Google Adds 'Insert Photo' Button for Mobile Gmail, Uses Google+'s Auto Backup Feature
April 17, 2014
By Daniel Brecht, Contributing Writer
Google, the search engine giant and corporation specializing in Internet-related services and products, has one of the most popular e-mail services in the world: Gmail. It is said to have the most powerful digital platform of today, according to a report from Forrester (News - Alert) Research. When it comes to free Web-based e-mail, whether for business or personal use, Google Gmail is a users’ favorite. It is easy to use and allows the synchronization of a user account to several computers and mobile devices. Many people use it because it has met their specific needs: it is simple, dependable and safe.
Gmail’s growth has been stunning. There are over 500 million Gmail user accounts now. Its evolution has provided a workable webmail interface with functional amenities and, lately, has made it possible for users to add photos that can be backed up from a smartphone or tablet, as discussed in a post this week on The Next Web website. What’s more, Google (News - Alert) has made it possible to upload videos, in addition to photos. The photos that can be uploaded “must be 2048px or less on the longest edge and videos […] less than 15 minutes long and have 1080p resolution or less,” explains Google. If the image does not meet the appropriate size, there is the option to resize it (through cropping) while composing messages; as Google explains, this can be done just by dragging on any corner to make the snapshot picture perfect.
According to the post, this week “Google is updating the ‘Insert Photo’ button located on the bottom toolbar of new Gmail messages to include photos that have been backed up from mobile devices.” In just a click of a button, now users are able to set up automatic photo backups. There is also the option to add, sort through and share photos on Google’s social network (Google+), if people like. (Google says users can automatically back up their photos and videos to Google+ by turning on Auto Backup.) This new feature can save time to gain instant access to all the photos backed up from one’s mobile device; the new ‘Insert Photo’ button enables users greater acces to the saved images on their phone, and it makes it very easy to send photos to friends and family—users can even share entire albums in an e-mail.
Overall, Google has now provided a simple means of uploading, storing, managing, sending photos online with the Photos app on a smartphone or tablet. This gives Google fans deeper integration with Gmail and Google Plus; the new features can supply Google with the much-needed edge over the other competing free Web-based e-mail services and other social media networks that have yet to include these same features on the go.
Edited by Maurice Nagle