Gmail Launches Two Labs; They Are Good Ones

Arguably the most appealing thing about Gmail is its Labs features.  These are experiments features designed by engineers who work on and use Gmail that users can elect to enable to alter their Gmail experience.  Last week, Gmail added two new Labs added to its list: Sneak Peek and Nested Labels.

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Google Adds OAuth Support

Google made an announcement this week that could have a profound impact on Gmail.  Google has added OAuth support to Gmail, a feature that will give third-party applications access to certain content from your email account without requiring the password to the account.  This is something that you may be familiar with from Twitter, who added OAuth support about a year ago. Rather than handling your username and password, the third party requests access directly from Gmail much like Facebook Connect.

The move is primarily to ensure a more secure gmail, but it could have other benefits.  Potentially, this move opens up the doors to third-party developers to create customs applications to sit on top of Gmail.  Not unlike Gmail's Labs, third-party developers would be able to create applications that could do anything from fixing little quirky things within Gmail to adding completely new functionality.

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Google Switches On File Transfer

Earlier this week, Google announced added functionality to chat within iGoogle and Orkut.  The two services will now offer file transferring that will work for photos, documents, and potentially small videos.  The two services are also capable of transferring files to Google Talk, the stand-alone version of Google's chat client.
In addition to that news, Google has also announced that the same file transferring functionality will be making its way into Gmail.  No details were released, so we're not quite sure when you should be expecting to see the update but we will keep you posted.

Google Apps Marketplace Open For Business

Google Apps is now a platform. Yesterday, Google launched the Google Apps Marketplace. The Marketplace allows developers to build add-on applications to the Google Apps platform. Google Apps provides all the Gmail services to a custom domain for small businesses. For example, if you live your you@mydomain.com email address, but you hate your webmail client, set up Google Apps for free and get the rich, robust Gmail you're used to, but with your same email address.

With the Marketplace, the features don't stop at the standard Gmail feature set. Third party developers can now build their app for integration within Gmail, allowing for easy access, and integration with Contacts, Mail, Calendars, and all the rest Gmail has to offer.

Developers will pay a $100/year rate to be in the program and will share 20% of revenue with Google. That's actually a better deal that Apple offers for the iPhone platform. Users can browse the marketplace, search, and refine results. Once they find an app they want, the Admin of the Apps domain can pay for it, and add it to their services. Once installed, the app can ask for permission to access your Google data, which you can then grant or prevent.

The Marketplace is launching with about 50 partners including Aviary, Zoho, dimdim, Intuit, TripIt, and more. The Marketplace is live right now, so Google Apps users, go check it out, and let us know what you think in the comments!

Google's demo video embedded after the jump!

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GMail Labs Features Graduate/Retire

Labs started out with just 13 features but grew rapidly. As users choose to adopt or ignore Labs features, Google engineers could track the popularity of each feature. As features became popular, they would graduate and become a standard part of Gmail's functionality. Sadly, though, Labs that are not widely adopted are retired. This past week, Google has graduated six and retired five.

First, lets talk about the sad stuff. Google has retired the Muzzle, Fixed Width Font, Email Addict, Location in Signature, and Random Signature Labs. Now, the good stuff. Google has graduated the Search Autocomplete, Go To Label, Forgotten Attachment Detector, YouTube Previews, Custom Label Colors, and Vacation Dates Labs.

Search Autocomplete and Go To Label

Start typing a query in Gmail's search box (English only for now), and Gmail will suggests terms for users - contact names,  labels, and advanced search operators.

Forgotten Attachment Detector

This is a problem that  have frequently: open up a blank email, type the recipient's names, create a cleaver subject, and dive right into the message. After the send button is hit comes the realization that you forgot to attach a document you references in the email. An easily solvable problem with a second email and an apology for forgetting it in the first place. Not anymore. This little Lab will remind you if you have forgotten an attachment so long as you have mentioned the fact that there should be an attachment to the email, Google will remind you to add the attachment before you send it.

YouTube Previews

This is a pretty simple but useful Lab. It simply allows you to watch YouTube videos right within an email to save you the time of having to load YouTube in a new browser window.

Custom Label Colors

Again, a simple but useful tool. This allows you to create custom color schemes for Labels, to increase customization.

Vacation Dates

If you've ever used the vacation auto-response tool, you may know that it is pretty easy to forget to turn off the auto-response. You've just had a nice relaxing vacation and you come home to way more emails than you want to read and your mind goes straight to furry. This Lab makes your return home a little bit easier. It'll shut off the auto-response for you based on a date that you set when you write create your message.

Keep an eye out for these Labs features to be making their way into your everyday Gmail experience.