What’s The Deal With Google’s Inbox?

Google has recently launched its new Inbox by Gmail (or just Inbox) service to a very select group of users. The tech giant is hoping that Inbox will usher in a new approach to managing and reading email messages -- which means not only organizing related emails together, but also displaying different bits of data from separate emails into one single view.

Inbox has been in development for some years now, according to the company. As one might expect, it is created by the same minds responsible for Gmail. And we all know how successful Gmail turned out to be in just a few years. Obviously, Google has the same high hopes for Inbox.

So what exactly does Inbox bring into the table? Here is a guide to its features and components:

• Bundles -- It may remind users of the Primary/Social/Promotions/Updates/Forums sorting system first seen in Gmail about a year ago. This time, Google is making a few enhancements. Now, you can set up Gmail not only to “bundle” emails together but also to instruct the system to gather the specific type of emails you want bundled together. 
• Highlights -- Aptly named, this feature allows you to collect important pieces of data together from different separate emails. It can collate related information not only directly from your emails, but also from documents and even photos sent to you by your email contacts. 
• Reminders -- This is Google's way of making your Gmail inbox not just a repository of email messages, but as an interactive system that helps you manage your email communications more efficiently.
• Assists -- This works seamlessly with Reminders. The things you made a note for in Reminders are stored, tracked, and made easily accessible to you through Assists. For instance, if you made a reminder to call a person, Assists will take it one step further by providing that person's contact information together with the reminder.
• Snooze -- Sometimes the amount of emails you receive can be overwhelming. Through Snooze, you can deactivate email alerts and notifications for a specified amount of time, so that you can just enjoy your coffee break uninterrupted. 

Now that we have gone over the basics of Inbox, the next question on your mind is probably: How do I get it? Here is where things get a bit complicated. Currently, Inbox is invite-only which, like Gmail was when it was first introduced, only allows for a limited number of users. However, there is no stopping you from trying. As a matter of fact, you can try your luck by emailing inbox@google.com and then cross your fingers. You just might be one of the fortunate few to get picked as testers of this Gmail service.