Gmail Checker Plus makes rapid email checking easy

Google Chrome Extensions are incredibly helpful for the user who is multitasking multitasks. However, in my mind, one extension has certainly earned it's own post - Google Mail Checker Plus.

The extension displays the number of unread messages in your inbox using an icon which appears on the top right if your Chrome browser. That's one feature. 

However, the best feature is that once you select the Gmail icon, your mail tab will comes into view. So for instance, when you're working in up to ten tabs and you just want to find your Gmail tab, you can simply select the icon and your inbox appears. 

Below is a video review of Google Mail Checker Plus.

Features:
• Mail preview window, read mail without leaving the current tab
• Delete, archive, spam, star and mark as read functionality
• Desktop and sound notifications when new mail arrives
• Support for multiple Google and Google Apps accounts
• Mailto-links open in your Gmail or Google Apps Mail account
• Monitor all your labels or priority inbox
• Translated to over 60 languages!
• More than 10 different icon sets, choose your favorite!

• Help and support at official forum: http://chrome.desc.se/forum/

Related posts:

-Five social media extensions for Google Chrome-Four more Google Chrome Extensions

Google announces Google TV

First, the Android operating system, now this - Google TV.

Little information has been released but Google has released a quick tour to its latest product, Google TV. The product which seems to be pretty similar to Apple TV offers Web browsing, apps, customization and more. Like Apple TV, it seems to be where computers and modern TVs collide.

Google has recently announced that it has partnered with Logitech and it's Revue product which allows users to connect Logitech's Keyboard Controller and other products to an HDTV.

Search
How many times have you needed to find a show or sports event on TV but you don't know what channel it's on? Google TV offers a search feature that allows users to search for a program, select it and view it. No more continuous scrolling like in the Verizon and Comcast menu system.

Web

Google TV allows users to surf the Web through a television. Using the system's dual view, users can watch TV and surf the Web at the same time. In an age when everyone is watching TV with a laptop in hand, this could be a pretty nice feature.

Apps

Google TV will come preloaded with apps like Twitter, Pandora, Napster, Netflix, CNBC (an app for watching TV on a TV? That should be interesting) and more. According to the company, developers will be able to create their own apps as soon as next year.

Apps for Google TV

Google TV Remote

Phone apps allow users to control their computers. Now, your phone can control your TV too. The Logitech Harmony App for iPhone and Android allows users to set sync their phones to a Logitech Revue system allowing your phone to work as your Google TV remote. The in-app touch pad and keyboard allow users to have complete browsing and search control.

Personal

If you have used SpeedDial for Chrome, then you'll recognize Google TV's bookmarking style. Simply select a channel, app, or website you know you'll always want to come back to, and add it to your bookmarks. The saved items will be added to your personalized menu with an icon or screen shot for easy selection.

Dual View

Watch a show while you surf the Web or watch two games at the same time. This is nothing new to the world of television but still a nice feature.

Accessibility

According to the product's preview, Google TV works as a companion to your current cable or satellite system. It is not clear how the system needs to be set up but it should be similar to Apple TV's installation process.

Three Google videos for three new(ish) products

Ever wonder how to use a certain Google App? The company - who owns YouTube - has a complete catalogue of video tutorials and explanations aimed to educate users about new and future products. Below are three Google videos explaining three new or developing products.

Google Voice

Google Voice gives users more control over their phone calls. Spanning a full range of futuristic features, Voice allow users to assign multiple outgoing messages to specific callers (ie. professional outgoing message to work related phone numbers), voicemail transcriptionand the option to link several phone numbers (ie. home phone, work phone) to your cell phone.

What is Google OS?

The story of Google Chrome and how it inspired the creation of an operating system. Chrome OS is an open-source project in the process of building an operating system for users who spend most of their computing time in the Web browser.

Google Places: Case StudiesGoogle wants nothing more than to grab hold of local communities. Its "Google Case Studies" video follows small businesses who use Google Places to grow and succeed locally.
Google Places allows users to add their business to Google's listings. Business owners can add their company's description to a Places profile as well as opening hours, photos coupons and more.

Google Docs adds six new fonts

Arial, Courier New, Georgia, Tahoma, Times New Roman and Verdana. Up until about three days ago, these were the only fonts available to Google Doc users. Today, however, thanks to an “ever-growing list of Web fonts” and Google’s Font API, Doc users now have access to six additional fonts.

Droid Serif and Droid Sans
Android users will recognize the Droid family of Fonts. Both Droid Serif and Droid Sans feature strong vertical lines and a friendly appearance designed specifically for mobile devices.

Calibri and Cambria
According to Google, Doc users are consistently importing documents from Microsoft Word into Google Docs. Two of the most popular Word fonts, Calibri and Cambria, have been added so that users can import their Word documents to Google Docs without losing their document’s font-style.

Consolas and Corsiva
Consolas is now the second monospaced font in Google Docs - Courier New is the first. Monospaced fonts are typefaces in which every glyph is the same width. This comes in handy for computer programmers and users who need to work in plain text documents.
On the other end of the spectrum, Corsiva is Google Doc’s first italicized font style. This font is expected to win big among users who want to add elegance to fliers or other design-based documents.

Until recently, Web designers have had very limited font pallets. This is because Web browers could only portray fonts that the user - or reader - have installed to their local computer.

Today, however, modern browsers support the ability to download Web fonts automatically thus meaning fonts no longer have to be downloaded to the local computer system.

According to Google, this is only the beginning. The company is already testing it’s “next batch” of fonts, however, there has been no word on when those fonts will be available.

Five social media extensions for Google Chrome

Google Chrome is by far the fastest browser available for download according to tech reviews from ZDNet and CNet. However, can Google's browser compete with FireFox's add-on catalog? Over the past few weeks 140 Characters has collected five Chrome extensions that may even push FireFox into your second-string browser slot. Below is a list of five Chrome extensions which can greatly enhance your social media use and reduce time-spent tweeting and posting to Facebook.

Facebook for Google Chrome

Manage the essentials of your Facebook account from the top-right corner of your Chrome browser. Using the Chrome Facebook extension, users can view the news feed, wall and messages and receive Facebook notifications. If developers were to include a Facebook Chat feature, this extension would nearly replace the need to run Facebook in the browser. NOTE: Users cannot edit their fan pages nor groups or events.

Chromed Bird

This extension is just like the previous tool but for Twitter. Users can literally manage their entire account from this extension including tweets, @replies, direct messages, favorites and lists or hash tags. The downside to this extension is that you cannot manage multiple accounts and since you cannot install the same extension twice, users may revert back to their primary desktop app (Tweet Deck, Tweetie).

Goo.gl URL Shortener

It's hard to mention any URL shortener other than Bit.ly but here goes. Google's URL shortener goo.gl is probably the simplest shortener around. Unlike Bit.ly, no sidebar will pop-up and users definitely do not need to go to any Web page to shorten a link. Instead, just select the Goo.gl URL shortener extension in the Chrome browser and a small speech bubble will appear with the shortened link. Unfortunately, Google's shortener does not track clicks like Bit.ly does but if you're using SnipURL, I recommend using Goo.gl instead.

Autopen - Email Signatures

It seems Gmail will never have the ability to build social media icons into user signatures. Instead, the email service relies on WiseStamp in FireFox and now Autopen in Chrome. But while WiseStamp asks users to select a social network and add a profile link, Autopen allows users to use HTML to create buttons.

This is both good and bad. For users who have HTML experience, this allows greater freedom to customize your social media icons. However, for users who don't know HTML (or refuse to find the proper codes via Google), Autopen is almost useless.

UPDATE: You can copy and paste your WiseStamp signature into Autopen and link the social media icons to the proper Web addresses.

Speed Dial

This is just barely a social media tool but it's still worth mentioning. Remember the last time you pulled up a new tab in Chrome or Safari only for your co-workers and friends to see that you've visited an embarrassing site enough that it became one of your browser short cuts? Well this extension will put an end to the embarrassment.

Speed Dial allows users to assign up to 12 shortcuts in the Chrome browser once a blank, new tab is opened. The extension also offers a number of backgrounds to use in the Speed Dial tab.