Gmail Contacts updated by Google

Google announced an interesting tidbit on Tuesday. Basically they have revamped the My Contacts feature that they added a few weeks ago and .http://budurl.com/8tgg

we’re moving previously auto-added contacts back into Suggested Contacts. Only contacts that you’ve edited, imported or added to a group will remain in My Contacts. This will provide everyone with a clean slate and, we hope, a better point for syncing contacts with mobile devices (for example with Android).

A few observations:

It is fantastic that Apple has a competitor developing a competing Operating System. Having a choice will compel both platforms further and faster. Apple thrives with competition.

Apple and Google have wrestled control of the software on a mobile device away from the network providers and the cell phone manufacturers. The phone as a useful device has languished.

Taking control over how the phone works will accelerate the transition to an all IP environment for mobile and voice data.

It’s interesting that Google left the difficulty with merging contact data from many places deliberately until Android emerged. At least this way, those that are moving to the new phone wouldn’t be dependant on any iPhone based solution that accomplished this kung fu contact mastery. As an aside, I’ve been going crazy trying to figure out the best way to bring several databases, mailing lists, & other CRM related files together under one roof. There IS NO perfect solution. Achilles Heel in the Google Apps office suite of networked web-based applications. Did Google waffle on this decision until Android came out?

Google Labs adds flexibility to Gmail with better IMAP control.

The good folks over at the Gmail Blog announced this a few days ago:

“that gmail users can choose which labels to sync in IMAP — useful if you find your mail client choking on a big [Gmail]/All Mail folder”

In plain English, I now get to choose which labels show up on my mobile device. This is significant for folks that utilize filters to manage their email.

Filters are marvelous little features that allow you to keep up with email easier. Like most email clients, Gmail allows users to set up rules that automatically move emails out of the Inbox and into a pre-determined bucket.

A filter system makes it easier to avoid what I like to call, “Noise”.  Filters save time. Filters cut down distractions.

What does this mean for the iPhone?

Since I have many filters setup on Gmail, what ends up on the iPhone is a large and cumbersome mail folder structure. The announcement today from Gmail removes one big frustration.

Now I can choose which labels stay in the cloud and which end up on the iPhone. This allows the important emails to get through…….and results in much less noise when I’m mobile. Thank you Gmail.

Have a good week.

Regards ~ JB

New Improvements to Gmail – My Contacts

Google has addressed a large shortcoming in its web-based email platform tonight. An update to the Gmail contacts feature is circulating.

The new feature updates the contact functionality. Specifically, My Contacts has changed. It is intended to become the landing page for all ‘real’ contacts in Gmail. The other significant list is the Suggested Contacts group. It consists of anyone that has been emailed and is not in your primary list. Moving contacts between the two lists is much simpler.

This is a signal tighter integration between the iPhone and Gmail is coming. A good sync option (preferably free) between Address Book & Gmail would be helpful. Any suggestions?

Contact management was a weak spot for Gmail. This update indicates that Contact management is getting some Google love. It may even convince a few more disgruntled Exchange refugees to jump the gap and come to the free, virtual, and increasingly robust web-based Gmail platform.  Below is a screenshot.

Google Wake Up Kit just announced

Some of the best Google initiatives begin on April 1st. It’s uncanny. Here is the latest brilliant idea.

Watch out alarm clock industry – Google is coming for your market share.

Simplification, Google Docs, Google Maps, Treo 700p

Well I’ve already committed the cardinal sin of blogging. I started a blog and then took 10+ days off.

So, without further ado…. 2007 is all about simplifying life. I won’t get into ‘why’ right now but those that know me hear me discuss the topic relentlessly. It’s beyond obsession. It’s part of my DNA. I’ve taken bits and pieces from all over to build ‘my way’. After two years of serious effort, one thing is certain; the system is constantly evolving.

Here’s an example, currently I keep all my documents (excel, pdf, ppt, & word) on a Dell laptop. When I’m at the office, “My Documents” folder syncs upon connection to the server. Understanding ‘offline docs’ was the beginning of my journey into the world of information organization.

A lifetime of using multiple computers in multiple locations and a fear of losing data created thousands of duplicate files for me. I was simply overwhelmed by how to get my arms around it. The trigger, a five discussion with my IT guy.

By aggregating everything into “My Documents” and setting up for offline syncing, I finally I had a solution to get rid of thousands of unnecessary docs. I had one repository to place all my ‘stuff’. Piles of paper were reduced to an organized albeit expansive (Hooray for GTD!) folder system on my laptop that constantly backed up the most recent changes without creating new files.

However, moving to the Mac platform has created the need to find new alternative solutions. I wish to disengage from Microsoft Exchange. I don’t want to the upkeep, the maintenance, or the lack of control over my data by something I need an expert to assist me with.

Today I checked out the new features in Google Docs; click this link and take a tour.

I must say that I’m impressed. I was primarily curious to see if Gdocs would be a solution for my collaboration needs.

After spending some time with it today, I’m going to make Gdocs my primary storage location for all my  documents. The ability to save in many formats, combined with tagging and archiving, and running in tandem with my other GTD tools (del.icio.us, gmail, greader, gnotebook, backpack) gives me a powerful and flexible platform to become a ‘GTD ninja’. Mind like water.

Still not sure what I’m going to do for a physical backup as it would be nice to have something in the event Google goes down. But for now, I’m going to put my faith in Google to act as my new server.

For 80% – 90% of the stuff I want to keep, Gdocs will be perfect. I’m hoping for an offline feature in the near future (similar to Google Reader) that will allow for offline backup and syncing. So my main task now is to begin moving my files over and figuring out parallel structure so that my tags/labels will match the folders that Gdocs uses.

What a great reason to go thru all my old files and clean out what I no longer need.

One more quick tidbit, while playing around with Gdocs, I discovered Google Maps for mobile and ended up installing it on my Treo700p. This was the most simple install I’ve ever done on the Treo. Treo pulled it down off the web and installed it within two minutes.

I launched, input my home and work addresses and within 15 seconds I had a detailed route, complete with zoom shots of my building. Unfriggin believable!

I can’t wait to utilize this tool in real-time. I’m sure I will feel nostalgic about mapquest and how I no longer need to print directions before meetings. Not.

No mas I say. Less paper. Less stress. Life ‘on-demand’. I love it.