WebProNews

Gmail Out of Beta After All These Years

Today is a landmark day for Google. The company has finally announced that Google Apps is no longer in beta. I suspect this is more of a way to increase the adoption of its services, particularly among businesses, than any new accomplishment being met, but it is what it is. No more beta label on Gmail and other products that fall into Google's cloud offerings category.

Google Apps, Microsoft Live@edu Do Battle

Here's a simple fact: no matter what the industry, there are few things quite as nice as a lifelong customer.  Here's another: while attending college, students often establish patterns that they'll follow for the rest of their days.  Now, Microsoft and Google seem to be acknowledging both issues as they promote school-oriented software suites.

New Google Apps Feature Breaks Microsoft Outlook

Suppose, for Father's Day, you got dear old Dad some new power tools, and he then had trouble adjusting to them.  One way of speeding up the acclimation process could involve trashing the old ones, right?  Now, Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook seems to have created a similar situation. 

Google Apps Takes Swipe At Microsoft

Not everyone likes change, and complaints are especially sure to occur when changes are forced upon people.  So a certain Mountain View-based search giant, while still pushing its products as replacements for Redmond's offerings, is trying to bridge the gap with Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook.

Google Docs Now Supports More File Types

Google announced today that it has added a couple filetypes to its list of supported ones. The new additions are .xlsx and .docx files. Recalling his first encounter with Google Docs, Anil Sabharwal on the Google Docs Blog writes:

Google Slows to a Crawl

Update: Google has addressed the issue on the Official Blog. The company says:

Google Calendar Finally Gets Tasks Features

A while back, Google launched a Tasks lab for Gmail. Now they have added a new tasks feature for Google Calendar after many requests for one. There is now a "tasks" link in the upper right-hand corner of the Google Calendar page. Once you click on it, a box will come up on the opposite side of the screen, where you can add tasks in list form. They come with checkboxes so you can check them off as you accomplish them, and a form to enter a due date. The task will then appear on your calendar on the day it is due.

The Google Contacts Without the Gmail

Google has recently launched a standalone contacts manager, which lets you manage your contacts outside of Gmail. This would be particularly useful for those who don't use Gmail, but use other Google products that offer sharing capabilities. If you use Google Docs, Picasa, or Google Calendar for example, you can now update people's contact information without having to use Gmail. This was not an option before.

Google Scores Big Deal With Virgin Media

In a roundabout way, the use of Gmail is about to become much more common in the UK.  Virgin Media and Google announced a deal this morning that'll allow four million home broadband customers to benefit from the service's perks while using either new or existing email addresses. 

Create and Insert Drawings in Your Google Documents

Google Docs has started including a new feature - the ability to insert drawings into documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. To use this feature, simply go to the Insert menu and click Drawing.