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New Version of Gmail Being Tested
Keith writes "Gmail was launched on April 1, 2004, and has revolutionized the way many of us use email. The interface has remained largely untouched since it launched, but get ready, it's soon to undergo a change in what they describe as a 'New Version'. Only a select few people have access to use the new interface — mainly employees and trusted people outside the company called 'Trusted Testers'. From the ZDNet blog entry: 'Google lets every-day users who are fluent in both English and another language translate small snippets of English text into the language of their choice. This is how they can offer services in several languages without spending a dime on professional translators. Unfortunately, exposing sensitive information in this manner makes it hard to keep a secret. One of my readers, who wishes to remain anonymous, stumbled across an interesting snippet of text (which I confirmed exists) spilling the beans on a new version of Gmail that is either currently being tested, or about to be released to testing in short order.'"
Oooh! Oooh! Let's hope it has Flash ads!
-Stephen
The interface has remained largely untouched since it launched, but get ready, it's soon to undergo a change in what they describe as a 'New Version'.
Does that mean they're going to rename the existing version "O.G. Mail?"
The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
So, on the basis of 2 words in a translation request, there is a whole new version of Gmail coming out ?
How the hell did this get to be news ?
I don't get it. Why do most places feel they need to change the way something looks or feels? Microsoft did this with Hotmail. You use a new style that is confusing to the users that want things to just stay the same. I am all for it but I wish they would have the option to go back to the old version when it is released. Some people just don't like change.
The greatest revenge in life is massive success.
If your theory is different from practice, then your theory is wrong.
Why use POP when you can use IMAP? As long as you can backup your messages on your local computers, I don't see any benefit of using POP over IMAP.
Cat got your tongue? (something important seems to be missing from your comment ... like the body or the subject!)
I tried submitting this to Slashdot but it wasn't accepted. It did get picked up on the InsideGoogle blog. They have some photos and discussion.
"without spending a dime on professional translators"
Why do people do stuff for Google for free? What do they get out of it?
seems to be a lot of mystery and intrigue around what is probably going to be minor cosmetic changes.
Are we all so enamored of googles many accomplishments that a site redesign becomes major news?
I don't think anyone was that concerned when yahoo and hotmail redid their sites...of course, they just made them more annoying.
Having said that, it will probably be that this rumored site redesign is when Google starts rolling out their sinister "Phase II"
Hopefully I didn't put any [] around my words.
Or... it could just be one of thousands of random snippets of text that appear on various Google documents, and requires translation into other languages. There is no evidence here... only wild speculation. The author of TFA is either an idiot, holding back information, or is trying to create some kind of joke.
I'm a nerd, It's news to me, it matters.
http://www.google.com/intl/xx-piglatin/
For what it's worth, Google is stopping to call it GMail.
All of the icons were changed over the past few days to say "Google Mail" instead of GMail with little fanfare. Not sure if this is any indication of things to come, or simply a branding effort coming from the top-down. Guess we'll have to wait and see...
-- If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done? - Uli's moose
I find it interesting, knowledge that a new Gmail UI is in the works is somewhat interesting, though not very surprising. But what was more interesting (at least to me, and rather humerus) was the way it was found.
sigs... don't talk to me about sigs....
And they can't afford professional translators? If it was just random bits and pieces of no consequence then I might say fair enough - but this is content for their primary services. We aren't talking millions of dollars to translate a few hundred words here or anything - seems very odd.
So this will be a beta of the new version of a service that's still in beta?
I wonder how many years more it'll take for gmail to lose the "beta" designation.
See the top of the screenshot: Translate Phrase for Gmail UI. That does rather sound like it's for Gmail.
maybe you missed the big, bold "Translate Phrase for Gmail UI" at the top of the image?
or maybe u missed the "Link that users can click on if they are part of the trusted testers program to go to the newer UI." that is near the bottom?
+1 irony for subject title this was posted under... "nothing to see here"
sigs... don't talk to me about sigs....
It's even worse than that. At no point does TFA provide evidence that the text "New Version" is related to Gmail, and not some other Google product.
Apart from the bit that says "Translate phrase for Gmail UI"?
(It could even be outdated text referring to a "New Version" of a product that has already been released.)
Possibly. But agaom. if you do look at the image in TFA, it says "newer UI", and AFAIK Gmail has only ever had one (excluding variations such as the simple HTML mode, etc.)
If not, not worth my time.
Let the new interface have "unthread" and the ability to turn threading off. Please, please, please....
What are they distracting us from? Does Google really need human help to translate into Pig Latin. Iay ont'day inkthay osay. This sounds too much to me like an "accidentally on purpose" leak. Either they want us to know about it to create some free buzz, or it's sleight of hand to distract us from something else they're doing. Either way, there is probably a new something on the way. It just may not be Google Mail.
Mal-2
How is the Riemann zeta function like Trump rallies? Both have an endless number of trivial zeros.
Even if there is a new version coming, this is the least reliable source of information about it. I mean, for Pete's sake, pig latin? We're going to trust that Google really needs this translated into pig latin in order to make it accessible to users?
By the way there's a giant that's been unearthed in Cardiff, NY. It looks to be proof that giants once roamed the Earth and maybe still do. Check it out. It's true for sure.
Yeah, I'm as old as my UID would suggest.
Quote: "... exposing sensitive information in this manner makes it hard to keep a secret."
Uh.... just where did you get the idea that any of your other plain text is a "secret"??? Did you even READ the terms of use notice???
Talk about a non-issue...
I wouldn't say no evidence that it's related to Gmail. Take a look at the screenshot - it explicitly says "Gmail UI". Of course, that fact should be taken at face value.
Someone already pointed out that the translation if for the 'GMail UI', so yeah, it's for GMail.
But what nobody's proven is that there are any significant differences. 'New Version' might mean it's using a newer AJAX library, or has different colors. I don't care about color changes, but I care about functionality changes. Especially since I convinced the company I work for to use them for mail, and I use the web interface exclusively. If it takes a turn for the worse, I'll end up going back to Thunderbird or the new Eudora or something.
"If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you." - DM
Here comes 7 more words for ya. At least it has a possible new feature, this time. (Breaking news! Now with 350% more proof!)
Also to add to all the comments of speculative nature of this article. One more. It is translation for the words "new version" "Pig Latin" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig_Latin I mean Pig Latin ffs. Now if it is meant to top secret I am sure there are not hundreds of thousands of English to Pig Latin translators for Google...........
What did I ever do to deserve that. I know- it was downloading all that pr0n off of USENET in 1995. Personally I don't like the new interface.
I just checked and evidently I'm no longer trusted. Thank God. Who knows what vulnerabilities might be lurking in that new version.
That means.. it's going from beta to RC ? :-P
Very speculative article....
GMail 2.0! Now with less Evil!!
What I despise is this constant belief that newer interfaces are better and that change is always good. The best interface is the one you're most efficient in using, and that's usually the one you know best. Sad to see Google taking off after Microsoft in this race. Hope they'll let keep the "classic" interface for as long as we want it.
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
Too bad all that anger does nothing but alienate people. You might have friends, who would help you bleed off the anger. Loneliness is a vicious cycle.
Try hugging your email server. Maybe that'll help.
I have to say that during the time a year or so back when I used Gmail a lot I always found the interface kind of irritating.
Every time I wanted to add a new Label and corresponding Filter it seemed like I had to trial and error because the process was less than obvious. And I don't care for the way that threads are collapsed, making it difficult to find one message out of the ten or twelve in a conversation.
I guess it just felt like everything took two or three or four more clicks than it should have. That may be a subjective assessment, but I can't see using Gmail as my primary e-mail client.
Three Squirrels
Not that I disagree with your general sentiment that the author is an idiot, but it does say translate phrase for Gmail UI in the screenshot, so it seems likely this is, in fact, for GMail and not Google Scholar or whatever.
An alternate reply to your post would have looked like this:
It could be a new version of Google Calendar or a new version of Google Scholar.
OMG there'll be a new Google Calendar UI?! How exciting, I'd love to get my hands on some screen. Quick, somebody post this on a blog.
Switch back to Slashdot's D1 system.
Hopefully they fix broken signatures when responding to email. Now it places my signature to the very bottom of the email - below the quoted text I am responding to. I am tired of cutting and pasting my sig every time I respond to an email.
word.
gmail rocks i really hope they don't screw it up, only free email that can forward and/or do POP & STMP
Mo
For offline work, it might mean there's a menu entry such as "Check for New Version" or "Volunteer to beta test new version" or some such thing.
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
"revolutionized the way many of us use email"
It's just a nice webmail system - webmail has been around for years before gmail. I use gmail, I like gmail, but what exactly did it revolutionize?
sic transit gloria mundi
Maybe they can finally get rid of the 'beta' in the logo :)?
Overall, I think Google has a hit with their latest offerings. Google desktop for instance is a perfect addition to indexing and searching 65k+ Outlook emails (work still uses Outlook). Similar to Lookout, but doesnt crash Outlook. Google Documents has greatly improved and is perfect for sharing documents across PCs. Installing Microsoft office or OpenOffice is really optional now. While Gmail's interface isn't perfect, they have been making small updates throughout the months. I still think it beats Hotmail, Yahoo, etc...
How much was the bet for?
A dollar!
I am not a lawyer. This post does not constitute any form of legal advice.
Wake me up when Gmail supports IMAP.
Let me click one button and sort by sender, subject, size, etc. That's the #1 reason I don't use Gmail.
Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
Apart from a little thing I like to call "User interface that doesn't irritate the living fuck out of me." And almost instant searching of all my email.
Warning! Humor Process Failure. (A)bort (R)etry
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
Windows Live Mail does it too.
Don't be apathetic. Procrastinate!
I was able to get my hands on a screen shot of the new version of Gmail, known as the "New Sweetness" internally here at Google, looks pretty nice from the screen shots I've seen, with the most notable change being the preview pane, making it look a bit more like Outlook. Can't wait.
Except that it's the best mail UI ever devised. I have actually switched from my "real" mail client to using gmail exclusively. I love the "keep everything in one folder, tag it and search" approach. Much better than dozens of folders with filters. I love how threaded mails are displayed; I always know what people are replying to. Oh, and search is fast.
Furthermore, they don't try to create a "real" app inside the browser, instead concentrating on making an awesome "web app." Yahoo recreates a "real" application inside the browser. So you've got tons of buttons and drag and drop and folders and all that crap, all of which makes the application slow, and doesn't really help you get your stuff done. Google has the right idea: It's a browser, make it a great web app, not a shitty copy of a "real" app.
Pray tell, what is so shitty about the current gmail UI?
No it doesn't, but it used to. Microsoft keep improving it you know :)
Erik Dalén
Does anyone expect Google to not release a new version?
Or to not test or translate it before it does?
Even assuming this Pig Latin based intelligence gathering has merit, the information gained is only barely more sensational than that the sun will rise tomorrow.
Er, yes, otherwise how are you going to trim the portion of the quoted email to just the relevant parts and respond in line?
Surely you're not one of those evil top-posters are you?
If you were living in a box would you prefer to keep it that way and not make improvements (changes), even in the option was available to you? They are ready to make major improvements and you feel that is not necessary? Well consider this, they are still Beta as can be seen from the Gmail logo on every Gmail screen. If you don't like change to Beta software you should consider using something classified production ready software (you know, non Beta). Just a thought.
:)
Also just about everything in life changes eventually. If that is not for you then maybe you should consider not living.
Relax, don't take what I am saying to heart, I am just a slashdotter.
ZERO ZERO ONE ZERO ONE ZERO ONE ONE! Just brushing up for my next big invention: Ethernet over Voice (EoV)
I would pay money for IMAP, even if it meant doing the premium hosting option.
Is IMAP such a horrific resource hog?
Might as well refer to some kind of version control for messages...
---- You know how some doctors have the Messiah complex - they need to save the world? You've got the "Rubik's" complex
And it worked that way in Opera's mail client before Gmail existed.
So yes, there are 'real' mail clients that good.
We are Turing O-Machines. The Oracle is out there.
While it's a neat app, they didn't really revolutionize anything. They just gave you a lot more space than you need and an AJAX interface. The only thing they revolutionized is how they collect data from your emails to better target you with ads.
BeauHD. Worst editor since kdawson.
Awesome - I've always wanted to be a professional "Swedish Chef" translator!
Pros:
a) Training is cheap, fun and available via NetFlix
b) I can finally tell my Mom that watching TV actually didn't rot my brain but got me a job instead!
Cons:
b) The Swedish Chef periphrastic subjunctive is a little tricky.
Well consider this, they are still Beta as can be seen from the Gmail logo on every Gmail screen. If you don't like change to Beta software you should consider using something classified production ready software (you know, non Beta)
Yeah, right. Google designated Gmail as a beta about like the Mars rovers were designed to last only three months. Either could have been miserable failures and still be claimed as successes. A failure by Google would have been just as disasterous for Google as would rover failures have been for NASA. It's called CYA.
Which non-Google-employee had the first Gmail account? Mine dates from April 12th 2004, thanks to a Google employee on a mailing list I'm on. Can anyone beat that?
Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it.
Build a man a fire, he's warm for one night. Set him on fire, and he's warm for the rest of his life.