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.'"

Comments

The feature everybody wants!

[Stephen Williams]

Oooh! Oooh! Let's hope it has Flash ads!

-Stephen

Dr. Dre would be proud

[User 956]

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?"

Bit speculative

[Pop69]

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 ?

Re:Bit speculative

[the-amazing-blob]

Actually, Google has some funky languages to choose from, including Pig Latin, Esperanto, and "bork bork bork" (swedish chef). They're on the preferences page, and I believe apply to all Google services

Re:Bit speculative

[iacvlvs]

RTFA. The "Phrase in English" is "Newer Version" - and in the "Translation Help" section, it reads "Link that users can click on if they are part of the trusted testers program to go to the newer UI." On the basis of being asked to translate a link to the new UI, there's a whole new UI coming out.

Re:Bit speculative

[Cutriss]

How the hell did this get to be news?

Posted by Zonk on Sunday September 23, @05:13PM

That's how.

Re:For what it's worth....

[Bieeanda]

That could have something to do with the suit that they lost in Germany... and speaking of Germany, this 'translate tiny snippets of text' thing reminds me of how the British handled The funniest joke in the world.

Nothing to see here (cause we aren't looking lol)

[weirdcrashingnoises]

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"

Make that 9 words

[AySz88]

Here comes 7 more words for ya. At least it has a possible new feature, this time. (Breaking news! Now with 350% more proof!)

Re:I prefer IMAP

[johnkzin]

http://search.cpan.org/~krs/GMail-IMAPD-0.93/lib/GMail/IMAPD.pm

I read a review of it, and I'm not sure I agree with all of the implementation choices, but supposedly it works.

I'd rather have real IMAP from google though.

Re:Cheapskates

[Joebert]

What do they get out of it?

First go to the following URL.
http://www.google.com/

Next type somthing into the box, anything, type in Hot Monkey Fecal Sex if you want.

Finally, click the "Google Search" button.

Do you see why people do stuff for Google for "free" yet ?

Come on, there's 320,000 results for hot monkey fecal sex for cryin out loud !

Re:For what it's worth....

[empaler]

That's just a choice. You can use your mail address (XYZ) in following ways:
xyz@gmail.com
xyz@googlemail.com
x.y.z@gmail.com (/googlemail.com)
xyz+hotfecalmonkeyporn@googlemail.com
x.y.z+hotfecalmonkeyporn@gmail.com

Possibly more. Helps filtering stuff, and in some cases smell out the rats that sell your mail address to spammers :)

Re:What the hell?

[catbutt]

It didn't suck. That's very true. I hated web mail before gmail, and love it now.

Also, prior to gmail, users of free web mail had to constantly delete all their old messages so they wouldn't go over their quota. Also if you didn't log in for a month you got your account cancelled. Also you couldn't use free web mail for professional purposes because it stuck an ad on your outgoing mail. Web mail also didn't allow free forwarding, pop access, or allow you to use an address at your own domain....which basically locked you in. Gmail changed all that.

And it was the first mainstream Ajax application I know of.

I agree...it was pretty damn revolutionary. At least for those who pay attention to such things.

Au contraire: Gmail has an awesome UI

[LKM]

In the case of gmail it might be because the current UI is shitty.

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?