Gmail Unveils Preview Pane: Browse Emails While You Reply to Them

Gmail is taking a few cues from its tablet apps with Preview Pane, Google’s newest Gmail Labs feature.

Preview Pane, which is now available in Gmail Labs, allows users to simultaneously preview parts of an email while reading or replying to others. Users of Gmail for iPad or Android will instantly recognize the interface — its design is directly inspired by the email service’s mobile web apps.
Activating Preview Pane opens up a three-window panel for Gmail, with the Preview Pane in between the navigation and email panes. Activating the horizontal split places the preview pane at the top and emails below the preview pane. Users can change pane settings with a button that appears on the top right corner of Gmail.Google‘s Official Gmail Blog suggests that users with higher-resolution screens will get the most out of the feature.
The concept of a Preview Pane sounds intriguing, but my initial tests lead me to conclude it’s a clunky and incomplete product. It breaks up my Gmail Labels in a way that keeps them from lining up with Gmail’s navigation pane, leading to a ugly and cluttered look. The standard two-pane system is cleaner, although you probably can get through more emails with Preview Pane activated.
Will you be switching to Preview Pane? Test it out and let us know what you think of it in the comments.

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Google tablets seen overtaking iPad in 5 years

  HELSINKI (Reuters) - Tablet computers running Google's Android software will catch up with Apple's iPad and surpass it in 2016, research firm Informa said.
Informa said it expects Apple's current 75 percent market share to fall to 39 percent in 2015, when Android market share will grow to 38 percent.
"From 2013, as cheaper and more advanced Android tablets enter the market, we forecast that sales will pick up considerably, eventually surpassing iPad sales in 2016," analyst David McQueen said in a statement on Wednesday.
Samsung Electronics Galaxy Tab has been the best-selling Android tablet so far, but also other vendors including Motorola Mobility use it on their devices.
"We have seen a huge explosion in the tablet market in recent years, driven primarily by the iPad, and we estimate that the market will go from strength to strength, growing from under 20 million tablets sold in 2010, to over 230 million in 2015," McQueen said.
(Reporting by Tarmo Virki; Editing by Andrew Callus)

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HOW TO: Become a Google+ Beta Tester

Want to test new Google+ features before they become available to the public? Now you can, thanks to a newly launched Google+ program. To sign up to be a beta tester, head over to the Google+ Platform Preview page and enter your email address. Any address will work, so long as you’re signed in to your associated Google+ account.
You’ll need to click on a link in a subsequent confirmation email to confirm your entry into the program. After that, Google will email you every time new features are available for you to test out.
If you’re looking for additional Google+ resources, be sure to check out our roundup of 15 guides and services for Google+ power users.

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Google launches Photovine for iPhone. Invitation only for now

Google’s Photovine service has released its application for iPhone and iPad.

The free but invite only iOS app is already listed in the App Store.

As we reported yesterday, you can now request an invite directly from the Photovine website. When you sign up for an invite, simply enter your name and email. Look into your mailbox and an email from Photovine will explain that invites will be slowly rolled out beginning later this month.

For those who don’t know what we are talking about, Photovine is a tag-based photo sharing service. Let’s say you upload a picture of your holiday in Thailand and you tag the pic ‘Thailand’. You can then explore photos, uploaded by other users, with the same ‘Thailand’ tag.


From Photovine App Store:

Photovine is a fun way to learn more about your friends, meet new people, and share your world like never before. It all starts with what we call a photovine: a group of photos around a single, shared caption. Start a new vine with a photo and caption of your own or add your photo/take on someone else’s vine.
Photovine is invite-only at the moment, so you’ll be asked to enter your email address after installing the app. If you haven’t already been invited to Photovine by a friend, you can visit our website at photovine.com to request an invitation.

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