$GOOG,...Google tries to rethink e-mail with Inbox app
Inbox, a new Gmail (GOOG +1.8%) app that has been launched in invite-only mode, forgoes the traditional inbox view in favor of Google Now-like cards that display (along with an e-mail's title/author) content such as photos, flight times, and appointments.
Google's app also tries to intelligently place e-mails into bundles that can be quickly viewed/deleted, and to parse out data such as phone numbers and addresses. Other features include the ability to "snooze" e-mails so that a user is alerted to them at a different time or location, and the ability to add reminders that appear on the app's main page.
"The world has changed a lot since [e-mail] was invented," says Gmail/Inbox product director Alex Gawley. He admits the app, which (among other things) attempts to help users contend with e-mail overload, is consumer-focused for now, but suggests features that will make it more business-friendly are on the way.
The Verge's Dieter Bohn: "My first impression of Inbox is that it's really great, but a little weird ... Inbox is basically your e-mail, but mediated by Google. It's the Google Now version of your regular Inbox."
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