Gmail Adds RSS, Attachment Viewing

By the Betanews Staff | Published December 8, 2005, 5:13 PM

Google has upgraded its Gmail service with a few new features, including a built in RSS reader and address shortcuts. RSS feeds appear as "Clips" on the top of the Gmail screen and users can choose from random popular feeds or input their own. Yahoo added a similar feature to its private Mail Beta last week.

Shortcuts, which display next to messages, take addresses and tracking numbers that appear in an e-mail and automatically link to maps and package information. Attachment support has also been improved. Users can choose to view Microsoft Office, OpenOffice or PDF documents as HTML files directly within Gmail without loading a separate software application.

Comments

View comments by with a score of at least

we have always had the rss reader... have we not?? and im pretty sure i have been able to add feeds for as long as i remember...? weird...

Score: 0

|

This is really weird. Am I the only one that's had the web clips since July (maybe earlier)?

The only new thing that I see about them is you can add your own RSS feeds instead of relying on Gmail's default selection.

The attachment viewing is pretty sweet though.

Score: 0

|

No "Web Clips" displayed as far as I'm concerned. Perhaps is this feature reserved at this time for U.S.residents? (I'm in France).

Score: 0

|

Score: 0

|

I like this addition. News, quotes, riddles, and Slashdot articles all on my Gmail page.

Score: 0

|

Had no problem with mine...works great! problem is I don't have gmail open all the time to read the feeds. Gmail is awesome!

Score: 0

|

I have the feature on top the of mail list.

Problem is, it doesn't work.

Score: 0

|

I jusy had those new functions for a moment.
And now, they are all gone.

Score: 0

|

Funny thing is, web clips shows up on my newer account (less than 2 months old), while my main account, older account, doesnt show it.

Wierd.

Score: 0

|

Very discreet! Doesn't even bug me, and took me a minute or two to spot it!

Look just above the Delete/Archive/Report Spam buttons.

Score: 0

|

i've had "web clips" for my gmail account for months, but haven't seen it on anyone else's until last week when it showed up on a co-worker's account. looks like a slow limited release done by random selection. it'll show up as a tab in the settings page and on top of your inbox.

Score: 0

|

i too have had the web clips feature for awhile now and find it quite useful. i just assumed it was something everyone else had and never noticed if my friends had it or not.

Score: 0

|

I had the attachment viewing features for quite a while and not the webclips until today.. Google works in mysterious ways.

Score: 0

|

important information was forgot to be mentioned that Their "What's New" page has changed once again and outlines a few extra features that aren't yet available. But soon will be :)

Score: 0

|

Score: 0

|

I haven't "Clips" tab in Settings page.

Score: 0

|

All good stuff but what i want to know is whether gmail will utilize AJAX in the future.
Not that i would use hotmail as my primary web address again but their new Kahuna build of hotmail looks quite impressive.

Anyone got any info on this?

Score: 0

|

i have gmail...and i don't see it yet!!!!

Score: 0

|

i give up. where is this feature?

Score: 0

|

I noticed that this features only work if you use your US English on the settings page, didn't work with UK, however can't figure out why.

Score: 0

|

Microsoft's Ray Ozzie: 'Nobody's going to be 100% open'

The mobile apps ecosystems of the world may converge over time, led by apps being ported over across platforms, according to the Chief Software Architect.

Will Firefox beat IE9 to Direct2D rendering?

Just days after Microsoft executives gave conference attendees a peek at a new rendering technology, a Mozilla contributor revealed he's working on the same thing.

Where there's smoke: Apple warranty stance raises troubling questions

Carmi Levy | Wide Angle Zoom: Smoking can be dangerous not only for your lungs, it appears, but for your Apple hardware warranty.

The fallacy of Facebook privacy

Carmi Levy | Wide Angle Zoom: If an insurance company learns something interesting about its client through the Internet, is that snooping?

Microsoft 'worked with Apple' for Silverlight on iPhone, says Goldfarb

By not making such a big deal out of trying to stream video to the iPhone, Microsoft got a big deal out of it, revealed the Silverlight product manager.

Clicker.com cuts through the Web video chaos

In a world where homemade video and Hollywood movies travel the same pipeline, it's good to have a real search engine to cut through the clutter.

A case study in improving software: What Office 2010 can learn from Notion 3

A music composition product gambles with a complete overhaul, in an effort to make headway against two well-known competitors in a tough market.

Kindle 2 update adds battery life, native PDF reader

Amazon has pushed out an update to the Kindle 2 e-reader that lengthens battery life and adds a native PDF viewer.

Safari on iPhone gets competition from a $1 browser app

Apple likes to say it gives iPhone users a full browsing experience, but a new competitor tries to incorporate more desktop browser features.

Action Replay maker sues Microsoft for Xbox 360 'predatory technological barriers'

Third-party video game accessory maker Datel has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft over the Xbox 360's recent Dashboard update.