Web Worker Daily

Yesterday, Google launched offline support for Gmail, a feature that’s been long anticipated by the service’s users. The feature is being gradually rolled out to UK and U.S. users and will be available via the Labs area of Gmail’s Settings page.

Using Google’s Gears platform, the new capability enables users to maintain a local cache of messages which is kept synchronised with Gmail’s servers when and if connectivity becomes available. Features include the ability to read, star and label messages as well as queue messages to be sent from the user’s outbox. Google’s claiming they’re able to provide a near-live representation of the service when in offline mode.You can read Kevin Tofel’s initial impressions of Gmail’s offline support over at jkOntheRun. Read the rest of this entry »