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Google Talk is an instant-messaging service from Google that you can use to send messages, files, or e-mail or make VoIP calls to people on your contact list. Since Google Talk is based on an open protocol (XMPP), it can be used to connect to any device that supports this protocol; this currently means Windows, Android, and BlackBerry devices, although other clients are bound to appear soon.

Google Talk reads your Gmail contact list, and the tight integration between Google Talk and Gmail allows you to send IMs to contacts in your Gmail account. Any chat conversations you have through … Read more

It's probably the last company you'd expect to make using e-mail a better experience, but with its all-new e-mail client Alto, AOL is setting out to make your inbox a more organized and happier place than it's ever been.

Alto, which launches into a private beta this morning, is a client that works with Gmail, Yahoo Mail, AOL Mail, and .Mac mail accounts. It's designed with the idea that since 95 percent of the general population doesn't use folders, many people are suffering from "inbox fatigue" as hundreds or thousands of messages flood … Read more

MailTab for Gmail provides a way to access your Gmail account without using a browser. Running as an app, MailTab for Gmail can notify you when you get new mail (both audibly and visually) and gives you faster access to your inbox than loading Gmail the traditional way. MailTab for Gmail installs easily and a simple click on the menu bar icon gives you near-instant access to your Gmail account.

MailTab for Gmail works with Gmail only, of course, but the interface is slick and friendly. Arriving mail appears as a small number over the MailTab for Gmail icon. When … Read more

Google is taking another tentative step into personal search, creating a new field trial today for users who want to search across a range of Google products from a single search box.

In August the company created a trial bringing Gmail results to Google searches. Today's trial brings other Google services back to Gmail.

Participants in the trial will first notice a kind of instant-search feel to Gmail search results, as relevant e-mails will begin popping up in the search bar as soon as users start typing. And it won't only be e-mail: The trial lets users search … Read more

Here we go again.

Three months after it first began warning users of state-sponsored cyber attacks, Google is saying that the assault has only intensified.

The New York Times reports that since it began warning users of state-sponsored attacks, "it has picked up thousands more instances of cyberattacks than it anticipated." Many of the attacks appear to be originating in the Middle East.

Starting on Tuesday, the company began inserting a message at the top of affected users' Gmail inboxes: "Warning: We believe state-sponsored attackers may be attempting to compromise your account or computer.

The attacks affect … Read more

People in Iran can apparently once again access their Gmail accounts after the service was blocked last week.

Both Gmail and the secure HTTPS version of Google were persona non grata in the country on September 24 after an Iranian official named Abdolsamad Khoramabadi announced that "Google and Gmail will be filtered nationwide until further notice." Khoramabadi is the secretary of a committee in Iran that examines the Internet for content considered illegal or criminal, according to the Iranian Labor News Agency.

The action was reportedly taken in response to an amateur movie posted on YouTube considered critical of the Prophet Muhammad among Muslims, … Read more

While a huge percentage of Africa's more than 1 billion residents have cell phones, far fewer have access to e-mail. Google is trying to change that.

According to the Associated Press, the Web giant is embarking on an ambitious endeavor that will let people receive e-mails via text messages. In effect, Google will be giving people access to the Internet with feature handsets. Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya are the first countries to get the service.

Nigerians began seeing ads posted on billboards around the country for Google's text message email service in July, according to the Associated Press. … Read more

Most of us spend a large part of our day reading and writing e-mails. If you're a Hotmail (now Outlook.com), Yahoo! Mail, or Gmail user, you may already be familiar with using Webmail keyboard shortcuts. They can save you time by not having to constantly take your hands off of the keyboard to reach for a mouse. But how many of those shortcuts have you actually learned?

KeyRocket for Gmail is a Chrome extension that can help you learn Gmail keyboard shortcuts, while you're using Gmail. All you have to do is install the Chrome extension, make … Read more

What happens to e-mail when you print it out? Is it still e-mail or has it moved into a different plane of existence? Regardless of the existential questions that arise, you now have a very fitting place to put your printed e-mails. Stuff them into a DIY Mail Purse.

The DIY Mail Purse gets part of its name from the fact you have to assemble it yourself. Don't worry, ThinkGeek says it will only take 15 minutes of your time. It comes with precut polyester felt pieces, cotton rope, basswood splints, and a shoulder strap. Assembly is just a matter of running the rope through some holes.… Read more