As you’ve probably read by now (if not experienced firsthand), there was an outage for Gmail the other night. This ended up impacting a lot of businesses, and was not exactly the greatest demonstration of Google’s 99.9% uptime guarantee. I guess there’s always that other 0.1%.

Google has announced a couple new features for Gmail. They’re almost cranking out too many to keep up with aren’t they?

The old X Files adage aptly applies to the Internet these days: Trust no one. Some Gmail users, already miffed about previous service outages, were invited through Google Talk to watch a video by clicking a link. Of course, bad news awaited.

A little less than one month ago, Google introduced an experimental version of Gmail that could work without an Internet connection, and we ran the headline "Gmail Goes Offline (In A Good Way)" as a result.  This morning, minus the part in parentheses, the same title could apply.

Gmail has been cranking out new features left and right lately. That continues today with the addition of letting you choose your own colors.

To do so, simply click on the Settings link in the upper right hand corner of your screen, select the Themes tab, and find the "Choose your own colors" option at the bottom. From there, you can select colors for just about every element of your inbox.

You can now install desktop icons for Google Docs, Google Calendar, and Gmail on your computer for quick access. These icons are now an option of Google Pack.

If you are unfamiliar with Google Pack,it’s a free collection of software from Google and other companies. The software in the Google Pack helps you browse the web faster, remove spyware and viruses, organize your photos, and more. Learn more about each of the programs in the Google Pack.

Google has announced four changes to Gmail’s contact manager. Each change is a feature to enhance the service’s usability.

Perhaps you’re a hard-charging businessperson who wants clients to know their questions will be answered even if you’re on the beach.  Or maybe you’re just someone who feels a need to quietly brag about vacationing overseas.  Either way, Google’s got you covered with a new "add your location to your signature" Gmail feature.

Gmail is growing rapidly. Yahoo has long dominated the race against Microsoft’s Hotmail and Google’s Gmail, but Gmail is on pace to overthrow the other two. I got in touch with Yahoo Mail’s VP John Kremer to try and find out some expectations Yahoo has for Yahoo Mail.

Google introduced a beta version of Google Sync today. This allows Google users to sync their Gmail contacts and Google Calendar events to their iPhones or Windows Mobile devices (with Google’s own Android, all the data is automatically synced).

Google has released a new experiment feature in Gmail Labs that lets users activate multiple views within their inboxes. Fittingly, this feature is called "Multiple Inboxes." In case you’re having a hard time visualizing it, software Engineer Octavian Costache on the Gmail Blog shares the following image:

Google has taken a few steps to make labeling email messages in Gmail a little less complicated, particularly for those who are new to the service and not used to the Gmail labeling system.

Gmail users will notice that the buttons at the top of their inboxes are a little different looking now:

About two months ago, Google announced a new "Tasks" feature in Gmail Labs. the feature provides a window in Gmail similar to that of chat and lets you add tasks by simply clicking in the empty area and starting to type.

Now they are offering a mobile version of the feature for iPhones and Android devices. It is also accessible by any xhtml enabled phone.

As frequent travelers, folks with bad ISPs, and laptop lovers can agree, it’s not always easy to connect to the Internet, and being cut off from the world is a real nuisance.  But now Google’s solving one aspect of the problem by making Gmail accessible to people who are offline.

AOL has introduced new features to its Web Mail that allows users one-click access to Gmail, Yahoo Mail and other third-party sites directly from its mail page.

The new version is available globally in 38 countries around the world and is the company’s latest effort to make it more open to third-party content while offering more opportunities to advertisers.

"Web Mail is an integral part of the AOL experience and at the heart of our product offerings," said Ted Cahall, President, AOL Products and Technologies.

Google has added a new feature to Gmail, which allows users to watch videos within their chat windows. This eliminates the need to leave your Gmail window when someone sends you one.

Last month Google released a Gmail gadget for Google Desktop after "countless" requests for one over the years. Today they have released a Google Calendar gadget for Google Desktop.

According to Michael Arrington of TechCrunch, "sources with knowledge of the product" say that MySpace is working on a full-fledged email product that would compete with Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Hotmail, etc. With this product, all myspace users would be assigned an email address that would be something along the lines of myspaceuser@myspace.com.

The oldest email in any given person’s inbox probably confirms their account’s password.  After that, there may be some important note-to-self stuff.  But if the following messages are just moldy jokes or ancient conversations, some tidying up may be in order, and a new experiment in Gmail Labs should help.

Phishing attempts have been spotted that appear as Google Calendar event invitations. Be wary of any invitations that ask for your password. This should be obvious by now, but these phishers still manage to trick people.

Google and Yahoo seem to be continuing to try to outdo each other in the email department, particularly in recent weeks. While last we checked, Yahoo still dominated the market share in the email category, Google seems to be doing everything it can to move in on that territory. They’ve been rolling Gmail features left and right.