Offline mode makes a comeback in Gmail, Calendar and Docs

9to5 Staff


Strangely enough, offline mode in Gmail is a standalone web app (pictured above) rather than being baked into Gmail directly. Click for larger.

Google announced in a post over at the official Gmail blog that it is bringing offline functionality back to Gmail, Calendar and Docs. The feature had initially been enabled in select Google services via Gears, the company’s proprietary browser extension that was later retired in favor of HTML5. It took longer than expected to re-write the offline functionality in HTML5, though. This was in part because Google had to wait until the World Wide Web Consortium ratified new HTML5 features that allow for local browser storage and other technologies that make it possible for developers to write web apps which sync seamlessly between offline and always-on modes of operation.

Gmail offline will be available today, Google said, and offline for Google Calendar and Google Docs will be rolling out over the next week, starting today. In the case of Gmail, offline functionality is enabled via a Chrome Web Store app dubbed Offline Google Mail. As for Calendar and Docs, clicking the gear icon at the top right corner and choosing the Offline mode lets you view events from your calendars and RSVP to appointments while offline, as well as view your Google documents and spreadsheets. Offline Docs editing isn’t supported yet, but Google is “working hard to make it a reality”.

The question is, will you care about working offline now that mobile/broadband Internet and wireless hotspots have become ubiquitous?  (YES!)

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Google files trademark for new ‘Spot’ coding language

Jordan Kahn

Google has just filed a trademark application with the US Patent and Trademark Office detailing a coding language related to computer applications called ‘Spot’. There isn’t much more known about Spot as of yet, but it looks like GOOG has also registered a few Spot related domains including spotlang.com, spotlanguage.net, spot-lang.com, and spot-lang.net.

Perhaps Spot is something being worked on by Google’s recent acquisition of Java guru James Gosling (who has voiced concerns with Android in the past). We’ll keep you posted as more becomes available.

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You can now paste photos from your Android phone into a Google document via web clipboard

9to5 Staff

You’d be forgiven for thinking that the official Google Docs app for Android does web clipboard, a handy feature allowing you to copy and paste content between Google documents through the cloud. Having recently added vector drawings to web clipboard, the team today announced in a blog post the updated Android app which now supports 45 additional languages and cloud clipboard. This opens up interesting possibilities, like pasting images taken on your Android phone into a Google document on your desktop, without syncing anything.

Just tap the camera icon from the Docs widget on your home screen, snap a photo then select Send to Web Clipboard and press OK. The image gets uploaded to the cloud, ready for pasting by clicking the Web Clipboard icon on a Google document toolbar. Another improvement: The updated Android app, available on Android Market, lets you open your documents with any compatible viewer application or send a doc as an attachment through email or another app on your phone.

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Google Maps adds instant weather reports & four day forecasts

Jordan Kahn

Google has just launched a nifty new weather layer for Google Maps that provides you with current weather conditions from around the globe generated by the U.S. Naval Research Lab. This will definitely save you the frustration of jumping from Maps to your current weather app of choice when planning your next excursion.

You can click the icon for any given city to get a four-day forecast and more detailed data including wind and humidity conditions. In the left-hand pane, you can select temperature(F/C) defaults, wind speed (km/h, mph, or m/s), and optionally “hide clouds”.

Click here to start using the new weather layer now. You can also enable the weather layer at any time from the menu in the upper right corner (image below).
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Google releases “Photovine” for iPhone, a photo-centric social network app

Jordan Kahn

Google’s photo-sharing social network Photovine (previously invitation-only) is fresh out of beta, open to all users, and ready to install to your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch as an iOS app.

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.

Many are comparing the service to Instagram, or a photo-centric version of Twitter. Some are also pointing out it looks quite similar to Piictu. Essentially, users upload photos that can then be grouped thematically to create what is known as a “vine”. While you can follow other users and receive their content directly in a personal feed, all images appear to be shared publicly either through your profile or the vine in which the image is included. You then also have the option of sharing individual photos or vines directly to Twitter or Facebook (no Google+ support?).

The application is the work of the Slide team, a social-media start up acquired by Google last year. Its not clear yet how much of a focus Photovine will be for Google, but the Slide team has released a number of apps recently and seem to be getting support from Google to carry on with their projects. As of yet the service only has an iPhone app, but presumably there’s Android support on the way and some type of integration with Google+.
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Explore the history of nearby locations with the Historypin iPhone app

Jordan Kahn

Historypin, a user-generated map displaying historical data of nearby locations (previously only available on Android devices), is now available as an iOS app for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Created in partnership with Google by not-for-profit We Are What We Do, the app allows users to add their own historical photos by pinning them to a map, capturing historic moments as they happen, and creating replicas of historical images. The images are then shared with users requesting data for a specific location….

Historypin uses Google Maps and Street View technology to reveal the user-generated photos and data related to historical events that happened close to your current location. It does this by “overlaying them onto the live camera view”…essentially aiming to give you a live snapshot of what your surroundings looked like in the past.

Simply holding your phone up in the street will provide you with relevant nearby images. Selecting one of the images allows it to be overlaid onto the iPhone’s camera view. You can then fade between the image and your live shot for comparison, as well as pull up stories and data related to the image and your current location.

Full list of features and some shots of the app in action after the break…
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