Google has launched a new mobile web version of Gmail that runs on both iPhone and Android OS. Vic Gundotra, Google VP of Engineering announced this at the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco last Friday, and asked us to “stay tuned” for a release date. This was a bit sooner than anticipated!
What’s the deal?
It’s a web-based client, so it requires no downloads or installs, and it runs smoothly on both iPhones and Android phones. It’s based on an upcoming version of HTML called HTML 5. The major tweaks are off-line access and what Google are calling a “floaty bar”
Off-line access: this mobile Gmail allows for a certain amount of caching – so you’ll be able to access recently read emails even when you’re phone is offline. You’ll also be able to compose mails without needing a web connection. This is a function of HTML 5 and Google Gears.
Floaty bar: the floaty bar is a bar of action buttons that stays on your screen no matter where you scroll on the page. It allows you to access basic functions like tagging mails, composing or deleting without having to scroll back up the page. The floaty bar also allows you to select multiple mails on the page and apply the function to all of them.
From the Google Blog:
Google helpfully provided pics of the service (with some subtly embedded HTML 5 propaganda):
And a video of some of it’s functions:
What we think?
Google is hailing HTML 5 as the next big step in designing applications that can run across multiple platforms. If it’s really as smooth a process as Google is claiming, then this could be a major strike for browser apps in the native vs. browser debate. That, combined with the recent spate of high speed browsers and operator-end browsing services could really make an impact on the resurgence of applications.
