Google Updates Gmail Interface And Adds Category Tabs

All Gmail users will eventually see the new feature in their inboxes, but for now the feature is being rolled out gradually, according to Gilad’s post. “The desktop, Android and iOS versions will become available within the next few weeks. If you’d like to try out the new inbox on Desktop sooner, keep an eye on the ‘Gear’ menu and select ‘Configure inbox’ when it appears in the Settings options.”

Gmail Competition

Google is seemingly always working on new features and services for Gmail, especially as competitors such as Microsoft and Yahoo are improving their email products.

In February, Microsoft launched a revamped Outlook.com free email service to all users to replace Hotmail, Microsoft’s longtime email offering, as the company continues to try to lure users over from Gmail and other services. Microsoft is transitioning all Hotmail.com user accounts over to Outlook.com accounts by this summer. Among the key new features of Outlook.com are a fresher and intuitive experience on modern browsers and devices, tighter integration with social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter, and smarter and more powerful inboxes to handle the email needs of users, including SkyDrive for sharing virtually anything in a single email. The new Outlook.com is the first major refresh of the 16-year-old Hotmail product.

For Microsoft, taking on Gmail could still be an uphill climb. Gmail claims to have more than 425 million active user accounts worldwide and has already been offering many of the same kinds of features that Outlook.com is just incorporating, such as the ability to send very large attachments – up to 10GB in size.

Meanwhile, Gmail hasn’t been sitting on the sidelines. Last October, Google expanded the Gmail user interface to allow multiple messages to be composed at once, which resolved a longstanding Gmail shortcoming. Also in October, Google expanded a “field trial” it began in August 2012 that lets users try out a new service – the ability to find their information faster when searching, whether the information is in a Google Search or even buried somewhere in the user’s Gmail account.

Earlier in May, Google also unveiled a new feature that allows users who have Google Drive, Gmail and Google+ Photo accounts to put all their files in a unified place, rather than having to maintain separate storage areas depending on what kinds of files were being stored.

Also unveiled earlier this month for Gmail users was the ability to send money to others by sending “cash” in an email message. The new capability is possible because Google has integrated its Google Wallet payment services with Gmail, allowing users to safely and securely send up to $10,000 per transaction to another person.

Google’s Gmail turned 9 years old in April, having started on 1 April, 2004.

Are you a Google expert? Take our quiz!

Originally published on eWeek.