Not that they’re those weird shows that you find on public access or day time TV. Most of them are actually pretty nifty and reliable.

Gmail Lab’s

Here’s a list of Labs that are offered in Gmail in alphabetical order. After the list, I cover some of the labs a bit more in-depth. Ed. Note: This is a COMPLETE list of all the Google Lab options. Meaning it’s long. Feel free to skip ahead to the bottom if you’d rather just see the more in-depth coverage.

Add Any Gadget By URL:

Ever wish you could take advantage of iGoogle Gadgets in your Email Inbox? Maybe put your to-do manager or the Dropbox gadget in there for easy access? This gadget lets you do that!

Advanced IMAP Controls:

Using IMAP? This is an awesome lab feature for you. It allows you to:

• Choose what labels show up in IMAP
• Disable auto-message expunging
• Track messages when their deleted from IMAP

Apps Search:

This is simply amazing if you’re a Google Apps user. Turning on this lab allows you to search not just your Gmail inbox, but also your Google Docs and Google Sites on your domain.

Authentication Icon for Verified Senders:

Ever wish there was a way to tell which eBay and PayPal emails were really from eBay and PayPal. Enter this lab: it displays a key icon from verified senders allowing you to quickly identify valid emails.

Back to BETA:

Alright, I have NO idea why anyone would need this, but if for some reason you are holding a grudge about Gmail leaving Beta and would like to pretend it’s still there, then I guess it’s the lab feature for you.

Canned Responses:

Save common responses and easily send them. You can even automate canned responses for certain filters. We’ll talk about this lab a little more in depth later.

Create a Document

Ever want to create a document once you receive an email? Maybe you were sent meeting notes in an email that you want to turn into a document so you can upload it elsewhere and not have it get lost in Inbox Purgatory. Or you received an assignment and like to immediately create a text document for it. Either way, the Create a Document Lab makes it easy by hitting “g then w.”

Custom Date Formats

This is a simple lab that will appeal to quite a few people. Want to make your time read in military time? Want to set your dates European style? Custom Date Formats has you covered.

Custom Keyboard Shortcuts

This lab adds a setting feature that lets you create custom-mapped keyboard shortcuts! Sooo nifty!

Default “Reply to All”

This lab is pretty self-explanatory-it makes “Reply to All” your default. That can be handy, but make sure that you remember it’s your default!

Default Text Styling

Another pretty self-explanatory lab. This one allows you to easy change and style your default text.

Don’t Forget Bob

Enabling this labs enables Gmail to do a cool thing-you type in some recipents you’re sending the email too and Gmail will generate a list of people who you might want to include based on your emailing habits. Never leave someone out of a group email again!

Extra Emoji

This lab is pretty simple and a bit silly-it creates a larger selection of emoticon options.

Filter Import/Export

This allows for 2 different options:

• Export: Export your filters as a file, save them for backup or share them to help a friend out.
• Import: Import the file of filters, and activate them in Gmail.

We’ll talk more about this lab later on.

Flickr Previews in Gmail

Pretty self-explantory-See a preview of any Flickr pictures sent to you, right in Gmail. This is quite a time saver-especially if you have friends who like to frequently send you photos.

Google Calendar Gadget

Remember how I mentioned being able to add iGoogle Gadgets by URL earlier in the post? Same deal, but it’s automatic and specifically for Google Calendar! This is a super nifty feature for quick reference when you need to quickly get back to someone on a meeting time or project deadline/estimate.

Google Docs Gadget

Just like how you can easily add a Goog,le Calendar Gadget in Gmail, you can also add a Google Docs Gadget that can let you view recent and starred documents, and also includes a quick search bar.

Google Docs Preview

This is quite possibly my favorite Gmail Lab. No, I take that back. It is my favorite Gmail Lab. It allows you to quickly preview documents, spreadsheets, and presentations right in your inbox. It also gives you the option to quickly open the attachment in Google Docs. So handy!

Google Maps Preview in Mail

Another nifty lab-this one scans the email for any addresses listed in the email and shows a Google Map of the location.

Google Search

Ever been writing an email and need to quickly reference something? Yea, me too. Thankfully, the Google Search Lab makes it easy! It displays the Google Search bar right in your email enabling you to find things easily-fast.

Google Voice Player in Mail

If you’re a heavy Google Voice user, this lab is going to be your new best friend. It allows you to play Google Voice voicemails right from the notification email.

Got the Wrong Bob?

Let’s face it, having multiple contacts with the same name is super-common. Ever auto-fill your contact by first name and realize it’s the wrong one? That can be a minor inconvience…or  a big problem. This lab helps to prevent that by asking if you meant to email someone else instead based on frequently used groups of contacts. [Note: Only works if you’re sending the email to 2 or more people]

Green Robot

Not sure whether someone is at the computer or using their phone? The Green Robot lab lets you know! [Note: Only works if the person is using an Android phone.]

Hide Labels From Subjects

Perfect for if you’re working on a netbook with a small screen, the Hide Labels from Subject lab, well, it hides the labels from the subjects.

Hide Read Labels

Love your labels and filters, but hate them cluttering up your email sidebar? Me too! Which is why this is my second favorite lab-it hides any unread labels from view, showing only the labels with unread messages in them.

Hide Unread Counts

I think that heading covered it pretty well.

Inbox Preview

This is a nifty lab that shows you a static preview of your inbox while you’re waiting for Gmail to load.

Inseting Images

This lab allows you to insert images directly into an email either by uploading a file or using a direct URL.

Mail Goggles

Ok, at first glance this email seems really silly, but I’ve actually found it to be useful. The labs actual purpose is to help prevent you from sending drunk emails by making you answer a few math problems in a specified amount of time-you can pick which level of math problems you want to be quizzed on. The default is for Friday and Saturday nights. HOWEVER, I find it helpful to me as a check as to when my designated work hours are over and my personal life hours have begun. I set-up the lab to pop-up during “off-hours” to remind me that I should no longer be working for the day. It’s a helpful work-life balance reminder.

Mark As Read From Here Button

This lab enables you to save a few mouse scrolls (or clicks?) by creating a Mark As Read Button that sits right next to the delete button. Nifty!

Message Sneak Peek

Ever get an email when you’re on your way out somewhere or in the middle of something? You know you won’t have time to respond, but you’ve been waiting on an answer? Message Sneak Peek to the rescue! It allows you to right click on a message and get a “sneak peek” of the email without marking it as read.

Message Translation

This lab is pretty straightforward. Using Google Translate, it allows you to translate emails from one language to another. Pretty nifty for those of you who work with international clients.

Mouse Gestures

Personally, I’m much more of a keyboard navigation person myself, but if you find yourself unable to ditch the mouse, this lab is definitely for you-it allows you to use gestures as control instead of clicking. Unfotunately for Mac users, it works best on Windows.

Multiple Inboxes

Gmail filters are an absolute god-send, but wouldn’t it be awesome if you could view the filters as an inbox in itself? That’s exactly what the person who created Multiple Inboxes was thinking! I’ll go over it a bit more later in the post.

Navbar Drag and Drop

Another self-explanatory-but useful! lab-this one allows you to easy re-order the items in your Gmail Navigation Bar by using Drag-and-Drop.

Nested Labels

Gmail Labels-some people love them, some people miss their folders and folder heirarchy. If you’re the later, you NEED to try Nested Labels.

“Manage your email by sorting it into a hierarchy of labels. Add slashes (/) to label names to express inheritance. For example, if you want a Home label with two child labels named Kids and Shopping, create the three following labels: Home, Home/Kids and Home/Shopping.”

Old Snakey

This is probably the only lab that will DECREASE your productivity instead of increasing it, but if you’re into old school games and have some self-discipline, you might want to check it out. Turn on Gmail keyboard shortcuts, hit the & key, and play an old-school game of Snake right in Gmail.

Picasa Previews in Mail

This is just like the aforementioned Flickr Previews in Gmail, except with PIcasa.

Pictures in Chat

Personally, I think this is pretty useless, but the lab enables you to see people’s picture when you use Google Talk in Gmail.

Quick Links

Quick Links is  a nifty lab that creates a little box in the upper left-hand corner that allows you to bookmark any Gmail URL-such as frequently used searches or important individual messages. Huge time saver.

Quote Selected Text

Refresh POP Accounts

Right-Side Chat

Send and Archive

Sender Time Zone

Signature Tweaks

Super Stars

Text Messaging in Chat and SMS in Chat Gadget

Text Messaging in Chat allows you to, well, send text messages using Google Talk. The SMS in Chat Gadget creates an additional box to make sending text messages in Google Talk even easier.

Title Tweaks

Title Tweaks changes the order of the words in your browser bar, enabling you to see how many messages you have-even when the window is minimized.

For example instead of the browser bar showing “SUBERAPPS Mail – Inbox (5) – hello@suberapps.com” this lab would change it to “Inbox (5) – hello@suberapps.com – SUBERAPPS Mail” Pretty nifty if you need to keep your eye on an important message, but want your inbox to remain out of the way.

Undo Send

Another pretty self-explanatory one, but that doesn’t make it any less awesome. Undo Send lets you undo send if you sent an email and immediately realized that you made a mistake. So handy!

Video Chat Enhancements

Currently, this lab enhances video chat in Google Talk by adding higher resolution and bigger windows. The lab developers mention that there are more features to come!

Yelp Previews in Gmail

Another nifty preview lab-this one allows you to quickly view Yelp listings, including rating, location, and phone number whenever someone emails you a Yelp link.

Feel that Gmail is Missing a Labs Feature?

Google allows you to make Labs Feature Requests here: http://groups.google.com/group/gmail-labs-suggest-a-labs-feature/topics

And Now-A Closer Look at Some of the Gmail Labs

Canned Responses

While Canned Responses might sound like a lazy way out of responding to email, it actually can be quite productive and with the way the lab works, doesn’t have to be a generic automated response.

Instead you can use the poorly-named Canned Responses to create templates for emails.

Once you enable the lab, a clickable link next to “Insert Invitation” is created. You can then click on Canned Responses, click on a template, open it up and edit it. Definitely a time saver.

To create  a Canned Response:

• Click on “Canned Response”
• Click on “New Canned Response”
• Name your Canned Response
• Type what you want your template to be.
• Click on “Canned Response”
• Hit “Save”

And voila! You now have a nice email template that you can easily modify and use without having to retype the same things over and over.

AND…yes, I’m going Billy Mays style…THERE’S MORE:

You can set up Canned Responses to respond to certain Gmail Filters. Amazing.

For More on “Canned Response:”

• Make Use Of: Save Time with Gmail Email Templates Using “Canned Responses”
• WebWorkerDaily: 3 Handy Uses for Gmail’s Canned Response Feature

Import/Export Filters

Gmail filters are hands down one of Google’s best features. I swear by them.

What if you have a new Gmail account and want to migrate over some common filters? Or want to show a less-tech savvy friend how awesome filters are by a demonstration? Well, you COULD individually add each one yourself. OR you could skip the headache and enable the Gmail Import/Export Filters lab.

Once you turn on the lab, there will be a new “Import Filter” button next to “Create Filter” in the filters section of Settings.

Next to the delete button, you’ll have an export button. Simple and awesome.

More Information on Gmail Filters:

• Lifehacker: Import and Export Your Gmail Filters
• Lifehacker: 10 Must Have Gmail Filters Available for Download
• Lifehacker: Set Up Multiple Gmail Filters By Editing and XML File
• Matt Thommes: Maintaining Gmail Filters with XML

Multiple Inboxes

Multiple inboxes is a really awesome feature. The problem with quickly clearing out your inbox is, well, things got set aside to be looked at or taken care of later…then later never comes. Out of site-out of mind.

Multiple inboxes easily solves that problem by allowing you to create different inbox panes and letting you get creative with the types of panes.

For example?

• A big fan of starring emails that require a later action? Set up a pane is:starred
• Have a tendency to forget about those emails that you’re waiting for a response on? Set up a pane label:waiting
• Those nifty newsletters that you plan on reading later? Set up a pane label:toread
• Want all your client emails in one place? Set up a pane label:clients

The possibilities are just about endless!

Do you have multiple email accounts all going to one central account? A great idea is to enable the Multiple Inboxes lab and then make individual panes for each account. It keeps things tidy and is a great way to manage multiple accounts.

More on Multiple Inboxes

• WebWorkerDaily: WWD Screencast: Gmail Labs Multiple Inboxes
• WebWorkerDaily: Increase Productivity with Gmail Multiple Inboxes
• Lifehacker: Gmail Labs Adds Multiple Inboxes
• The Gmail Blog: Tip: Manage Several Email Accounts with Multiple Inboxes

Looking for More Information on Gmail Labs?

Check out these helpful posts:

• WorkAwesome: 5 Incredibly Useful Gmail Features
• Web.AppStorm: Become a Gmail Power User with These Lab Features
• Lifehacker Tag: #gmaillabs
• WebWorkerDaily: Tag: Gmail
• MakeUseOf: Tag: Google Labs

Have a favorite Gmail Lab tip? Want to gush about how a particular Gmail Lab changed your work-life? Let us know in the comments!

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Most of you should have known Fluid by now. With Fluid app, you can create “Site Specific Browsers (SSB)”, basically turning any web apps into a desktop app. Essentially what Fluid does is create a browser that is dedicated to a single application. To read more about Fluid, read my previous review.

The best thing about Fluid in my opinion, is the ability to let you add another app using the Browsa plugin so that both the main web app and the “browsa plugin app” runs side by side.

This is incredibly useful when you mash-up two web apps that compliments each other – with the “browsa plugin app” being an iPhone web app.

To get what I mean, here’s a couple of examples:

Gmail + Google Calendar

I created a Gmail SSB using Fluid, thereafter adding the iPhone’s version of Google Calendar as a browsa plugin that runs on the right side of Gmail. There you have it, Gmail and Google Calendar running side by side! You can send emails and check schedules at the same time.

SUBERNOVA + Google Calendar

SUBERNOVA gives you an iCal link in which you can subscribe to your projects and milestones calendar using Google Calendar or any calendar of your choice. Here’s an SSB that runs SUBERNOVA and Google Calendar side by side.

Gmail + Remember The Milk

If you are a Gmail + RememberTheMilk user, you’ll like this.

Threadsy + Hahlo

Threadsy is my new favourite web application. I can check my MobileMe email, work email (hosted on Google Apps), Twitter and Facebook all in one interface. Sparing me from opening too many browser tabs or desktop apps. This, really simplifies my life, moreover the UI is delicious! If web apps are edible, this surely leaves a sweet after taste.

The only problem I have is that Threadsy doesn’t support Twitter Lists. Hence, running Hahlo beside Theadsy may be a good choice for stranded Twitter users like me.

Seesmic Web + Facebook

The good thing about Seesmic as a Twitter web app is that it lets you split different tweet categories into horizontal panels, eg. mentions, dms, lists etc. This makes it easy to scan through tweets. If you’re a Twitter user but don’t want to miss out on Facebook updates, pop an iPhone optimized version of Facebook to the right of Seesmic!

Google Wave + Google Buzz

Doesn’t mean some people don’t get Google Wave and talks rot about Google Buzz, it makes them any less useful. If you like both of Google’s latest innovation, this is a good match.

I hope you find these tips useful and your imagination running wild by a little. :)

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I came across Notify some time ago when it first launched, it was only able to fetch Gmail messages which is pretty wasted for such a good looking menubar app. I knew it had lots of potential to morph into something more all rounded so I waited. And the wait is over!

Notify 2, by Vibealicious, now notifies you of new email messages not only for Gmail, but Google Apps emails, MobileMe, RackSpace or any other IMAP enabled email accounts making it a complete notifier app.

Also, Notify doesn’t need your email client to be open in order to work. With its ability to compose and reply messages right in the app itself, you can keep your mail client closed unless you need to attach and send images or check read messages.

Easy Setup

Under account preferences, add an email account of any type supported by Notify, key in your credentials and you’re ready to go.

I have tested all except Rackspace as I’m not hosting with them. But it should work.

To make your email notifications more obvious, choose a sound of your liking.

I personally like the simple Harmonic sound, medium pitched and not muffled. Definitely audible even if you have iTunes playing.

Under Appearance, you can set the way your date is formatted. I think it’s a nice touch considering everyone reads time and date differently.

Interface & Functionality

This is the interface of the app itself. Simple and beautiful.

If you have multiple accounts, each account will appear as a different tab for easy account switching.

The interface will only show you all unread messages. There are many things you can do with these unread messages like quick look (select a message and press spacebar), mark as read, delete and reply.

Very handy if you want to keep Mail away from view.

One great way I find Notify can improve your productivity is really by closing your email client, set Notify to check every 15 minutes. This is such that you won’t get too distracted by incoming emails the moment they come in.

Viewing Emails

If you’re familiar with Quick Look, this will feel right at home. Hit the spacebar with a message selected and you’ll be able to read the email in its full HTML glory.

Composing and Replying

To reply an email quickly, hit the reply button and a small little window will appear enabling you to type your message.

You can also use the same window for composing new emails by hitting the “+” icon at the bottom left or use a keyboard shortcut “Cmd+N”.

Really useful!

Conclusion

At $10, Notify is a great little app for email notifications and then some. Try it!

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Flock 2.0 (Mac & PC) is not only a web browser but it is optimized for your social needs. You can pack all your social services into the browser’s sidebar also known as the “Friend Activity Widget”, tracking them every second while you browse.

RSS feeds are also browsable through the sidebar just by switching tabs.

Social Networking

Social and other services supported by Flock includes MySpace, Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, Digg, Pownce, Delicious, Gmail, YouTube, Wordpress, Photobucket, Blogger, Yahoo Mail, Magnolia, Blogsome, Livejournal, Xanga, Typepad, AOL mail, Picasa and Piczo.

Adding Facebook to the Friend Activity Widget for instance, will enable you to track your Facebook friend’s updates.

Tracking your friend’s updates couldn’t be easier, think of it as a great way to keep your friends close to you at all times.

One of the perks of this concept is the ease in which you share content with your friends, eg. to share a link, image or video that you’ve found while surfing, just drag and drop the media or link into your friends on the left.

Blogging

Not only can you track your friend’s updates and all your RSS feeds (which you can sort them into different folders) on the left side bar, you can also post blog entries using the browser itself, no I don’t mean visiting the blogging site to post entries, Flock features it’s own dedicated blogging editor for your blogging needs.

Posting pictures can also be done via a dedicated photo upload interface, just drag and drop!

Browsing media

Browing photos and videos with Flock is one of the best experience I’ve seen. Just click on the media icon on the sidebar and you’ll be able to search for Flickr photos at the top of the browser. Thumbnails are layed out neatly in a horizontal format, Flickr page will be fetched upon clicking. If you’re a heavy “Flickr searcher” this browser is it!

You can also search Facebook, Photobucket, Picasa, YouTube, just to name a few. Very neat and useful integration.

My World

To view all your friend’s updates, RSS feeds, your favourite media (photos & videos) all at once, just click the My World icon on the sidebar. The fastest way to get an all round update of what you’re interested in.

My experience using Flock 2.0

Flock is a promising web browser if you’re a social networking addict. Having Facebook, Twitter and Flickr etc on the sidebar enabling me to check updates in real time is more than I can ask for.

Not mentioning being able to access Delicious bookmarks on the sidebar and dragging links into my Delicious folders directly, which is a plus.

The downside of the browser is that I can’t seem to click on any links on the sidebar that my friends posted, be it Facebook or Twitter. There is also no way to post new tweets or Facebook statuses right from the sidebar itself.

New updates does not invoke Growl notifications unlike Eventbox, though this might not be an issue for some people.

Finally, the browser seems to keep crashing frequently which I suspect is a result of bloating up the browser with too many RSS feeds. That might not be the cause of the crashes but whatever cause it is, it wasn’t a good experience for me at all.

Nevertheless, keep in mind that this issue might just be a one off, and I am sure the developers are still working hard on stabilizing Flock.

A great app in general, Try it for yourself!

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