Gmail goodies
Google has launched a beta version of Priority Inbox, designed to filter mail according to its importance and save its users from spending time trawling though their Gmail inboxes.
The new tool builds on Google's announcement last week that users in the US can now call regular phones from Gmail.
Doug Aberdeen, a software engineer at Google wrote on the firm's blog, that in addition to filtering ‘spam,' the new tool will be able to filter out emails which are not junk but are not highly important, which he brands as ‘bologna' or ‘bacn'.
Aberdeen said: "We've evolved Gmail's filter to address this problem and extended it to not only classify outright spam, but also to help users separate this "bologna" from the important stuff. In a way, Priority Inbox is like your personal assistant, helping you focus on the messages that matter without requiring you to set up complex rules."
As the emails flood in, Gmail automatically flags some up as important by spotting users' favourite email contacts and which messages they open and reply to. Priority Inbox learns and gets better at categorising messages, with the help of a user flagging up conversations as important, according to Aberdeen.
The tool also allows users to set up filters to mark certain things as important, or rearrange and customise the three inbox sections.
Gmail and Google Apps users will be able to use the new tool from the next couple of weeks when a ‘New! Priority Inbox' link will appear in their Gmail account.
In related news, the Google Mobile YouTube channel has been given a makeover including a video box that rotates along multiple axes as users click on more videos.
According to a Google Mobile blog post there are also now videos to help users try out searching by voice, sight and location and get to grips with new Google offerings such as Goggles, as well as extra functionality that helps users share videos by email or through social networking sites.
Google has also revamped Google Translate to make translating text, webpages and documents easier, according to yet another blog post.
The redesigned site makes it easier to search across languages on Google, translate incoming emails in Gmail or use the tool on a phone. It also now has tips rotating on its home page.
