Chowrangi

Google is perhaps the most innovative innovator of the current times, and while we are at it, lets hand them the title of bold and daring innovators. Recently, they announced that, “On Thursday, June 5th we’re going to be launching a new Gmail feature that we like to think of as a next evolution of 20% time. It’s a change in our development process and in the way users will be able to influence Gmail’s design.”

“The 20 percent time is a well-known part of our philosophy here, enabling engineers to spend one day a week working on projects that aren’t necessarily in our job descriptions. You can use the time to develop something new, or if you see something that’s broken, you can use the time to fix it.”

This would enable Google users to try the features, send feedback or influence which features should be further developed and added to Gmail. The salient features of Gmail Labs are:

• a module for quick links (saved searches, important messages)
• superstars (additional star icons)
• pictures in Gmail chat
• fixed width font
• custom keyboard shortcuts
• mouse gestures
• random signature
• signature tweaks (places the signature before the quoted text)
• custom date format
• muzzle (hide the status of your contacts in Gmail chat)
• play Snake inside Gmail
• email addict (blocks the screen for 15 minutes)
• hide unread count

Other posts by Commoner

• Clear the Dust - November 20th, 2008
• Exactly What They Want - November 20th, 2008
• Punjab Heats Up - November 19th, 2008
• Eyeball to Eyeball - November 18th, 2008
• No Surprises There - November 18th, 2008
• Yousuf Ready to Leave "Power" - November 18th, 2008
• OGRA Website Hacked By Indian Hackers - November 17th, 2008
• Friends Of Pakistan Again Disappoints - November 17th, 2008
• New But Old Dimensions - November 17th, 2008
• After the Loan - November 16th, 2008