WebProNews

Considering what it is - near-instantaneous communication between potentially distant people - email's pretty easy to use.  But Gmail Labs has just introduced two new features that have the potential to save folks some time and embarrassment.

Let's start with the "Mark as read" addition.  Already seen a friend's message on Facebook?  Don't feel like opening another notification from eBay?  On the Official Gmail Blog, Jon Kotker writes, "If you're tired of digging into the 'More actions' menu every time you want to mark unread messages as read, just turn on this Labs feature to add a 'Mark as read' button to the top of your inbox."

 

This move isn't revolutionary, since other email providers have long made the "Mark as read" process a simpler affair.  It's nice to see any improvement to Gmail, though, and the service can't be blamed too much for catching up.

Plus, its other new feature is more original.  Kotker suggests, "Turn on the Forgotten Attachment Detector in Labs, and you'll get an alert if you mention attaching a file but forget to do so."  We're sure that certain people will appreciate not having to send followup emails to their bosses on a routine basis.

Gmail Labs gets extra points for introducing these features so soon after its last update.