Why Gmail is Still in Beta

This article was written on December 07, 2007 by CyberNet.

gmail in beta On multiple times, I, like many of you, have asked “why on Earth is Gmail still in beta?” It’s been around for over three years now, don’t you think it’s about time? I thought it was, but now I’m starting to understand why Gmail is still in beta. There are numerous people over at the Gmail Help Discussion Group reporting that when they try to login to their Gmail account, they get an error message saying that their account has been disabled. As you can imagine, the people who are receiving these error messages are frustrated and can do nothing but sit and wait for for Google to determine a problem and hopefully get their accounts up and running without the loss of any data.

Over at the Google Group, some of the users are a little frantic because they’ve got “eBay stuff that is going to bounce back” or one person is applying for jobs and is expecting replies to setup interviews. The problem is, not only is the account simply not working, but anyone who sends a message to a disabled account gets the message sent back to them. These users won’t know who tried to contact them, and what messages they missed. Other users are reporting that emails they sent in the time shortly before their accounts were disabled aren’t being received on the other end.  As one person said “this is completely unacceptable” and I have to agree.

The Gmail Help Center isn’t of much help to these users either. Under the “account disabled” section, it explains that “In most cases, Gmail accounts are disabled because of a perceived violation of Gmail Terms of Use.  Google reserves the right to suspend a Gmail account or the entire Google Account if Gmail Terms of Use are violated.  Google also has the right to terminate your account at any time, for any reason, with or without notice.” When users find no help in the help center, some of tried to contact Google over the phone, but without luck.

It appears the current batch of accounts that were disabled fall under that last line where Google explains they can do this for any reason and without notice because I’m extremely doubtful that hundreds of people violated the Gmail terms of use. The first person reported a problem on December 5th which means we’re going on two days without a fix. That seems like a long time for Google to not publicly address the situation and let users know what’s going on.

Wasn’t it about this time last year that Gmail was making emails disappear? It sure was! Looking back at all of the other Gmail Outages that have caused frustration, I think we can answer the question of why Gmail is still in beta…

Source: Mashable

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Analog Tweet-O-Meter shows city-specific Twitter activity the old fashioned way

Never mind keeping track of how many gold medals Bermuda, Cayman Islands and Monaco rack up during the Winter Olympics; the real nerds are watching to see exactly how many tweets are being pushed out per minute from a smattering of cities around the world. CASA’s Tweet-O-Meter has been running on a webpage for awhile now, but frankly, the novelty tends to wear quickly. These, however, are far more tempting to the retinas. What you’re looking at above are a few analog Tweet-O-Meters, which do exactly what you think they do: showcase the amount of tweets that are leaving New York, London and Paris at any given time by moving a needle within a conventional gauge. Head on past the break for a video, and be sure to express your reaction on your favorite up-and-coming social networking site.

[Thanks, Dr. Andrew]

Continue reading Analog Tweet-O-Meter shows city-specific Twitter activity the old fashioned way

Analog Tweet-O-Meter shows city-specific Twitter activity the old fashioned way originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Feb 2010 04:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Windows Phone 7 Series Marketplace gets pictured

Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore did a really thorough job yesterday of walking us through the key hubs on the shiny new Windows Phone 7 OS, but one area that was conspicuously missed out in the overview was the Marketplace. Well, let us fill in that gap of knowledge right quick with the above image of the interface. As you can see, the first thing visible when you enter the hub is a full-screen feature for individual games or applications — this could either work as with the music hub, wherein you see the last bit of content you accessed or, less awesomely, could function as a promotional (read: advertising) spot before you get into the market proper. The Marketplace is then fragmented into its constituent elements, with apps, games, music and podcasts leading you into their respective subsections. We’ve grabbed an image of how the Applications section will look as well, which you can see for yourself after the break.

Continue reading Windows Phone 7 Series Marketplace gets pictured

Windows Phone 7 Series Marketplace gets pictured originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Feb 2010 03:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Pocketnow  |  sourcePeter Wissinger  | Email this | Comments

Energy Sistem debuts Energy Book 2061 e-reader

Energy Sistem may be best known for its PMPs (and curious spelling choices), but it also recently dipped its toes into the e-reader waters with its Energy Book 1060, and it’s now already followed it up with its new Energy Book 2061. Not exactly any game-changing features here, but you will get a 6-inch Vizplex display, along with 64MB of internal memory (plus an SDHC card slot for expansion), an MP3 player, ePub and PDF support (among other standard formats), and a promised 6,000 page turns on a battery charge. Still no official word on a release over here, but this one should be available in Europe next month for €258, or about $350.

Energy Sistem debuts Energy Book 2061 e-reader originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Feb 2010 03:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MWC: Adobe Flash Runs on Palm Pre, Too

PalmPreFlash.JPG

Apple may hate Adobe Flash, but the rest of the mobile world seems to have come to terms with the ubiquitous Web technology. We recently saw Flash running on a Google Nexus One and a Motorola Droid, and while it won’t run on Windows Phone 7 Series at launch, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said he has nothing against the technology.

Adobe’s booth here at Mobile World Congress is running a bunch of Flash demos, including Flash on a Palm Pre. The implementation runs both video and games, and once the video or game is running, it runs smoothly – but getting there felt sluggish. The Palm presenter blamed it on a very slow Internet connection. But Flash on the Nexus One definitely loaded more quickly and felt snappier. We’re still potentially several months from this Flash implementation going live, but at least they’re coming along.

Local conbini serves up brand noodles

It takes a country as obsessed with food and as innovative in retail as Japan to make even cheap ready-to-eat noodles seem both the everyman’s meal as well as a famous brand.

Seven Eleven convenience stores are now offering the Atsumori Tsuken noodles, supervised by well-known Shinagawa restaurant Rokurinsha. You get to experience famously delicious food at a cheap price and without having to go further than your nearest conbini.

atsumori-tsukemen

We also like how the packaging, rather than using yet another ubiquitous celebrity or even a good-looking model, has opted for down-to-earth image of a delivery man (the restaurant’s chef, in fact), emphasizing how this brand is being made accessible for everyone. It is appealing even to the construction worker consumer base — Atsumori Tsukemen is real food for real people!

This set is also available only in Tokyo’s twenty-three wards, cleverly playing on another key Japanese retail theme — limited edition. Get your hands on Atsumori Tsukemen for 498 JPY ($5.5), a bargain when you consider that at the “real” Rokurinsha it can cost almost 1,000 JPY ($11).

MWC: Why Windows Phone 7 Series?

ms-pix-1.JPGIt’s not just Windows Phone 7 – it’s Windows Phone 7 Series. That last word has generated a lot of confusion about Microsoft’s hot new mobile-phone OS. What the heck is “Series?” Does this mean there will be a Windows Phone 7 Home Basic and a Windows Phone 7 Ultimate?

I asked Microsoft’s Rena Lunak, and she said, absolutely not. “Series” just means that Windows Phone 7 will be continuously updated, and that phones will be able to receive updates – just like Google Android phones or Apple iPhones.

So instead of the confusing welter of non-updateable dot-versions Microsoft has had in the past – Windows Mobile 6 phones, 6.1 phones, 6.5 and even 6.5.3 phones – there will only be Windows Phone 7s that can be upgraded on the fly.

It’s about time, Microsoft. But since this is the experience everyone expect from a smartphone OS nowadays, I have one tip – ditch the “series.” It’s just confusing people.

MWC: LG GW990 Will Become an Intel MeeGo Phone

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The presenter’s English was extremely limited, so it was hard to get more details. But the GW990 currently runs on Moblin, so it makes sense that it would become one of the first MeeGo phones.

Whether it’s actually first depends on several things, like whether Nokia transitions their N900 Maemo device over to MeeGo, and what all the mysterious other gadgets that Intel and Nokia were promising turn out to be. The GW990 is scheduled to come out in Korea during the second half of this year, but LG has no plans to bring it to the US.

Kingston whips out speedy Class 10 16GB microSDHC card

While some camps are pumping out larger microSDHC cards, Kingston‘s done the world a favor by working on speed instead. The result is this Class 10 16GB microSDHC card — possibly the world’s fastest of its kind (at a minimum data transfer rate of 10MB/s). Who would need this, you ask? Well, there’s the speed freak in your own self that you’re trying to suppress, for starters, and don’t forget all those snazzy phones that can do 1080p video recording. As with most nice things in life, this blistering card will cost you a fair bit — $138 for the card sans adapters. Oh, go on, it’s totally worth your liver.

Continue reading Kingston whips out speedy Class 10 16GB microSDHC card

Kingston whips out speedy Class 10 16GB microSDHC card originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Feb 2010 01:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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