Sent from Steve's iPad: Universal Inbox for iPhone Mail, Google Docs to iPad, Free ePub Support

By Rene Ritchie
last updated

Apple CEO and part time CSR Steve Jobs is on a roll replying to the faithful about the state and status of their beloved gadgets, this time giving word on Google Docs to iPad, and a universal inbox for iPhone Mail and a confirmation on free ePub eBook support for iTunes and iBooks.

First up, TUAW tells us:

Late last night, a TUAW reader sent us an email that was reportedly from Jobs. The reader asked if there was a way he could transfer his Google Docs to his iPad through iWork.com or iDisk. Jobs' reply? "Yes."Reader Julio R. asked Steve if we can expect a universal mailbox on the iPhone. His answer? "Yep."

iPhone 4.0 perhaps?

Also, TiPb Facebook friend Andrea N sent us word from Jobs confirming free ePub books (like those we mentioned yesterday from Project Gutenberg) will indeed work on the iPad.

While the brevity (even terseness) of Jobs' emails entertain at times, it's amazing to see him respond at all, let alone so frequently. (Though we'd love to see Ballmer and Schmidt responding from their BlackBerry Nexus Ones and Windows Phones respectively...

Rene Ritchie
Rene Ritchie
Contributor

Rene Ritchie is one of the most respected Apple analysts in the business, reaching a combined audience of over 40 million readers a month. His YouTube channel, Vector, has over 90 thousand subscribers and 14 million views and his podcasts, including Debug, have been downloaded over 20 million times. He also regularly co-hosts MacBreak Weekly for the TWiT network and co-hosted CES Live! and Talk Mobile. Based in Montreal, Rene is a former director of product marketing, web developer, and graphic designer. He's authored several books and appeared on numerous television and radio segments to discuss Apple and the technology industry. When not working, he likes to cook, grapple, and spend time with his friends and family.

23 Comments
  • I would love to see a universal inbox like the blackberry has. That's my only complaint about the email app. It would make it so much easier to check and use your email.
  • The email client for iPhone is just bearable in it's current state. Adding a universal inbox would help greatly. It wouldn't hurt to add support for distribution lists too.
  • Sorry to be a complete dullard, but when people say universal inbox, you mean one inbox, where your SMS, MMS, Emails, and in Blackberrys case, BBM messages are all grouped in one easy to find place right?
    That would be good. I've got Email and SMS on my dock, ooooh what would I fill that extra space with? The possibilities... endless!
    Anyone watch Archer? because in my mind its so much more entertaining to imagine Jobs 'yeps' delivered the same way Aisha Tyler delivers Lana's 'yups' in that show. :-)
  • The question is when? A universal inbox could be implemented like yesterday. I really can't wait till this iPad drops because then we will probably get some of these things. Hopefully April 3.
  • I really hope they will allow us to turn off the Universal Inbox. I hate that damned thing and configure it on my blackberry so I get text messages in its own menu option. When I was heavy into Blackberry, there were lots of people asking about how to separate their messages. It would annoy me to no end if they combined everything without giving the option not to do so.
  • How do we know if these emails are real or fake. I mean come on people!
  • You all seem to be forgetting that universal inbox would let all your email account go into one box. Instead of multiple tapping in and out of email account, itd all be right there for you. It makes life a lot easier to check multiple emails in multiple email accounts rather than flipping back and forth.
    Im SURE Apple would do it elegantly so that yo know which email account its from and an option to see them in their separate respective accounts too.
  • All they need to do is make the gray "Accounts" bar clickable and change it to "Inbox". Because some of us still want our separate accounts underneath.
  • Seems like "everyone" has Steve Jobs' email address - is this public information (I have a few questions of my own)?
  • Yes, please PLEASE let this be a user-configurable option. I HATE the "unified inbox" that the gmail fans seem to love. Absolutely fookin' HATE it with a seething passion. :/
  • Since we are talking e-mail, I wish they would update MobileMe to allow for alias support, such that you could change to primary 'from' address on the server.
  • For Maniacfive:
    http://www.yyyup.com/
    :)
  • @Mainacfive: Also killer is the sound bit from the episode 'Scorpio' where she walks in and goes "Wah-wah!" We've been running that for weeks!
    @Brian: Thanks for that, I will be sharing that thusly!
    Back on topic, everyone ;-)
  • Looks like 4.0 will have universal inbox. I hope
  • I still haven't heard an answer to my biggest question about the iPad:
    Will you be able to print over wifi? I'd love to be able to print emails, web pages, an especially iWork documents when necessary. This functionality would move it one step closer to being the simple computing appliance that Apple wants it to be.
  • Universal inbox would SUCK!!! r u serious people u want ur iphone more like a stupid BB... I like having all my accounts on imap seeing all my folders especially sent, deleted, and spam... I work with 500 agents that have all different smart phones and they always want to see folders from webmail I tell the bb users should have got an iPhone... Why group all calls, SMS, mms, emails from 5 accounts, voice mails how the hell would u find anything...
  • Like many people I used to prefer having my SMS & Email boxes separate (on my old BB Bold). Would still like the option to combine them on my iPhone should I want to.
    What I would like on the iPhone is an inbox that combines email from several different accounts (MobileMe, Yahoo, etc) into one inbox like the mail app on the mac does. I'm running with 3 active email accounts and keep missing emails in the accounts that are not open......iPhone always seems to take you back to the most recently opened email account as you dive back into mail from another app.
  • hey I like the post. Found this from doing a google search. Ive been looking for this sort of thing for a while. This info will come in handy to me. I will check back soon to search the rest of your blog. thanks
  • Thanks for sharing this post.Good to know some new insight about ipad.
  • @maniacfive yyyuPah!!! I hope it is a catchall to i.e. sms, email, mms, IM chats... At least they should make it a customizable option...
  • I just got my iPhone v4 and the estimates about the horrible reception when you hold the iphone with your left hand are correct. Will Apple make this right?
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