Gmail got a new look, group chat and color smilies

November 30th, 2007 |Ajay M | 5,421 views | Internet | Comments (27)

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Google is making our life so easier, these were the words came out from me when I heard about the latest feature from Google. Do you know that Google is coming up with Gmail V2??? I guess they are doing beta testing of it and allowing users to have a sneak preview of the new gmail interface (Gmail V2). I am the lucky one to be selected by Google server. This new interface has many added functionalities like faster accessibility, better contact handling, group chat, colored smilies and many more features like more keyboard shortcuts , Browser navigation and history and Bookmarking an e-mail.

Till date in the new avatar of Gmail the main screen has not got much changes and it looks almost same as the old one. However the contact manager has been changed considerably. The following picture will give a clear idea about the contact manager in both versions of gmail.

Contact Manager:

The picture on the left shows the old contact manager in gmail, any body looking at this picture will get to know that this is the same contact manager which can be found on their versions of gmail(considering that they are still in old gmail). Taking a look at the picture at right will reveal the new contact manager in gmail V2. It has a much cleaner and faster interface.

Group Chat:

Even if you are using the older version of gmail, you will get a notification at the top part of the gmail window that Group Chat is the new feature in gmail. I was so happy to get this new feature and also wrote a post about it, but later on I realized that this feature does not work in the gmail V1 or the older interface. Then I tried it with Gmail V2 and it really worked (Still to taste other functionalities).

Now you do not need to open multiple chat windows in your gmail in order to chat with multiple friends. The group chat feature lets you chat with many friends at once. There’s no limit to the number of people you can chat with, and any participant can invite others to join. Say you are a group of friends and planning for a trip to Las Vegas and you are finalizing on the itenarary, all ur friends are logged in to gmail and you are chatting there, so with the introduction of group chat feature, you can invite them one by one to a single chat room and all can start chatting (like conference chat in yahoo messenger).

To know more about group chat you may visit this google site.

Smilies:

A picture speaks a thousand words and that too if it is a color and animated picture it will probably speak millions of words. With the introduction of Gmail V2, the smily in gmail has been transformed from to . This colorful smilies can be seen only if you are in Gmail V2. Say you are in Gmail V1 and the friend to whom you are sending the smily in Gmail V2, he/she can see the colored smily but in your chat window it will appear like the boring old one. If you do not want to remember the shortcuts for the smilies…not to worry, just click on the blue smiley-face button at the right of the text-entry field and voila a pop up with the available smilies will come up.

Look at these pictures, you will see a new feature called “Filter messages like this”. Clicking on this will take you to Settings>Filter> Create new filter and it will be applied henceforth for all e-mails from that contact. (Is it for better e-mail handling??)

So apart from the above major features, Gmail V2 now have more keyboard shortcuts . You can keep a perticular e-mail as a favorite like you keep a web site in favorites and next time you click on that favorite, gmail will open that perticular e-mail (if you have signed out, you will need to sign-in). Now the browser back and forward button can be used to navigate in gmail. All opened e-mails will be accessible from browser back button.

If you are thinking yourself unlucky as you still do not have the newer interface of gmail then the following workaround may be helpful:

1. The URL to access older version is http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=1 and the newer version can be accessed by http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2

2. If that does not work, try to access gmail in Firefox. If still cannot then wait and your turn will surely come.

In my Internet Explorer at home I still do not have the chance to open the newer version of gmail whereas in the Internet Explorer at my office I can access Gmail V2.

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Comment by CCNA Discovery on 30 November 2007:

Thanks, never knew Gmail had a new look. The link is working great, thanks a lot. Gmail is more improved.

Comment by Matthew Griffin on 30 November 2007:

A noted improvement and, as usual, very simple and easy-to-use. Still, it’s lacking on the design side. If only we could get Google to meet with Apple to exchange some ideas.

Comment by Jessica Wilkins on 30 November 2007:

Google really do have a great understanding of how to make things user friendly! Love the new features. Many other online services should follow google’s example.

Comment by Dog Grooming Clippers on 30 November 2007:

I really like the new group-chat feature

Comment by Electronics projects on 1 December 2007:

The groupchat is really cool. But they should have added a group invite feature also. Right now I have to invite each person individually.

Comment by Ajay M on 1 December 2007:

Google will soon implement many more features. Stay tuned..

Comment by Matt on 2 December 2007:

These features are awesome…people may say Google is getting too big but they do offer great services

Comment by perros on 2 December 2007:

Hey cool, the smilies are enough to keep me excited about my gmail getting upgraded.

Comment by Acne on 2 December 2007:

Gmail V 2 is pretty awesome. I had been using the normal Gmail for about 18 months and just got sick of it. Nice post.

Regards Andy

Comment by natalie on 2 December 2007:

I have both Gmail and Yahoo Mail account though Google is much faster and has little less kinks to work out, I still prefer Yahoo Mail Beta’s overall design, it’s easier to work with.

Comment by Ajay M on 2 December 2007:

Happy to know that you guys are liking the Gmail V2.

Comment by cirtex on 3 December 2007:

improved version , niece

Comment by Personalized koozie on 3 December 2007:

I am glad they are updating gmail because I still use yahoo mail, gmail just feels a little wierd

it’s cool how they are making a new messenger system, it will be interesting to see how this plays out

Comment by Thomas on 4 December 2007:

Hi,

ma wife loves all this new Features and so… I got Smiley-Spam *smile*.

Greetz

Thomas

Comment by credit card on 5 December 2007:

I like the change. Though it didn’t need to change but I liked it. Gmail is the best.

Comment by Dunkan Wells on 7 December 2007:

Nice to have new features in gmail. Group chat will be my most favorite addition here.

Comment by iZune Access on 7 December 2007:

The gmail V2 is great and it feels faster too. Most of my emails open instantly.

Comment by Camera Dollars on 7 December 2007:

Finally a welcome update from Google on the gmail. Anyway, great post, just rated you 5 Star.

Comment by Verena on 8 December 2007:

I love the new look! And the smilies are more than great )

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Comment by Richard on 16 December 2007:

I personally like Gmail’s new look. And there seems to be more features also. I’ve been a Yahoo! fan for quite awhile but after creating a sub-account on Gmail, I might be sticking my defaults into Gmail from here on out lol

Comment by USC Trojan Fan on 19 December 2007:

To Richard, Gmail just has so much more to offer than yahoo mail .. and it really does cut down on spam.

Comment by Express Medical on 20 December 2007:

Glad to see the new updates! I cant wait to see the new smilies. How do I use the group chat feature?

Comment by 80s Music on 3 March 2008:

I really like the group chat feature

Comment by Reverse Merger on 14 May 2008:

I’m so glad to have switched from Yahoo over to Gmail, it’s awesome! I haven’t even had a chance to play around with some of the great features, but I’m looking forward to learning more about it so that I can fully utilize all of the cool things it has to offer.

Comment by Phao Loo on 4 November 2008:

Goolge is always nice. It is supposed that you online and use Google service.
I use Thunderbird to check gmail instead of web-based gmail. However, sometime my thunderbird can not access POP3 (I don’t know why, maybe it is the cause of my ISP), I use web-based gmail and I have to say it is so comfortable, especially its filters.