Google Tasks goes official, Calendar Labs rolled out

Big news for fans of Google Apps today – Google Tasks has become an official part of Gmail and Google Calendar has gained its own experimental Labs features.

Google Tasks has been one of the most popular features to emerge from Gmail Labs. Launched in December, Tasks is a handy way to keep track of your ‘to-do’ list. Until now you’ve had to visit the Labs page in order to switch the feature on; today Google has made it an official part of the Gmail featureset.

The rollout of the feature appears to be staggered as it’s not showing up here yet. If Google has switched it on for you, you’ll find it between Contacts and Chat in the left-hand column. Otherwise, you can still switch it on via the green ‘Labs’ icon at the top of the screen or access it via Google Calendar.

Google is promising to continue improving Tasks despite moving it out of Labs. With fierce competition from services like Remember The Milk, there’s no clear winner in the ‘To-do’ market yet.

Meanwhile, Google Calendar is getting its own Labs features. Available for you to try from today are six enhancements. These range from useful additions (the ability to jump to any date in your calendar, a countdown to your next meeting, the ability to attach Google Docs to your calendar events and the ability to see when your friends are in meetings) to curios like the ability to add a background image or World Clock to your Calendar.

The Labs feature can be switched on via Calendar’s settings page. Again, the rollout of Calendar Labs appears to be staggered (no sign of it here) but hopefully we’ll all be enjoying it soon.