Google email service Gmail has been around for a very long time, and has gone through a number of upgrades, updated and visuals tweaks. But yesterday Google unveiled its new take on Gmail with an introduction of Inbox. But whatever you do, don’t call it the new Gmail.

“Years in the making, Inbox is by the same people who brought you Gmail, but it’s not Gmail: it’s a completely different type of inbox, designed to focus on what really matters,” Google’s Sundar Pichai, senior vice president of Android, Chrome & Apps said in a blog post.

Google is stressing that more emails are being sent around the world now than ever, and that poses a huge problem for users, as information sometimes gets buried within them. The company says that Inbox will work for you, and not serve as a distraction.

In the blog post, Google explained some of the features that will be included in the release, but don’t hold your breath just yet. The service right now is on an invitation-only basis, so it might take a while before you get to use it.

Bundles: stay organised automatically
Inbox expands upon the categories we introduced in Gmail last year, making it easy to deal with similar types of mail all at once. For example, all your purchase receipts or bank statements are neatly grouped together so that you can quickly review and then swipe them out of the way. You can even teach Inbox to adapt to the way you work by choosing which emails you’d like to see grouped together.

Highlights: the important info at a glance
Inbox highlights the key information from important messages, such as flight itineraries, event information, and photos and documents emailed to you by friends and family. Inbox will even display useful information from the web that wasn’t in the original email, such as the real-time status of your flights and package deliveries. Highlights and Bundles work together to give you just the information you need at a glance.

Reminders, Assists, and Snooze: your to-do’s on your own terms
Inbox makes it easy to focus on your priorities by letting you add your own Reminders, from picking up the dry cleaning to giving your parents a call. No matter what you need to remember, your inbox becomes a centralized place to keep track of the things you need to get back to.

Below is a short introductory video for Inbox, and if you really want to make sure that you are first in line when the public invitations start rolling through the internet, you can send an email to inbox@google.com and politely ask for an invitation.

[Image – Google]