Over the course of the last several days or weeks, your beloved Gmail icon—that red envelope sitting comfortably in your left-most Chrome tab—may have been replaced by a hideous blue gear and equally off-putting gold wrench. It is gross. Here’s how to fix it.
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If you had this feeling that Gmail was not working according to speed despite having upgraded your data line to the fastest one possible in the market, then you are not alone. It seems that Google’s Gmail, the well known online email service has been experiencing issues which has led to delayed emails as well as the failure of downloading attachments. Google claimed that approximately 0.24% of its Gmail user base has been affected by such issues, although an update which was released later in the afternoon claimed that the number of Gmail users who were affected numbered “less than 50 percent”.
It does seem as though things have gotten worse, instead of heading in the other direction. Considering how Gmail themselves have some 425 million users, it is a rather sizeable chunk who would be left wondering what happened to their favorite email service. Well, the Gmail team has been investigate the issue throughout the afternoon, and at 3:00 p.m. ET, they claimed that the service has been restored for some users, with expectations of a full resolution within the hour, although do take that claim with a pinch of salt. Has Gmail’s downtime affected you as well as your organization in a largely negative manner, or is it a mere roadbump in the day?
Gmail A Tad Slow Today, But Issues Are Being Fixed original content from Ubergizmo. 
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Some users of Google’s web-based products may have already seen the familiar black menu bar disappear from one Google site or another, but the company has now confirmed that was only just the beginning. It’s announced today that a broader rollout is underway that will see most of its sites get a new “app launcher” in its place. That new interface should be familiar to anyone who’s used Android or Chrome OS; it simply consists of a small icon in the top right of each page that expands to reveal a grid of larger icons. According to Google, the change is being done to make getting around various Google services more “seamless,” and eliminate any distractions once you’re inside an app.
Along with the menu bar change, Google has also confirmed that it’s “refined the color palette and letter shapes” of its logo, and that the updated version of it will be making its way across the company’s various offerings along with the new menu bar. You can apparently expect those changes to occur over the next few weeks.
Filed under: Google
Source: Google Inside Search
Even if you don’t feel like coughing up the cash for either the iPhone 5c or iPhone 5s, those eligible for an update (that’s if you own an iPhone 4 or up, or an iPad 2 onward) can at least console themselves with iOS 7, which debuts today. Gone is the skeuomorphic design of the Forstall era, and in its place is a flatter interface that promises an entirely new experience for iOS devotees. As such, developers everywhere have been scrambling to get their apps redesigned to match the new mobile OS out of Cupertino. While we can’t possibly cover every update, we’ve compiled a quick list after the break of the more substantial app revamps that have come our way.
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Apple
Source: Evernote, Flipboard, Foursquare, Shazam, Vimeo, Mailbox, Twitter, OpenTable, Simplenote, about.me
I am not quite sure which country you live in, but chances are pretty high that everywhere you turn these days – especially in urban areas, you would end up looking at majority of the population be glued onto their smartphone. How many people do you know of who use a feature phone these days? Not many, I suppose, but developing and under developed countries still find feature phones to be the mainstay mass communication device, as smartphones are just too expensive for one to purchase. We are glad to say that Google has not forgotten about feature phone users as they have rolled out their Gmail app in the past for this particular market segment.
It is nice to know that Google has continued to introduce improvements to the Gmail app on select feature phones, where this time around, a bunch of improvements that were introduced would include reducing the overall number of button presses required to read, reply and compose emails. That would certainly make life easier and a whole lot more efficient, especially when you do not have the advantage of a touchscreen display working in your favor. For those who have given it a go, how do you find the new Gmail upgrade so far? [Press Release]
Google Upgrades Gmail For Feature Phones original content from Ubergizmo. 
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Of the coolest things about Google’s web-based e-mail service Gmail is that you can access it on just about any device out there. Using that service, you can access your e-mail from your computer, your notebook, tablets, and your mobile phone. Gmail is designed not only for smartphone users, but for users with other devices […]
Google may focus much of its attention on smartphones, but it knows that featurephone owners deserve a good online experience as well. Accordingly, it just launched a revamped Gmail web app for devices where modern browsers and touchscreens aren’t guaranteed. The new client requires fewer button presses to read and write messages; users can reply to email directly from the thread view, for example. While the need for basic webmail is disappearing as smartphones get ever cheaper, those who need (or prefer) a simple cellphone can try the new Gmail page today.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile, Google
Source: Official Gmail Blog
For a company that keeps millions of users’ personal emails and data under lock and key, Google found itself in a bad place earlier this year — on a list of “providers” that reportedly gave the NSA direct access to their central servers. The company immediately took steps to calm consumers, assuring its user base that it didn’t create a federal “back door,” and demanding more transparency from government agencies. Now, the Mountain View search giant has told The Washington Post that it’s accelerating its encryption initiative, which will hopefully offer users another layer of comforting protection.
“It’s an arms race,” Google VP of security engineering Eric Grosse told the paper. “We see these government agencies as among the most skilled players in this game.” That is to say, protecting user data isn’t easy — intelligence firms and skilled hackers can eventually find their way around even the most sophisticated encryption, but building these kinds of walls has become a necessity in a post-PRISM world. The move is designed to protect Google users against unauthorized snooping, but Mountain View will still have to comply with court orders and official requests. Still, who are we to argue with a more defensible inbox?
Via: Ars Technica
Source: Washington Post
Apps need to get updated from time to time in order to keep up with the fast paced society that users live in. In fact, if a particular app does not get its fair share of updates, you can be sure that it will lose out on its market share – fast! Google has been pretty consistent in the past to deliver app updates across various mobile platforms, and this time around, it would be the native Gmail for iOS app that has been given a bump up to version 2.4.
Needless to say, Gmail for iOS 2.4 will come with a slew of new features to make life easier, including what they have dubbed “enhanced email attachments” that will appear to translate into larger thumbnails as well as full screen previews. Not only that, users of the updated app ought to be able to lock down an improved level of integration with another two Google apps, namely Google Drive and Google+. If you happen to have links to either one of those online services, it will send you directly to the appropriate app instead of the web, which is a smarter way of managing things. Of course, you can also choose to disable this particular setting through the in-app options just in case you are not too comfortable with such a deep level of integration.
Gmail For iOS Updated original content from Ubergizmo. 
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Sure, Gmail on iOS was completely redesigned in June, but Mountain View’s just pushed out a fresh update with a few features to polish things off. Version 2.4 of the email app bakes in improved integration with Drive and Google+, making links to the platforms open in their respective apps. Of course, if you’d rather continue following links to the web, the application’s settings can be tweaked accordingly. Rounding out the release is a spruced up attachment system with larger image thumbnails that can be opened up in a full screen mode. To grab the refreshed app, head to the neighboring source link.
Filed under: Software, Mobile, Google
Via: iMore
Source: iTunes
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