Google Calendar Gets Three New Features
Google Calendar is a calendar application that is integrated into several other Google services like Gmail, and also synchronizing with desktop programs as well as mobile applications and operating systems.
A labs section is provided by Gogle for Google Calendar users that provides access to experimental features similar to Gmail's Lab section. These experiments may at one time be integrated fully into Google Calendar, or be removed again so that they are not available anymore from that point forward.
These experimental Google Calendar features can be activated in the labs sectionm and Google just announced the addition of three new Calendar Labs applications that users can activate in their account.
To load the Labs section, either load this link directly, or load the main Google Calendar website, click on the settings icon in the top right, and select Labs from the context menu.
Event Flair is the first Google Calendar Labs app. It can be used to add specific icons to individual Calendar events, like a cake for a birthday or a plane for traveling. Users who are invited to the events do see the icons as well.
The second addition, Gentle Reminders, is currently only available if the Google Chrome web browser is used as the Internet browser. It changes the way event reminders are shown to the user.
Instead of browser alerts, which can interrupt the users workflow tab and title reminders are shown. They will start blinking.
It is furthermore possible to configure the reminders as floating desktop notifications instead. An option that can be configured in the extension's settings.
The third and final Calendar lab application is Automatically Declining Events which can be used to define periods in time when all event invitations will automatically be declined. This can be very useful during holidays or work related travels so that other users are informed immediately about a person's absence.
Google Calendar users find the new features in their Calendar application.
Update: Additional Calendar experiments have been added in recent time, they are:
- Hide morning and night will remove time from each day that you never use for events.
- Event attachments allows you to upload attachments to events.
- Who's my one-on-one with displays the attendees name right next to events in calendar.
- Year view enables a year view mode.
- Background image enables you to load a custom image as the background.
- Free or busy displays whether friends and contacts who shared their calendar with you are free or busy.
- Jump to date provides a quick jump option to specific dates.
- Next meeting displays the hours and minutes to the next meeting.
- World Clock displays additional time zone information.
Update 2: Event Flair and Gentle Reminders are no longer available.