Zoho Mail has emerged from its private beta-testing stage. Tapping functionality built into Google Gears, Zoho’s Web-based e-mail application now sports a “setup offline” link at the top of the page that gives users offline e-mail access.
To operate Zoho Mail in offline mode, the user needs to have Google Gears installed in a Internet Explorer or Firefox browser, said Zoho cofounder and evangelist Raju Vegesna.
“We offer support for up to 5,000 e-mails currently and make them available to users as a download they can access when not online,” Vegesna said. “You can also choose to download images and attachments to access in the offline mode.”
Unlimited Storage
One component of Zoho’s product release is an e-mail add-on to the company’s suite of productivity applications, Vegesna said. “If an individual, you’ll get a free e-mail account with unlimited storage, and will be able to open e-mail from your other existing accounts as well,” he said.
Any e-mail in the offline user’s outbox will be sent as soon as an online connection is established, and any other changes the user has made while in offline mode will automatically synchronize with the online platform.
“I’ve got to say that I am really impressed,” commented Brad Neuberg of the Google Gears team. “Offline is hard, especially with something like e-mail.”
Zoho Mail automatically detects the user’s connectivity status and switches to online and offline modes seamlessly, Vegesna said. “While offline, you can view your e-mails as you would normally,” he added.
The application supports both the standard folders structure in Microsoft Outlook and the labels capability in Gmail. “We didn’t want to decide what you should use — we wanted to give you a choice,” Vegesna said.
The labels capability allows users to view e-mails as conversations, Vegesna noted. “In conversations, responses are listed hierarchically so that…