New Features from Google Labs

As part of a continuing “series” of posts, here are some of the recent feature enhancements for Gmail from the teams at Google Labs.

  • Title Tweaks — Changes the order of the browser title and tab title so that “Inbox (xx)” is first. This lets you see the number of unread items in your inbox when using another tab and when the window is minimized.
  • Multiple Inboxes — Add lists of emails in your inbox to see even more important email at once. The new lists of threads can be labels, your starred messages, drafts or any search you want, configurable under Settings.

To use these features, your administrator must allow access to Labs. Go into Labs and click on “Enable”.

My First Feature Role in an Industry Webinar!

On April 15th, I will be one of three featured guests on a Webinar hosted by The VAR Guy and MSP Mentor.

The VAR Guy Live:Google Apps and the Amazon Cloud – Real SaaS Opportunities for VARs?

Click Here to Register.

See you online!

Steve Ballmer Diagram’s Microsoft’s View of Cloud Computing

In an interview for a recent article in the New York Times, Steve Ballmer (Microsoft’s CEO), drew a diagram of Cloud Computing.

Look at the diagram for yourself and let me now if you think that Microsoft “gets it”.

You can “Unsend” a message in Gmail

As part of Google Labs, Google released a new feature that lets users “unsend” emails. The feature holds emails for 5 seconds and provides a link to “unsend” the message.

This feature is available to all Google Apps Enterprise Edition users with Google Labs active.

If you do not have the Labs beaker icon, or have questions about turning on this feature, contact us.

Recent Updates to Google Apps

The following features have been added to Google Apps (multiple editions) over the past week or so.

In Gmail:

  • Mark as Unread Update:
    If you’re reading a conversation that had unread messages when you opened it, when you mark it as unread, Gmail will only mark as unread the messages in that conversation that were unread when you first opened the message.
  • Analytics for Gmail:
    Premier and Education administrators can now view statistics about how their organizations are using Gmail (like users’ locations, languages, length of visit, etc.) in Google Analytics. This extends the Analytics statistics currently available for the control panel, Google Docs and Google Sites
  • Name Format Options:
    Google Apps Administrators can now choose how users’ names will be displayed in Gmail. Administrators can select whether to display names either as: First Last (example: John Smith) or Last, First (example: Smith, John).
    Administrators can also choose whether to allow users to customize this setting.

In Google Docs (Forms):

  • Form Summary Page: Provides current information about completed responses to a Google Form (attached to a Google Spreadsheet)
  • Collect username in Google Docs: You can now automatically collect a respondent’s username when they submit a form in Google Docs.

New Google Site Features – Premier Edition Only!

Google has announced three new features in Google Sites that will make gadgets more useful for Google Apps Premier Edition customers:

Start Page Template

  • As a site owner, you can let users personalize areas of a site, such as an internal sales portal. This lets users select gadgets and other information for their start page that is most useful to them.

Private Gadgets

  • IT admins can upload Gadgets that only members of your domain can see and add to their Google Sites.

Encryption

  • If a Google Site is encrypted, then your gadget data will be encrypted from the source code to the browser.

All MS Systems Vulnerable to Year-Old Security Hole

Once again, Windows systems (every supported version) is vulnerable to a significant security attack. As reported in ZDNet, Microsoft was alerted to the issue a year ago and has failed to provide a patch.

Time again for IT staff to spend time and energy working around a security problem instead of on projects that help businesses thrive and grow.

Now that I think of it, maybe the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) will petition the FTC to stop Microsoft from selling systems with security holes. Given Microsoft’s track record, it sounds like a better case than EPIC’s complaint against Google.

Public Service or Extortion?

Earlier this week, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) petitioned the FTC to force Google to shut down operations of Gmail, Google Docs, and other services (PCMag coverage here). Their justification was the resent security issue with Google Docs that impacted fewer than 0.05% of Google Doc users.

Sounds like EPIC is very concerned about the public’s information privacy. UNTIL you read the full petition. In addition to asking the FTC to halt Google’s business until government employees determine it is 100% safe, EPIC is asking that Google pay millions of dollars of fines into a fund that may be tapped by EPIC and other privacy groups’ operations.

Seems to me that EPIC is attempting a good ole’ fashion shakedown.

Cloud Computing = Innovation Without a Budget

So you think your budget is tight? Just image being an innovative educator in the San Diego Unified School District.

In his blog, Doug’s Dirt, Doug McIntosh explains the problem and his solution (hint: it includes Google Apps).

Next, look at the Google Apps in the Classroom, a Google Site he created that tells other teachers how to use the tools themselves.

Imagine if the move to Google Apps was a district-wide initiative, creating a communication and collaboration environment among faculty, administrators, resources, and staff …. not just in the classroom.

New Federal CIO prefers Software-as-a-Service

The US has a CIO for the first time. In appointing Vivek Kundra the federal government’s first CIO, President Obama acknowledges the role information services can play in effective management and service delivery.

Vivek Kundra, the former CTO of Washington D.C., is best known for moving the District onto Google Apps. In addition to big savings on email, Google Apps provided a platform for inter-department collaboration and more transparency for the public. Every District employee is reachable by email and agencies and program use Google Sites to publish and share information.

That the first US CIO has a preference for Software as a Service solutions is a hopeful sign. While he has no direct control over agency CIO’s, if the White House is pushing for SaaS, we can and will see adoption and cost savings.