Is Google Gearing Up For GMail 2.0?

Rumors of a coming GMail redesign have been running rampant after ZDNet reported some telling requests in Google's public translation program. Google frequently relies on ordinary users who are fluent in both English and another language to translate small snippets of English text into other languages. Over the weekend some translators working on GMail noticed some snippets of text that hint at possible new features.

The first thing to come to light was that Google was asking for translation of the English phrase “Newer Version.” The translation request is in the GMail UI section, which seems to indicate that GMail may soon get a facelift. Given that GMail has been essential unchanged since its launch in April of 2004, the need to translate that phrase clearly means something is in the works.

Garett Rogers, the ZDNet blogger who first pointed out the translation “leak,” has also discovered that Google is requesting the phrase “Gears is not enabled” be translated to other languages, as well as the phrase “Disable Local Store.”

Both of these translation requests seem to lend some support to earlier rumors that Google Gears-based offline functionality is headed for GMail in the near future.

Another translation tidbit seem to indicate that future versions of GMail will be able to display recent logins by IP address, which could be handy for ensuring no one is accessing your account without your knowledge.

So far there’s been no comment from the GMail team and no screenshots of any new features have surfaced. But, given that GMail is over three years old and really hasn’t been updated much since its launch, we think it’s a safe bet that something new is coming in the near future. Whether or not it will be a small upgrade or a completely new GMail 2.0 remains to the seen.