Gmail launched on 1 April 2004. "We're excited to launch Gmail Labs internationally around Gmail's fifth birthday," said Eric Tholomé, director of product management at Google. "The rapid innovation in Gmail Labs makes it a perfect example of how Gmail has grown over the last five years: creating a more intuitive, powerful and innovative email programme for users."
Labs offers users useful and quirky tools to enhance and personalise their email inboxes. Initially launched in English in 2008, Gmail Labs will now be available around the globe in local languages. Users can enable and disable Labs features individually with just a few clicks of the mouse. Some of the features at launch include:
To enable Gmail Labs, go to the Labs tab from within the Settings page (linked to from the top right of the inbox). To set up a Gmail account, go to http://mail.google.com
More information about Gmail and Gmail Labs can be found at http://mail.google.com, and on the Gmail Blog at http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/.