While five other Labs experiments get the axe

Feb 25, 2010 09:47 GMT  ·  By

Google introduced Gmail Labs as a way to test out the more experimental or niche features before deciding if they were to be a part of the regular product. Some of the Labs experiments are very important for the people that use them, but most users don't need them, so they're stuck in Labs. Every once in a while, though, Google decides to 'graduate' some tools and make them a part of Gmail, but also remove the ones that didn't prove popular. The latest wave sees six features making the cut and five more getting retired.

"Labs started out with 13 features and quickly grew to 60, with even more on the way... A couple have already graduated from Labs and we've already retired one: Tasks was the first to become a regular part of Gmail, Right-side Labels was retired when we updated the way labels work, and Offline Gmail graduated a couple months back. Today, true to the original intent of Gmail Labs, we're graduating six more features and retiring five," Mark Knichel, software engineer at Google, wrote.

The Gmail Labs experiments that are now integrated in the webmail client are: Search Autocomplete, Go To Label, Forgotten Attachment Detector, YouTube Previews, Custom Label Colors and Vacation Dates. Gmail Labs will no longer host: Muzzle, Fixed Width Font, Email Addict, Location in Signature and Random Signature. Notable among those is Email Addict, one of the original 13 experiments, an add-on that blocked Gmail for 15 minutes after a period of time to allow (force) users to take a break.

Six new features

Google merged Search Autocomplete with Go To Label, so users of the English version now get suggestions when typing a query, anything from contact names to labels. And, if one has keyboard shortcuts enabled, they can type 'g' and then 'l' to go to the search box with the "label:" filter already filled in.

The Forgotten Attachment Detector does exactly what it says, it warns you if you intended to add an attachment to the email, but never actually did. It does this by looking in the message for words or phrases that indicate that you attached a file to the mail. YouTube Previews is another self-explanatory feature, it enables you to view YouTube videos from links inside Gmail rather than having to open a new tab. Custom Label Colors allows you to choose from 4,096 color combinations for the background and text colors of the labels. Finally, with Vacation Dates, you can set the days when you won't be available in advance so the vacation responder automatically kicks in.

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Gmail Search Autocomplete with Go To Label and Vacation Dates
Gmail YouTube previews
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