Google Calendar Beta, what’s not there

So we have a lot of people writing about the recently released Google Calendar Beta. What’s different about this blog post? This is about what I think is missing in Google’s Calendar, just my way out of standing out of the crowd ;)

So to begin with, in no particular order:

• API: We need an API for Google Calendar, this should make it a very popular and powerful calendar application. APIs are essential in allowing users to extend the application, just see how Google IG has grown.
  

• Gmail Integration: Now this was one of the main features of Google Calendar, its “seamless” integration with Gmail. The Google Calendar tour says:
  

  Gmail now recognizes when messages mention events, so when you get emailed about an event, you can add it to Google Calendar with just a couple clicks. Look for the Google Calendar links on the right side of your Gmail window.

  I don’t see this. I’ve sent invitations for events from 30boxes, Microsoft Outlook, I even sent myself an email saying “Meeting with John Doe at 7pm”. I don’t see any Google Calendar links on the right side of the gmail window, all I see are sponsored ads about calendar applications and some random stuff about invitations. Gmail does nothing. The latter line is recognized by Google Calendar’s Quick add but not by any Gmail functionality.

  Needs to be fixed soon.

• Safari: I’m not a Mac user (yet) but the lack of supporting one of Mac’s most popular browsers is disturbing.Google, you can do better.
  

  Google you can do better!

• Birthdays: Birthdays are one of those events which 99% of the public will add to their calendars. What is so special about Birthdays? They repeat every year. 30Boxes recognizes when you enter a birthday and prompts you if you want to repeat it every year. They also ask you for the person’s year of birth so it will tell you the person’s age every year. Google Calendar needs this, I don’t want to be manually changing all of my birthdays to repeat every year.
  

  Google, this needs to be implemented.

• Tasks/ToDo Functionality: An important feature that a lot people use, a tasks/todo functionality needs to be there. Almost every application has it, and such things are lifesavers!
  

  This is google, not some start-up. Google needs more research done on what people look for in Calendar applications. This is beta, that’s the only reason I’m not protesting in Ca (j/k) ;).

• RSS Imports: Is it only me who is missing this critical feature? I would love be able to add RSS feeds to the calendar and have them show up on daily views. Not something important, just convenient. It could also use some way adding Weather feeds for particular cities, 30Boxes has that feature with Yahoo! Weather.

I’ve been critical about Google, but it is mainly because we’re talking about a company which has consistently delivered, and delivered well. We expect more from Google. Google Calendar is Beta 1, so far so good. But it needs more.

For now I’ve switched from 30Boxes to CL2.

PS: Anyone got more?

Technorati Tags: Google, Google Calendar, Ajax, Web2.0, Gmail

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Tags: Gmail, Google Calendar