Google has introduced a new feature in Gmail Labs called Smart Labels, which are aimed at helping users classify and organize email. Users can turn on the new feature on the Labs tab in Settings, Smart Labels then organize incoming …

Some Gmail users have had some problems over the last day or so. Email messages have gone missing, along with labels, themes and other personalized settings. Google is working on fixing this. 

While only a small percentage of Google users was affected, that still accounts for thousands of users –  tens of thousands, according to ComputerWorld, who estimates the number to be about 35,000. 

Google announced that it’s rolling out an updated version of Gmail Contacts for Google Apps. In addition to improvements made to Contacts for regular Gmail users last summer, the new version comes equipped with some business-specific features. 

Google has introduced its opt-in security feature called 2-step verification to all users in an effort to make their accounts more secure.

The 2-step verification includes your password and code you get via your phone.  The Google Blog provides more details.

Google said today it is bringing its Priority Inbox feature to Gmail for mobile users.

Priority Inbox allows users to automatically flag important messages and reduce clutter. It was previously only available for the desktop and on Android devices.

Verizon said today it will begin offering Google Apps with its broadband service for small and medium-sized businesses.

Google Apps for Verizon features Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs and Google Sites.  Google Apps for Verizon provides three free user accounts and is available to businesses that subscribe to a bundle consisting of Verizon Internet service.

Let’s face it: smartphone adoption isn’t close to universal, and the average non-student probably doesn’t print documents on a regular basis.  But today, Google launched Google Cloud Print for mobile documents and Gmail for mobile, an interesting service that introduces new options concerning when and where people can print.

The point of a laboratory is to facilitate testing.  The average chemist might not get too far if he was just presented with a jumble of beakers, however, and similarly, Gmail Labs has been getting pretty messy.  A new feature promises to fix that issue.

Early this month, Google offered military families free $10 international call credits.  The goal was to help soldiers deployed around the world stay in touch with their loved ones.  Now, Google’s also set to make it easier for ordinary U.S. citizens to save money when chatting, as it’s offered free calling in Gmail through the end of next year.

The HTML5 version of the mobile Gmail app hasn’t exactly been friendly towards non-American users to date; English (and indeed what Google calls "U.S. English") was the only language in which it was available.  Now, however, Google’s addressed the problem in a big way.

Today, there are 44 new languages on the figurative table, and that should account for the vast majority of people who are likely to own a smartphone.  An Android device or anything running a recent version of iOS, in fact.

Google announced the launch of Gmail for Android 2.3.2, which brings Gmail’s well-received Priority Inbox feature to mobile. 

"While Priority Inbox on your Android phone doesn’t have all the features offered in the desktop version of Gmail, we think this is a good start and plan to add even more functionality moving forward," says Paul Westbrook of Google’s Gmail for Android team. 

Several months ago, Google launched Gmail Priority Inbox. It was very well received. "Gmail has always been pretty good at filtering junk mail into the ‘spam’ folder," explained Google software engineer Doug Aberdeen upon the product’s release. "But today, in addition to spam, people get a lot of mail that isn’t outright junk but isn’t very important…" 

Google said today it is offering a free $10 calling credit during the holidays to military families in an effort to help them keep in touch with their loved ones serving abroad.

You’ve no doubt heard or read about Facebook’s new messaging announcement this week. If not, the company announced a new messaging system to combine email, SMS, IM, Chat, and other forms of online communication, bringing them into one inbox. Along with this comes @facebook.com email addresses. CEO Mark Zuckerberg described the system as "starting from scratch" as opposed to being a Facebook email product. 

Rumor has it that Facebook will unveil its webmail product on Monday. That means look out Yahoo Mail. Look out Hotmail, and more interestingly in the grand scheme of things, look out Gmail. 

> Update: Read today’s article on the announcent of @facebook.com

Google has been rolling out new features for Gmail in mobile Safari for the iPhone. They’ve sped up scrolling to reflect the speed of the swipe gesture, and the toolbars stay on the screen while the user is scrolling, as opposed to moving down into view after each scroll. 

Airline Virgin America said today it is moving its operating systems into the cloud with Google Apps and will use Gmail as its email provider. Virgin America said the move to Gmail will improve its productivity for its more than 1,700 employees and it will help to streamline its IT infrastructure.

Google is launching a new option in Gmail that lets users turn of conversation threads. This is a feature that was innovative when Google released its popular email service years ago, but not everyone has been a fan of this style of email communication. 

I’m not sure why it’s taken Google so long to offer a setting to turn the feature off, but better late than never, I suppose, for those who aren’t fans. 

Google has released a new version of the Gmail app for in the Android Market. The company says Gmail updates are no longer tied to Android version releases, though the update does require Froyo (Android 2.2). 

Google introduced a new feature in Gmail Labs today for video chat enhancement. If you turn the feature on, your video chat experience will come with higher resolution. 

Chances are, the feature will be automatic in the future. Google says by using it, you’ll be getting a preview before its turned on for everyone. 

Last week, the New York Times reported that Bit.ly lead scientist Hilary Mason had created a customized email classification system for Gmail that prioritizes her email by which she should read first. She said that she hoped to release the code for it this fall, so others could take advantage.