Since its conception, Gmail has evolved re-invented web-mail. It turned what used to be stale, crappy corporate ‘if I have to use it’ systems to the default, usable, and standard way to use e-mail for a lot of people, with complete IM integration, every feature you could desire, and more web space you will use in your life time. But why should the ‘complete webmail’ concept be limited to just Gmail? Orgoo takes this idea of awesome integrated e-mail and IM and brings it to all e-mail and IM providers on the web.
The service, which is currently in private beta (first 6 comments get an invite!), is one of the first of its kind I’ve seen — while there have been multi-IM and multi-email web services in the past. Users simply have to sign up and add their e-mail and IM accounts. The service currently supports Gmail, AOL, Yahoo! Mail (plus), Hotmail (plus), .Mac, and any IMAP/POP provider for e-mail. As for IM, nearly if not all the services are support — AIM, MSN, Yahoo!, Gtalk, and ICQ.
Once that is done, access Orgoo is like accessing Gmail with all your accounts in one place. The inbox, along with folders and trash, allows you to access your e-mail accounts individually, along with your orgoo e-mail account that it creates for you. For some reason, when I tried to access Gmail, it gave a “IMAP fetching is already in progress” message and failed to load — though presumably that is temporary.
In the right side, a la Google Chat and Meebo, is a bar with all your e-mail accounts and contacts. Clicking on a contact opens up an IM window, while clicking on an offline one opens up e-mail. The feature is flexible and I didn’t have any problems using it. The fact that everything is presented in tabs also makes it extremely easy to switch between e-mail and IM windows.
Something unique about Orgoo is its support for video chat. You can create a room, make it public or private, and invite people to join it. When they enter, they can broadcast their webcam and join the video chat. Up to four users are supported at a time.
Unlike a lot of services of its kind, I found Orgoo (apart from its Gmail-fetching problem) ot be usable, practical, and a viable solution. The service is in no ways “clunky” and works like it should. In a lot of ways, it resembles the new Yahoo! Mail, which is based on the acquisition of Oddpost a couple years ago — though that could just the frontend. A great offering, especially for someone who isn’t a Gmail or Yahoo! Mail user and has multiple IM accounts.
