Google now offers 'Gmail Offline'; offline Docs, Calendar to follow

It isn’t uncommon that you find yourself in a situation like this – you need to read and reply to that urgent mail and you realize that you’re ‘stuck’ with no internet connection. For all you Gmail users, there’s now a fix. Beginning from today, according to a blog post, Gmail will be available offline, too. Available on the Chrome web store for free, the app, aptly called Gmail Offline beta would essentially allow users to:

• read their mails,
• answer them,
• search for other mails, and 
• archive them

The app, which is powered by HTML5 is based on a similar app that Gmail has for tablets. After installing the app from here, users can go about with accessing the regular online-mode Gmail. But, when without net access, users can open a new Chrome tab and click on the ‘Gmail offline’ icon. Coming out in a similar fashion, but with a later launch date (around next week) is access for Google Calendar and Google Docs when offline. When offline and accessing Google Calendar, users will be able to keep a note of the events and can also RSVP to the events they have confirmed. While on Google Docs and offline, users will be able to view their documents and spreadsheets. However, editing is not an option, just yet. 

At the recently concluded Google I/O 2011, wherein Google had announced their Chromebooks, an important announcement also, was the concept of having web apps being made available for offline use. By the looks of it, at least the concept looks like its taking shape.