Even though Google has been honing and streamlining its products by shutting down a multitude of experimental services within its portfolio over the last months, it’s been discovered that Google is still looking to experiment and has added a new experimental options section to its Gmail running on its Android Ice Cream Sandwich operating system.
The new Gmail experimental options aren’t just limited to Google’s Ice Cream Sandwich, but are exclusive to the latest 4.0.3-239410 version of the Gmail Android app. This makes it still a little tricky for everyone to access.
Features of the New Experimental Options
But don’t be too dismayed if you’re not running the required version, as even though it’s a new section, there is very little to see under the heading at the moment. The new section currently contains two optional features, one of which will allow Gmail to index the text in your messages in order to provide you with a more comprehensive locally based text search. This feature can be particularly useful for users who need to quickly find specific information within their emails without relying on an internet connection. For instance, if you frequently search for old emails containing important addresses or phone numbers, this feature can save you a lot of time.
The second feature enables the drag-and-drop functionality for Gmail’s and ICS “contact chips.” This means you can easily drag contacts into your emails, making the process of adding recipients more intuitive and less time-consuming. Imagine you’re composing an email to multiple colleagues; with this feature, you can simply drag their contact chips into the recipient field, streamlining the entire process.
Discovery and Potential
The new experimental menu option was uncovered by Computerworld’s JR Raphael while he was tinkering with the Android 4.0 upgrade on the new Asus Transformer Prime. This discovery highlights Google’s ongoing commitment to innovation, even as it retires older, less successful projects. By continually experimenting with new features, Google aims to enhance user experience and maintain its competitive edge in the tech industry.
It’s worth noting that these experimental features are part of Google’s broader strategy to test new functionalities before rolling them out to a wider audience. This approach allows Google to gather user feedback and make necessary adjustments, ensuring that the final product is both effective and user-friendly. For example, the locally based text search feature could be refined based on user input to include more advanced search options or better indexing algorithms.
Moreover, the introduction of these experimental options could pave the way for more advanced features in the future. As Google continues to innovate, we might see the integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning to further enhance email search capabilities and contact management. Imagine a future where Gmail can automatically categorize your emails based on content or suggest recipients based on the context of your message.
In conclusion, while the new experimental options in Gmail for Android Ice Cream Sandwich may seem modest at first glance, they represent Google’s ongoing commitment to improving user experience through innovation. By testing these features in a controlled environment, Google can ensure that any new functionalities are both effective and user-friendly before making them widely available. So, even if you’re not currently able to access these experimental options, it’s exciting to think about the potential improvements they could bring to Gmail in the near future.
Source: Computerworld
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