Gmail Adds Desktop Notifications

Google has just unrolled an optional new HTML5-based notification system that informs you when new instant messages or emails have arrived in your inbox. For those many thousands of people that keep Gmail open for fast access to email and Google’s integrated chat service, this could mean faster responses and fewer missed messages.

Users who opt to use the service can chose whether they want to receive notification of incoming chat messages, new emails, or only new priority emails. Other options, such as the position of messages, can be customized by clicking the wrench icon on the alerts themselves. The notifications can be activated in the “settings” tab of Gmail, but are only available to users of Google’s Chrome browser. According to Google’s Gmail Blog, plans are currently in the works to make these notifications part of “the standard Web platform.”

Those of you pretending to not see chats or ignoring emails for extended periods of time had better find some new excuses. “I didn’t see it,” just isn’t going to cut it anymore. Also, if you’re easily distracted and get itchy knowing that there unread messages waiting, you might want to think twice about turning these on.

(Gmail Blog via Lifehacker)

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Max Eddy