Over the last few weeks Google has been busy launching some new applications and gadgets as part of its Google Labs. The Labs is where Google tries out new ideas and applications and everything from Google Maps to Google Docs has gotten its start as a Google Labs project.
Over the last couple of weeks I've been trying out some of the new Google Labs projects and have found some that may be new favorites and some that I could probably live without.
Several new Google Labs projects have been added to Gmail and have even been added directly to the Gmail interface. Users now see a test-tube icon in the upper right hand corner of Gmail and clicking on this brings them to a screen showing all of the Google Labs apps that they can enable within Gmail.
Some of these didn't hold much interest, including a snakey game (there are plenty of better online games out there) and pictures in chat.
However, others proved to be more useful. With Google Labs, users can have more control over their e-mail signatures in Gmail and there is more customization for date formats. Also it is now possible to enable mouse gestures to control the interface in Gmail.
One of my favorite Labs features was the Email Addict feature. This adds a "Take a break" link inside Gmail which, if you click it, locks you out of Gmail for fifteen minutes. I thought this was a great idea and wish it was stronger, since you can easily get around this by opening another browser window.
Another new Labs project is Google Trends for Web sites. Using this feature, users can view and compare the performance of Web sites over time. This proved to be a useful feature for checking on how Google views the performance of both your own and competing company Web sites. However, one key weakness is that this feature cannot track Google's own sites.
To find and try out some of the Google Labs projects go to www.google.com/labs/.
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Comments (8)
What workarounds, kludges are there for alphabetically sorting gmail messages by subject or author?...
Posted by don warner saklad | June 30, 2008 8:28 AM
Maybe Microsoft and Firefox should take the example and implement a "take a break" feature for theri browsers. Seems like it would be good for over compulsive surfers too.
Posted by freddie | June 30, 2008 8:48 AM
how about being able to use color for calendar appointments
Posted by lameo | June 30, 2008 10:36 AM
Didn't have HS chemistry, I guess. That is an Erlenmeyer flask, not a test tube, which is cylindrical! Good article, though.
Posted by bill | June 30, 2008 11:40 AM
I use many of the Google services,they are great but lately I have noticed that the images in Google earth are appearing dark, & it's not the Day/night effect because the images are dark even at daytime setting & moving the Day/night slider to night makes it totally dark. I asked some of my friends & they reported same problem, I tried to search the web but found nothing, I then tried to find some place on Google where I can send my comment/complaint but could not find any. at only one place there was an option to send feedback but the options had restricted choices & it was not possible to describe the problem,. Could you or someone else comment on this?
Posted by Shahab | July 1, 2008 1:15 AM
When I read in your article that this new capability would "compare the performance of Web sites over time.", I was hopeful that it would compare responsiveness, which I've observed to be deterioriating lately. It appears that one of the worst culprits is google-analytics.com!
Posted by Peter | July 2, 2008 9:46 AM
How do you uninstall google toolbar. Whwn you follow their directions which start with "hit options" button the only thing that happens is that button disappears. Their mess takes up the top third of my screen! Thanks
Posted by Pops | July 3, 2008 10:14 AM
I didn't see a test tube icon or Erlenmeyer flask icon in the right hand corner of my gmail.
Am I missing something??
Posted by bt | July 24, 2008 8:28 AM