09 Mar 09 Import & export those Gmail filters

So you go to all the trouble of creating a large & perfectly-customized set of filters for Gmail, and you’re worried that they might get confuzzled somehow so you want a backup, or you want to copy them to a new Gmail account. Now thanks to the magic of Gmail Labs, you can export – and import – your Gmail filters. Information about this new feature can be found at the following articles:

Import and Export Your Gmail Filters
Lifehacker

http://lifehacker.com/5164463/import-and-export-your-gmail-filters

New in Labs: Filter import/export
The Official Gmail Blog

http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/new-in-labs-filter-importexport.html

Export Gmail Filters
Google Operating System

http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2009/03/export-gmail-filters.html

Tags: Gmail, Gmail Labs, New features

09 Mar 09 Sync contacts and calendars with your smartphone

This is great news – Google has now made it possible for you to sync your contacts & calendars with your smartphone. I’m using it with my iPhone, in fact, and so far it’s been great.

Basically, I sync Google Contacts & my Google Calendars with my iPhone over the air using Google Mobile Sync, but I also sync Contacts and Calendars with my Mac’s Address Book & iCal using Spanning Sync. That way, everything works together seamlessly, which is just the way I want it.

You can read articles about how to enable Mobile Sync for your smartphone, as well as how it all works, in some of the following:

Google Sync for your mobile phones
Google Tutor

http://www.googletutor.com/2009/02/12/google-sync-for-your-mobile-phones/

Google beta of Sync for mobile contacts & calendar is live
The Unofficial Apple Weblog

http://www.tuaw.com/2009/02/09/google-beta-of-sync-for-mobile-contacts-and-calendar-is-live/

Finally: Google Sync Comes to iPhone and Windows Mobile
Mashable

http://mashable.com/2009/02/09/google-sync/

Google Mobile – Sync
Google [the official pages & instructions]

http://www.google.com/mobile/apple/sync.html

Tags: Contact Manager, Google Calendar, New features, Smartphones, Spanning Sync, Synchronization

09 Mar 09 Contacts getting better #23: Merge contacts

Finally, it appears that Google is improving the anemic Contact Manager that is part of Gmail. The 1st improvement I want to bring to your attention: you can now merge contacts. Thank goodness!

You can read more at:

Merge Multiple Gmail Contacts
Google Tutor

http://www.googletutor.com/2009/02/17/merge-multiple-gmail-contacts/

Merge Gmail Contacts
Google Operating System

http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2009/02/merge-gmail-contacts.html

Four changes to Gmail contacts
Official Gmail Blog

http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2009/02/four-changes-to-gmail-contacts.html

Tags: Contact Manager, Gmail

21 Nov 08 New UI & features for Presentations in Google Docs

In early September 2008, Presentations turned 1 year old. Long the furthest behind of any of the Google Docs triad, the UI was spruced up a bit to bring it more in line with the other Google Docs family members. A unified interface is nice, and I must say, the user interfaces have gotten much better in the last several months.

In addition, some new features were unveiled as well:

Undo

Well, it’s about time! Ctrl-z undoes your latest booboo.

Zoom

Need to zoom in on a particular detail of your slide? Got a tiny monitor? Eyes getting worse as you age? You have two choices:

• Slide > Zoom
• Ctrl-Shift-Right arrow to zoom in, & Ctrl-Shift-Left arrow to zoom back out

Reveals

In other words, you can specify the order in which objects appear on your slides. I use these all the time in Apple’s Keynote; it’s nice to see Presentations get them as well. To use this feature, right-click on an object and choose Incremental Reveal.

Small features, small steps. Progress is good.

Tags: Google Docs, New features, Presentations

21 Nov 08 Gmail adds themes, but not yet for Google Apps

Following months of speculation, Google has in fact rolled out themes for Gmail. You can view a gallery of screenshots at Lifehacker or at the Official Gmail Blog post announcing the new feature.

No surprise, though – I can see the new Themes tab in my Gmail account, but not on any of my Google Apps accounts. Soon, soon …

Tags: Eye candy, Gmail, New features

19 Nov 08 Syncing contacts and calendars? I still prefer Spanning Sync

In Google Apps Deciphered I spend a lot of time talking about Spanning Sync, Mac-based software for syncing calendars & contacts. Yes, there are free options, but I still believe that paying $25 for Spanning Sync is a good investment. For a list of good reasons to buy and use Spanning Sync, check out Google Tutor’s “6 Reasons Spanning Sync Still Rocks“. The 6 reasons:

1. Event Reminders & Alarms
2. CalDAV Doesn’t Sync Address Book
3. Two-way Sync is Unreliable
4. Easier Set-up
5. iPhone Incompatibility
6. CalDAV is not Internationally Inclined

I couldn’t agree more.

Tags: Contact Manager, Google Calendar, Spanning Sync

19 Nov 08 Take advantage of the new iGoogle

In Google Apps Deciphered I talk about the Google Start Page as the bastard stepchild of iGoogle. Well, while iGoogle continues improving, Start Page continues stagnating. Case in point: Steve Rubel’s article “Three Ways to Rock the New iGoogle“. Three things you can do … with iGoogle. None of which you can do with Start Page. Too typical.

Tags: iGoogle, Start Page