Google Friends Newsletter - October 2007 Autumnal greetings to all of our Google friends! We hope you enjoy this month's update on our products and services. ------------ POWER TIP Gmail with IMAP You now have the ability to use the IMAP protocol for Gmail (including Google Apps) free of charge. Unlike the POP protocol, IMAP enables you to keep your inbox synced across all devices, so that whatever you do in your email -- whether on your phone, desktop mail client, or web browser -- shows up everywhere you access your email. Reading, sending, deleting and other actions you take on your messages are reflected automatically and instantaneously any place you get Gmail. http://www.gmail.com ------------ NEW PRODUCTS & UPDATES YouTube layer now in Google Earth We're excited to announce the arrival of a YouTube video layer for Google Earth. It's not only a new way to explore and discover YouTube videos; using Google Earth as a navigation tool, you can zoom in on remote regions of the globe and watch videos tied to that specific location (for example, surfers in Hawaii). http://earth.google.com Google Desktop 5.5 beta New features in Google Desktop 5.5 (beta) include the ability to run Desktop gadgets in iGoogle, a better looking Quick Search Box, and improved Microsoft Outlook search functionality. You can use Desktop gadgets like the virtual flower pot, wireless signal meter, and media player remote on iGoogle. http://desktop.google.com Docs for mobile Now you can access your list of documents and spreadsheets, and view all of these Google Docs, on your BlackBerry, iPhone or Windows Mobile device; iPhone users can also view presentations. http://www.google.com/mobile/docs/ Google Maps Profile Pages When you come across a map someone created or a review someone wrote, the new Profile Pages in Google Maps let you hover over the person's name to see a snippet of information about the author. Click on the nickname to access his or her complete profile page, which aggregates all the public maps and all the review he or she has created on Google Maps. You can also customize your own profile picture and information by clicking on the "My Profile" link. http://maps.google.com Google Experimental We're always experimenting with new Google search features, and we've made it easier than ever for you to participate in our testing. Now you can temporarily add these experimental features to your Google searches: for example, see your search results on a timeline, navigate using keyboard shortcuts, change how your result snippets appear each time you do a search on Google, and a few other features. http://www.google.com/experimental ------------ MISCELLANY "I get by with a little help from my friends," as the song goes. It's always been true in the real world; these days the help of friends (some you know, many you don't) makes online experiences all the more powerful. Open source software, Wikipedia, movie, music, book, or travel recommendations from others -- all "get by" with input and participation from lots of people. One very real-world application of this kind of collaboration we're particularly excited about is the ability to "mash up," or integrate different open software tools, to create something new. Google Maps has really benefited from this approach, because people are able to add local annotations and even up- to-the-minute details. In October the value of this particular "mashup" became very apparent when many people put together details of the various Southern California fires. To be able to see evacuation routes, new danger zones, emergency housing sites, means a real lifeline in time of need. We're grateful that people are able to make use of these tools when it really counts. http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/southern-california-fire-maps.html