Gmail UI update available now, check your themes
Posted Friday, July 1, 2011 at 10:26 am by Jason Cartwright
Looks a bit different doesn’t it ? Google UI team is on a tear this week, after launching Google+, updating Calendar now comes a refresh of Gmail. Next to search, Gmail is Google’s biggest properties, so making changes to it is sure to piss a lot of people off. Change is hard.
Starting today Google are releasing it as an optional theme, with the vision of releasing it as the default at some time in the future. To try out the new interface, head to your Gmail settings, select the Themes tab, then select either Preview or Preview (Dense).
Personally I think the Dense version is a better option, with slightly less padding, it gives you more content on the screen at once, while remaining clean and usable. This is a serious change and will take some time to get used to. Contacts has also been hit with the new UI, making for a consistent experience across most of the Google services. Look out Google Reader, you could be next.
More info @ Google Blog
Windows Live Hotmail goes SSL, passes by Google*
Posted Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 8:45 am by Jason Cartwright
Gmail users concerned with security were able to enable SSL connections to their mail for over a year now. A few months ago, Google turned this on by default for all users, problem is, this is only for gmail, not any of the other Google services. This means Calendar and Contacts are still pushed in the clear.
Microsoft have announced today that they have enabled users to turn on SSL which secures the connection between you and Microsoft servers for not only Hotmail, but also Calendar, Contacts, SkyDrive, Photo, Docs, devices.. pretty much everything. At the moment its opt-in, hopefully one the bugs are ironed out, this is in place by default.
To enable HTTPS for your Windows Live, go to https://account.live.com/ManageSSL.
Hotmail Exchange push Email, Contacts, Calendar available now
Posted Tuesday, August 31, 2010 at 11:21 am by Jason Cartwright
Microsoft have finally flipped the switch on Exchange Push for their Mail, Contacts and Calendar services. Competitor Google has offered this for months, and like many other iPhone owners who want all their info on the go, I switched to gmail to achieve this.
To enable the services simply insert your credentials and use m.hotmail.com as the server address.
So now push email, contacts and calendar is available to Windows Live users, question is, how many people will switch from Google. While Gmail is beloved by tech darlings, the reality is there’s a lot more users on Windows Live. My contact list on Windows Live Messenger is many multiple times the length of that of Google Chat.
Personally I need to run both emails for different services like Google Reader / analytics and Skydrive, but may switch Windows Live Contacts and Calendar. As shown above, I now have exchange accounts defined, Google, Work and Hotmail.
Prior to today’s launch, users would be met with a looping Password prompt, now the service has launched, this no longer occurs. Its also important to note that Exchange activesync for Hotmail supports multiple calendars that can be turned on or off in settings. These individual calendars appear as different colour calendar entries on most mobile devices.
This move is critical in preparation for Microsoft’s launch of Windows Phone 7 later this year to achieve their target of hitting both personal and business users.
