Gmail breaks shackles of internet availibility

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Google mail service, Gmail, has gone a step forward in minimising the gap between web applications and personal computers. Gmail Labs, a feature with experimental services, has launched Gmail Offline which enables users to access, alter and organise their mail account in absence of internet connectivity.

Offline Gmail, which was launched on an experimental basis by Google Inc., uses "Gears", a browser extension, to download and synchronise emails on the user's PC. Gmail account holders thus can access, read or compose emails for later transfer even when they are offline. Every time a users goes online Gears also checks and downloads latest emails and attachments onto the PC to keep the offline account up to date.

The Offline feature has been launched by Google keeping in mind the usage habits of office goers. The offline feature also indicates that Google Inc. is eyeing Microsoft Corporations' Exchange and Outlook programs in order to put up a tough competition.

The offline feature can be activated via the “settings” window in Gmail where the tab “Labs” holds an option for offline email. Once the offline feature is enabled, using offline and online Gmail is the same - except that the browser gets much faster while offline mode is enabled.

Although the idea comes as a perfect rejoinder to Google's competitors, the offline feature is in its early phase and has a few drawbacks. For instance, users still can't add attachments to the messages they compose. However, attachment of an existing mail can be viewed and accessed. The contacts section in Gmail also remains inaccessible when a user is working offline.

Gmail's Offline mode offers a way to enjoy offline benefits of a desktop application while still being able to use the web interface, tools and labels. Apart from this developing feature, Google is also planning an offline Google Calendar which is expected to be launched in six week's time.