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When it comes to email, it seems like everyone uses Gmail. Google wants to make Gmail a more powerful tool by directly integrating lots of Google Workspace features into the email service. Instead of downloading a bunch of different apps, Google is making Gmail feel more like Outlook.
Gmail Is Slowly Becoming Outlook
Google announced a bunch of new stuff coming to Gmail, including a heavier integration with Google Meet. Specifically, Google wants to add more spontaneous interactions with colleagues by allowing one-on-one calls within the Gmail app using Google Meet. Now, when you call a user in this way, it'll ring their Gmail mobile app and notify them in Gmail on their web browser.
With this change, you can't really avoid Google Meet anymore. Even if you don't have it installed, people can now call you through Gmail.
When you add in the existence of Google Meet and Hangouts in Gmail, the email service is slowly becoming more and more like Outlook in that it's not just an email client. Before long, you might be able to use Gmail for all Workspace features, especially if you use Gmail for work.
Of course, Outlook hasn't integrated Teams just yet, so Google might actually be a step ahead of Microsoft's email client.
Google Spaces is Live For All
Outside of the integration with Gmail, Google also announced that Google Spaces is live for all users. Basically, Spaces integrates with Calendar, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Meet, and Tasks and allows for plenty of collaboration.
Google says that "With spaces, teams can share ideas, collaborate on documents, and manage tasks from a single place."
The company also announced plans for the future with Spaces, and it sounds like it has some lofty goals. It intends to streamline navigation, make Spaces discoverable, enhance search, add topic threading, and integrate more security features.
Google Calendar Is Improving
Google Calendar is a popular tool for keeping track of your schedule, and now it's getting a useful new feature that'll let you set your location for each workday in Calendar.
If you're working in a hybrid situation, this is a big deal, as you can let your colleagues know where you are so they can plan accordingly.
All in all, it seems like Google has some great ideas for Workspace that's making it more a one-stop tool for getting work done. Of course, if you want to use Gmail as an email service, these features might seem unnecessary, but for some, these new features are a significant change.