Xobni first look

This morning I started using the much talked-about inbox-sorting gizmo Xobni. One of the big stories online on the blogs last week was the rumour that Xobni was going to be bought by Microsoft. People online had been chatting a lot about it, but it's in private beta, and hard to get hold of an invite (so I sent them my details and waited in patiently). For any PR person, getting your inbox to sort itself is a good thing surely.

I got my invite in the mail this morning and have started fiddling with it. I'm always looking for tips and tricks to get things done more efficiently, so I was gagging to use Xobni to be honest. My first impressions:

• It's great at showing attachments you've been sent by people. I'm forever searching for files in my email, but it shows you everything without you needing to search at all. 10 mins a day saved I reckon.
• I'm disappointed that it doesn't flag to you what it thinks is important from your inbox. I thought that was going to be its killer app. 
• It's good for reminding you what recent mail chains you've exchanged with people from your inbox. Sometimes that helps jog your memory about things you need to do. 

In short, I think Zobni doesn't solve email overload. But it's a nice tool to make sorting a bit quicker. If you'd like an invite, leave a comment or drop me an email (contact details at top left of this blog).

Bonus link. My colleague Dom just sent me this Gmail tips post off of a girl geek blog (don't ask).

Comments

[Dom]

I got that link through StumbleUpon, I'm not an avid reader I promise!

[Brad Meador]

Drew -

I would like to invite you to beta test ClearContext Personal. You write:

"I'm disappointed that it doesn't flag to you what it thinks is important from your inbox. I thought that was going to be its killer app."

Our Outlook add-in prioritizes email via a patent pending algorithm, highlighting your most important messages from your most important features. We also provide tools that provide better context around email. Some details are here:

http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/05/19/clearcontexts-stab-at-making-email-more-manageable/

If you're interested, drop me a line at brad at clearcontext dot com and I'll get you signed up for the beta.