• Hotmail is nearly 15 years old. If that number makes you feel old, just think how it makes Microsoft’s free e-mail service feel. So, Microsoft is giving the service a reboot in an attempt to outdo Gmail’s features and become even more dominant. The redesign hits this summer. source

• You can either be a #(&@ funnel or a #*#( umbrella.
• Gmail product manager Todd Jackson • Describing his job using, uh, common terminology. Jackson, see, uses his job to essentially protect the engineers working on the ultra-popular e-mail program from loads of crap from both the public and the Google bureacuracy, so they can focus on their job of making Gmail better. We want to be a @(&# umbrella, too! It sounds like a lot of fun. source

• 
• We’ve been playing with Google Buzz since last night, and we see a lot of potential here. It builds on some already solid foundations, and does things that prior players in this field – specifically FriendFeed – couldn’t do because of lack of scale. That said, we think Google has PR problems that Buzz largely amplifies. Here are our thoughts:

Google’s Good Buzz

• It has users! Google handled Buzz’s launch better. Wave introduced its platform without users, so while it was technically adept, it gave users no incentive to join. Buzz solves that problem by plugging into Gmail’s wide usership.
• It’s easy-to-use Another big problem with Wave is that while it was technically executed well, it was so complex to use that Gmail users couldn’t grasp it easily. Buzz’s interface is simple by design. There are options, but they’re fairly simple.
• It notifies! Perhaps the biggest mistake that Wave made was that it had no built-in notify feature via e-mail; it was designed to replace it, really. You had to check it to see if people were bugging you. Buzz is tied directly to e-mail.

Google’s Bad Buzz

• Do we need another? If Google had created Buzz three years ago, it would have seemed revolutionary. Now it just seems like Google’s trying to catch up. Facebook has this market cornered; why spend time focusing on this specific angle?
• It eats wave’s lunch Even with all the differences, most users will compare Buzz to Wave. Many people already see Wave as a failure because it never answered a simple question: Why? Buzz is closer to that answer, but the effect is that it neuters Wave.
• Can’t make up its mind The biggest problem Google faces is one due to its size. Google is so big that they try get involved in everything. Apple is successful right now because their decisions are deliberate. Google’s aren’t, and they seem indecisive. source

• This has been going on for more than four days now. I contacted my internet provider and they said it is out of their control.
• An anonymous Iranian whose internet is getting gummed up • Regarding his frustration with the Web. Iran has already shut down Gmail permanently – we blame Buzz – and has only been allowing limited access to the Web in the wake of the anniversary of the 1979 Iranian revolution. Google confirmed that they’ve had a sharp drop in traffic from Iran this week. “Whenever we encounter blocks in our services we try to resolve them as quickly as possibly because we strongly believe that people everywhere should have the ability to communicate freely online,” Google wrote. “Sadly, sometimes it is not within our control.” source

How it could be a contender, but so isn't yet. In a lot of ways, Threadsy wants to be the central point for Facebook, Twitter AND your e-mail. If someone pulls it off, they rule the market. Well, we just got a beta invite. And well, here's our initial thoughts: Threadsy is a smart idea undone by myriad technical problems and interface flaws which we feel undermine its usefulness. And if Threadsy wants people to use it, they need to fix these problems:

• Too much broken The private beta signup process was broken when we tried it. So was the front page. When it started working again, and we got to a menu to input our various accounts. Our GMail account didn’t take at first and gave an error. The Twitter login doesn’t use the password-protecting API. And Facebook Connect, which was buried within the interface, would keep dropping. Not to be harsh, but: Even for a beta, these flaws are too obvious and too disruptive.
• Too much control Threadsy asks for too much access. You feel OK with giving Threadsy your passwords at first, but then you realize you’ve given away the keys to a drunken teenager playing chicken. It decides which Twitter account you’re logged into on the Twitter Web site. Even if you log into a different Twitter account, it changes it back. Other similar services – HootSuite, Seesmic Web – don’t need to do this. Why should we hand Threadsy the keys? We’re not sure.
• Too much blendThe biggest problem with the service? Everything looks the same. The visual cues, including faint quote boxes and service-signifying icons away from where your eye is drawn, aren’t loud enough and get lost within hundreds of rows. We like how it pulls icons, but don’t like the fact that e-mail doesn’t have a threading option. That seems essential. If Threadsy wants to be a mixed-media inbox, the design needs to be more adaptive. source

• 14% of Google users couldn’t get on because of glitches source

• No word on if they plan to do the same with physical letters. One of the few major sticking points for non-Gmail users to switch to Google’s superior-in-every-way free e-mail service has been the inability to drag your old mail with you. Until now. New users can now push mail from their old services (AOL, Yahoo!, Hotmail and a ton of others) to their new accounts fairly painlessly, right within Gmail. Good show, Google! source