For some time now, Gmail users have had the ability to “fetch” incoming mail from existing Yahoo!, AOL, Hotmail, etc. accounts but this marks the first time that you can actually migrate your entire inbox to Gmail with just one click.

From Google’s announcement:

“It’s much easier to make the transition now that you can bring along all your old email and contacts. You can even have your messages forwarded from your old account for 30 days, giving you time to take Gmail for a test drive while you make up your mind.”

Again, the new option isn’t quite available to all users yet so go easy on that F5 key if you don’t happen to see it immediately.

Seriously, between this announcement and all of the unique and clever features that are coming out of Gmail Labs nowadays, it seems as though competitors like Microsoft’s Hotmail and AOL Mail won’t ever be able to catch up.

This is typically a result of two separate problems. First, the developers of the email message that you received perhaps didn’t use Web standards when composing it. Alternatively, the email authors may have done everything right and composed the message using the most modern standards possible but the developers of your email client don’t know what they’re doing. It’s 50/50 for me… I’ve experienced both the former and the latter equally, I do believe.
Regardless of where the problem originated, there is a solution: agreeing to a set of standards and sticking to them.

That’s where the "Email Standards Project" comes in.

The goal of the Email Standards Project is to work with both the design community (to help them "understand why standards are so important for email") and email client developers (to "ensure that emails render consistently.")

More information is available at email-standards.org including info on how you can help with the project. You can even find up-to-date ratings of current email clients like Google’s Gmail (FAIL), Windows Live Mail (WIN) and, of course, everybody’s favorite email client: Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 (you guessed it: FAIL – most likely because it uses Microsoft Word as a rendering engine).

The tests are based on the ever-infamous acid test and go into detail as to what displays properly in the client and what doesn’t.

It’s a noble cause in my personal opinion and I sincerely hope that both Google and Microsoft invest a little more time and money into ensuring that some of their most popular products follow a set of reasonable standards… something that even Mozilla’s Thunderbird can offer.

The private browsing modes in both Chrome and IE8, referred to as “Incognito” and “InPrivate,” respectively, work the same way in that information such as cache, browser history, cookies for each private browsing window are stored in a separate, temporary location.

Basically, this means that the cookies generated by Gmail.com in one Internet Explorer “InPrivate” window remain completely separate from that of a different “InPrivate” window.

Of course, you’ll have to re-establish your logins for those accounts after closing Chrome/IE8 as the aforementioned temporary information is deleted once a private browsing window is closed. Also, the article to which I’ve linked above states that you can only be logged in to two different accounts at one time: one in a regular window and one in the private window. This is only true with Chrome as Google’s browser only allows one “Incognito” window open at a time. With IE8, on the other hand, you can have multiple “InPrivate” windows open at the same time which means that you can open and manage as many accounts on the same site (Gmail, Twitter, Digg to name a few) as you’d like.

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Technorati : IE8, Web, browser, chrome, google, microsoft

Not only has it not been updated since 2006, the extension isn’t even compatible with the 3rd release of the Mozilla Firefox browser.  (As is typically the case with Google, mum’s the word on any plans and nearly 100 status requests have gone unanswered in the official forum for Google Firefox extensions.)

Mozilla answered the cries of many, however, when it released "Weave" late last year.  The official extension (from the company who brought you the Firefox browser itself) allowed for synchronization of your bookmarks, history and saved form data.  With the next release, they added support for cookies.

Now, with today’s release, they add support for passwords as well…thus leaving Google Browser Sync entirely useless.

The extension even allows for developers to extend Weave for their own applications but you can read more about that, and Weave’s many other features, on the Mozilla Labs blog. Or, you can just download it now: https://services.mozilla.com/.

Note: once you begin the initial synchronization, be prepared for the browser to choke just a little bit while the sync occurs.  Once you’re finished with that initial synchronization, however, it’ll be as smooth as silk to keep your browser information up-to-date on all your computers.

Now, if they only would allow for synchronization of Firefox extensions…

If you’ve ever been frustrated by an Instant Messaging client, be it for lack of functionality or just-plain-strange behavior, you should really check out  Digsby.

Background

Trust me, I’ve used my fair share of IM clients.  AIM was the first, of course, in tandem with Yahoo! Messenger and MSN Messenger, followed by Pidgin, Trillian, meebo, Google Talk and, ultimately, Digsby.  You want to be able to chat with your friends/colleagues no matter what service they like so a multi-protocol IM client is almost entirely necessary now.  Of the aforementioned products, that leaves Trillian, Pidgin, meebo and Digsby. 

The Competition

Trillian Astra (currently in alpha-testing, not yet available to the general public) is a vast improvement over Trillian 3.0.  It’s lighter, faster, gorgeous and, like Digsby, keeps your profile and contacts synchronized on any computer you might be using.

Pidgin does not offer synchronization across multiple devices but it’s 100% open-source.  So, you’ve got a plethora of options when it comes to making the application conform to your needs via third-party plugins.

meebo, which I’ve covered before, sets itself apart from the group I’ve mentioned by being the only online-based IM client.  (There are competitors like eBuddy and Yoomba but I’ve only used meebo.)  Create an account at the site, store your AOL/Google/Yahoo!/MSN profiles in that account and you’re good to go.  There’s no need to download a client in order to chat with people…just log onto meebo.com in your Web browser – which you’ve most likely got open all the time anyway.  It’s the perfect tool for those on the go (or for those in a strict corporate environment.)

The Big Kahuna

Needless to say, there are plenty of other IM clients out there but, for the sake of brevity, I’m only going for the major players…or at least the ones I’ve used.)  So, in my opinion, what makes the privately held, NY-based Digsby stand above the rest?

First of all, the major IM protocols mentioned above are covered so, if you’ve got an account with one of them, you can use Digsby to connect to it.  That’s your basic stuff, though. 

The big benefit the program offers is its’ integration with multiple social networks including Facebook, Myspace and Twitter.  You can stay up-to-date with new Facebook friend requests, wall posts, Twitter tweets (and even create new ones – right from your system tray) and keep everyone up-to-date as to your current status.

You’re also given the ability check multiple E-mail accounts like Gmail, Yahoo!, Windows Live, AOL…or any POP or IMAP account for that matter.  You can keep track of your inbox, delete messages and send new messages – all without firing up your browser or favorite E-mail client.

Next up are the program’s little bells & whistles.  Perhaps my favorite Digsby feature are it’s intelligent notifications for new IMs.  Each incoming instant message brings a pop-up notification in the lower-right corner of your screen, inside of which is the content of the message being sent as well as a text-field you can use for your reply.  No need to switch over to your IM application and further distract yourself from work…just type out a quick reply and carry on with what you were doing:

In addition, you get notifications for new activity in your E-mail accounts and social networks.  (New Twitter tweets or Facebook new friend requests popping up aren’t quite as distracting as you’d think they’d be.  In fact, they’re really quite helpful.)

Digsby’s program preferences also bring some little surprises including extensive skinning and privacy options.  You even have the option to create a Digsby Facebook chat widget which can be added to your Facebook profile page:

Just About Perfect…

So, what’s it missing?  In my opinion, it just needs to integrate a few more services into the application.  As I stated above, you can already keep track of your Facebook, MySpace and Twitter accounts but, for me at least, it’s missing a few key services: Pownce (for those Twitter rebellions), Google Reader (for the items you can’t help to share), Last.fm, del.icio.us, Flickr and/or Picasa and, last but not least, RSS.  (RSS functionality may prove to be a little too distracting though.)

Further down the line, it might also be nice to see some options for video chat – for which the developers can definitely look to meebo for inspiration.

So, check out Digsby’s list of features or just download the program now (for Windows, Mac and Linux) and see for yourself.

According to Fox News, Verizon Wireless customers could eventually be able to purchase and use Apple’s iPhone.  Why do they believe this?  Verizon, last Thursday, announced that the next generation of wireless technology to replace GSM technology (on which their aging CDMA network is currently based) will be none other than LTE (Long-Term Evolution) which is the exact same technology that AT&T will be using on their next generation network. 

Logically, it makes sense: with Verizon using the same technology as AT&T, surely phones available on one company’s network would inevitably work with the other.  (Of course, neither AT&T nor Verizon have ever made logical decisions on interoperability.)

Verizon will begin trial runs of their new LTE-based network in 2008 but it isn’t expected to be available to customers until at least 2010.

We previously reported on Google’s interest in participating on the bid for the 700 MHz wireless spectrum bid from the FCC.  Well, Google announced today that a bid is definite.  Here’s a snippet from Google’s official press release:

As part of the nationally mandated transition to digital television, the 700 MHz spectrum auction — which begins January 24, 2008 — will free up spectrum airwaves for more efficient wireless Internet service for consumers. Advocacy by public interest groups and Google earlier this year helped ensure that regardless of which bidders win a key portion of the spectrum up for auction (the so-called "C Block"), they will be required to allow their users to download any software application they want on their mobile device, and to use any mobile devices they would like on that wireless network. The winner must ensure these rights for consumers if the reserve price of $4.6 billion for the C Block is met at auction.

Google’s formal application to participate in the 700 MHz auction will be filed with the FCC on Monday, December 3, 2007 — the required first step in the auction process. Google’s application does not include any partners.

Honestly, Google’s been able to do quite a bit of good with their money, power and influence and this will be yet another great accomplishment from Schmidt & Co.

Update: I neglected to mention that the official post on Google’s blog (link below) regarding the auction has some great details on how the whole process will work and what’s to be expected.  It might be worth reading.

Source: The Official Google Blog

As you might guess, the group chat feature allows you to chat with multiple Gmail users at once while the new rich emoticons finally provide the Gmail chat user with a graphical emoticons in addition to the standard animated text ones currently available.

Check out the announcement at the official Gmail blog.

Using the API, programmers can import E-mail from a vast, vast array of E-mail clients out there into the Gmail application of Google Apps.

Along with the API release from Google comes a new tool from LimitNone for you non-programmers currently using Microsoft Outlook.  gMOVE: Outlook Migration allows users to pick-and-choose Outlook E-mails (either individual folders or your entire folder structure) to be imported into your Gmail account.  This goes for Gmail OR Google Apps – including standard Google Apps accounts.  Beautifully priced at $19.99 (limited time only,) this tool could save you loads of time and frustration.

LimitNone also offers a separate tool, gXFER, for transferring Gmail account settings including E-mail, contacts and calendar entries to your Google Apps account.  This particular tool is absolutely free.

Google’s API Announcement:
http://google-code-updates.blogspot.com/2007/11/each-and-every-email.html

Dear readers,

For those of you that use Gmail and are unaware, you may be shocked and saddened to know that the E-mails you compose to friends, family, business associates don’t arrive in those individuals’ inboxes as you might intend.

The horrible truth is that your E-mails appear to be composed in 10pt. Arial but, in reality, are composed in and sent as 12pt. Times New Roman.  See for yourself:

In Gmail:

In the Recipient’s Inbox:

Of course, this is nothing new.  This has been the default setting since Gmail began in April of 2004.  Granted, you could always just change the font yourself (which is what I do pretty much each and every time) but what confuses me is why Gmail doesn’t provide an option for the "default font" to be automatically set to your preference for each and every new message composed. 

(Also, despite what others may say, this has nothing to do with the default font in your browser…Gmail intentionally displays 10pt Arial as the composition font and most definitely sends the E-mails as 12pt. TNR.)

So, tell Google you’re sick of sending people ugly E-mails and vote now for a default font setting to be implemented.

Just as a side note we wanted to mention that, in the grand scheme of things, this one bit of lacking functionality pales in comparison to the good that Google’s Gmail application has brought to the Web.  If it wasn’t for Gmail, we’d probably still be using Web mail applications offering a 10mb inbox, POP and SMTP access only available as a paid feature, 1mb allowable attachments and other ghastly options. 

I mention this because Gmail, despite the fact that it’s in a 3+ year beta stage, has made a significant difference in the Web 2.0 world.  Because of Gmail, we learned in 2004 that new and exciting options, in regards to functionality and expandability, were ready to be used to produce the next generation of Web applications.