July 7 - 1:00pm EDT   Google on Tuesday announced that its widely used applications and services are now out of the Beta phase, including Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs and Google Talk in both enterprise and consumer guises. The software giant does defend its decision to keep the beta versions of its apps around for so long, saying it differs from the traditional definition of beta as its Google Apps have service level agreements, 24/7 support and standards that meet or exceed non-beta software. Software tagged beta traditionally represents an unfinished product that is still being tested for bugs. [full story]

January 27 - 11:55pm EST   Google has announced plans to make the company's Gmail service available for user's offline through the Gmail Labs Settings tab. By using the Google Gears offline application technology, people will be able to browse their e-mails from a web browser when no internet connection is available. Once the application is activated, a new "Offline" link will appear in the upper right-hand corner of the user’s browser window allowing them to click and view all or most of their Gmail messages, depending on the size of the mailbox. In order to do this, Gmail synchronizes messages in the starred folder to a local cache. [full story]

December 10 - 5:40pm EST   Uncomplex has launched Mailplane 2.0, an update to its Gmail client for Mac. The latest version includes new add-ons, key shortcuts, advanced account notifications, a “do not disturb” mode and a simpler way to add attachments. The update also allows switching from multiple accounts without having to sign-in and sign-out repeatedly, and adds a Mailplane URL function that can be used to access searches and conversations from applications. [full story]

November 14 - 1:00pm EST   Aequitas Technologies is said to be shipping the iGala Wireless Digital Picture Frame, an eight-inch touchscreen viewer with built-in Wi-Fi. The Wi-Fi allows access to Microsoft's FrameIt service, which lets people browse news, traffic and weather information. Users can also browse photos on Flickr, but a focus of the device is on receiving Gmail, as the frame can be associated with an account and have photos e-mailed to it from any supporting Internet connection. [full story]

November 11 - 4:15pm EST   Google today launched the surprise addition of Gmail video chat to its webmail interface. The feature lets contacts use Google Talk to start a two-way video or audio-only conversation with anyone currently online and can be started in the middle of a text chat. Like dedicated desktop apps, the web version carries a picture-in-picture view and can be stretched out or made full-screen. [full story]

August 7 - 11:25pm EDT   Many Gmail users were unable to access their accounts Wednesday, confronted instead with a "502 server error." Although the problem was a minor inconvenience for some, certain businesses complained of significant setbacks to their overall operation until the problem was fixed. Representatives for Google were reluctant to give a solid time frame for a resolution, but reminded users that they were working diligently toward a solution. [full story]

May 9 - 11:50am EDT   uncomplex has released a public beta of Mailplane 2.0, an upcoming revision of its Gmail client. The app is effectively a site-specfic web browser, and is intended to make Gmail more seamlessly integrated with Mac OS X. Users can for instance quickly browse and attach files from iPhoto and iTunes libraries, and convert or resize images as necessary. Multiple Gmail/Google Apps accounts can be switched to without signing in and out, and the app can bet set to launch directly from Address Book, Safari, or anything else with a "mailto:" URL. [full story]

January 17 - 10:25am EST   Google is warning iPhone users about the effects of Apple's v1.1.3 firmware update on Gmail. The company says that if users setup mail on their iPhones simply by tapping the "Gmail" icon, the v1.1.3 upgrade will convert access from POP to IMAP. The result is that messages read on an iPhone will also appear as read in the Gmail web interface, and any deletions will move messages to the web Trash bin, where they will be permanently deleted after 30 days. [full story]

December 27 - 4:00pm EST   Google is making even deeper in-roads into the Japanese cellular market, reports say. Citing anonymous sources, Reuters claims that Google has signed a new deal with NTT DoCoMo, the country's largest wireless carrier, permitting a variety of applications to appear on DoCoMo's i-Mode network. These may include the likes of Gmail, Picasa and Calendar, according to Reuters. If confirmed, the move may give DoCoMo a temporary edge in its home market. While both DoCoMo and number-two carrier KDDI are a part of Google's Open Handset Alliance, KDDI has not announced any Google features for existing phones. National business paper The Nikkei notes that DoCoMo is trying to ... [full story]

December 26 - 11:25am EST  In brief: Google updates its Mac widgets, MacNN reviews iRemember 2.2, macProVideo teaches upgrades and color correction, and Custom Solutions slips subliminal messages into Macs. Mac users who regularly rely on Google's Gmail, Blogger or Search History widgets were recently asked to upgrade the software; the company now explains that it was informed of vulnerabilities by Thomas Roessler, of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standards group. In particular, the Gmail widget would previously write tags in a subject header without checking, allowing malicious users to execute JavaScript that could assume control of a computer. Newer versions of the Gmail and Blogger widgets can be found here, ... [full story]