbian user, go ahead and give it a shot. Be sure to let us know how it works!
Think email is dead? Facebook does. There announcement today didn’t unveil a traditional email service. What they announced is far more “real-time” and engaging. Facebook calls it a “Social Messaging System”. “It’s not email”, says Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerburg. Instead, it’s a real-time, location and device agnostic service that aims to seamlessly integrate your life’s conversations. It ties together your SMS/text messages, emails, and IM’s into one place. In short: it’s awesome.
AT&T’s Data Throttling Threshold Is Based On Black Magic And Unicorns.
[Update 4] Free At Last – A5 Untether Has Been Released!!
AT&T Needs To Cater To Lite Data Users, Better. 300 MB Isn’t Going To Cut It.
Fight: HTC Rezound vs. Samsung Galaxy Nexus vs. Droid RAZR.
The Evolving World of Software
Hands On: Cheers For iOS.
Review: BodyGuardz Mykase & UltraTough Clear Case Friendly ScreenGuardz
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Speck CandyShell – Review & Roundup
Review: id-America Spark Earphones.
Mystery HTC Device (Incredible 3?) Spied With Android 4.0, Sense UI 4.
Another Day, Another Google Wallet Security Bug.
HTC Further Details Android 4.0 Update Schedule, Beginning In March.
Motorola: We’re Slow With Android Updates Because We Make To Much Hardware, Install Custom Skins.
Tweetbot 2.0 Is Out! Here’s What’s New. (It’s Awesome).
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