Google has released a new version of its Gmail mobile app, available for download now on Android, that lets you manage accounts from alternative email providers like Yahoo(YHOO, Tech30), AOL (AOL, Tech30) and Microsoft (MSFT, Tech30) Outlook. You can also use it with your work email address.

The new app has a cleaned-up look that Google(GOOG) calls "material design," which gives the illusion of varying depths for images on the screen. Material design is also a prominent aspect of the forthcoming update to Google's mobile operating system, Android Lollipop.

The new Gmail app is distinct from another recent email innovation from Google, which it's calling Inbox.

Inbox, released last month, makes your email into a kind of to-do list. It lets you do things like set reminders, bundle similar messages together in groups, call out the key information from important messages and hit "snooze" on messages you'd prefer to deal with later. 

A new version of the popular calendar app is now available for users of the new Android Lollipop operating system, Google announced Monday.

The biggest new feature is that the app can now scan your email and automatically create new events based on incoming messages. That means when you do things like buy concert tickets or book a flight, they'll show up right away on your calendar.

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The events will update on your calendar if you receive additional emails about them -- for example, a notification that your flight's been delayed.

The new Calendar app will also make auto-complete suggestions based on previous events, and it automatically includes photos of where the event will take place.

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The app will work on all devices running Android 4.1 or later, with an update coming in the Google Play store within a few weeks. The company says it's still at work on a version for iPhone.

Google (GOOGL, Tech30) also recently released a new version of its Gmail mobile app, which now lets you manage accounts from alternative email providers. Lollipop, meanwhile, is available for a handful of new devices, and will become available more widely in the coming months as hardware makers incorporate it into their designs. 

This begs the question: If your PC is so great, why would you settle on your mouse? Stop using that $20 Microsoft piece of junk and graduate to the big leagues. There's a whole world out there of powerful peripherals that can to take your game from zero to hero.

We've rounded up the five best mice on the planet (and four awesome alternatives), so that you'll never have to research words like "cursor acceleration," "lift distance" or what CPI means...unless, of course, you're into that kind of stuff.

When it comes to gaming mice, there's no one single "standard" rat that everyone uses. There are too many grip styles and aesthetic preferences out there to elect one must-own product.

But, if every PC gamer on the planet had to elect a single mouse based on a democratic vote, the gaming world would elect the SteelSeries Sensei as the all-around winner. It's light, but not so light that it lifts up when you move it. MMO players will scoff, but with just four macro and a single CPI shift button, the Sensei has just enough customization options to feel versatile without covering every square inch in extraneous functions. It's cheap, too. The wired version will only run you $80 on Amazon. If you're looking for a wireless alternative and can afford an extra $70, check out the SteelSeries Sensei Wireless.

The Logitech G502 is the Intel Core i7 of gaming mice. It's powerful...maybe a little too powerful. Case in point: its DPI range that goes from 100 to 12,000.

While this level of sensitivity eres on the side of unwieldy, some first-person shooter fanatics generally like a higher CPI to do 180-degree rotations without moving their mouse the length of the mouse pad. If you're not one of them, you'll be sure to like the additional weight options thanks to 3.6g washers and smart customization software.

Mice are judged on the same set of criteria - feature set, design, performance and last, but far from least, is comfort.

Designing the most ergonomical peripheral can be a trial of patience, so when one arrives on our desks that actually heals our carpal tunnel rather than add to it, we stop to take notice. If you have more hand problems than you have hard drive space, consider picking up the Roccat Kone [+].

Sporting an easy-shift button and up to 6,000 DPI, not only will your squad mates thank you but your hands will too. Don't think the Kone[+] is combat-ready? Check out the Roccat Kone Pure Military, which offers a customizable LED logo and astoundingly low price point of $69 (£59, about AU$74).

Don't freak out - Yes, this is a gaming mouse. Correction: This is a GREAT gaming mouse.

If you lined up every typical gaming mouse on the shelf - everything from Logitech, SteelSeries, Razer and Corsair - they'd look, more or less, exactly the same. Sure, the palm arches would change as would the amount of macro buttons, but I guarantee that unibody design would be consistent throughout every single one of them.

The R.A.T. line of mice from Mad Catz are the black sheep of the bunch. They're not made of a single piece of plastic, but rather several pieces held together by nuts and bolts that allow you to customize everything from the length of the palm rest to height of the arch.The latest mouse from MC is the $79 (about £49, AU$90) featherweight R.A.T. TE - a shining example of what great gaming mice can look like with a bit of "outside of the box" engineering.

Currently, driverless vehicles are only permitted on private roads, but the UK government is to outline plans that will introduce test cars onto the UK's public roads from January 2015.

The Department of Transport will begin reviewing public road laws to accommodate self-driving cars, with Business Secretary Vince Cable announcing a £10 million prize fund to be awarded to a town or city to host the trials.

You're probably already aware of Google's involvement in driverless cars, but a number of other major manufacturers, including Ford, Toyota, BMW, Hyundai and Audi are currently also working on driverless technology.

Volvo's another one beavering away at autonomous vehicles. Nick Connor, Managing Director of Volvo Cars, told us in a statement: "We're currently working with authorities in Sweden on a similar trial in Gothenburg for our DriveMe programme of self-driving cars. Support of national and local government is crucial if we are to demonstrate the real life-changing potential of this technology and encourage adoption from the public.

"Driverless cars aren't pie in the sky or innovation for its own sake. They can make our roads safer, our air cleaner and our cities less congested."

Wireless car charging technology is already up and running on the safety cars of the new Formula E championship - the world's first fully electric racing series - and from 2015 even the race cars will charge wirelessly.

The cars use Qualcomm's Halo charging technology, which sees wireless charging pads bolted to the ground and the base of the car. All the driver has to do is park over the pad for the car to start charging.

Anthony Thompson, VP of Development and Marketing for Electric Vehicles at Qualcomm, spoke during the final pre-season practice days at Donnington Park and revealed that we'll see "the first wireless charging [consumer] cars by 2017."

"These won't be cheap cars," Thompson noted, "the first [consumer] wirelessly charging electric cars will be premium vehicles, and the technology will then filter down to other models in lower price brackets."

And you won't be ditching those cables right away either, "for a time you'll probably have to have a dual-charging system with the wireless technology complemented with a backup cable system," Thompson explained.That's due to the infrastructure limitations of installing wireless charging pads at enough locations to make the system viable without the need for any wired charging.

"One car manufacturer has told me that [wireless car charging] is a 10 year game for them. They predict that about 50% of their vehicles will have an electric power train in the next 10 years and they seriously doubt by then any of those will be plug ins."

The technology works by the pad on the floor generating an electromagnetic field in the space above it - and an average height of around 150mm for the field currently provides the best efficiency.

A maximum height of 250mm has been achieved, which should allow high-riding SUVs (sports utility vehicles) to use the wireless charging pads and the larger field will be key if pads are to be installed under road surfaces, driveways and racetracks in the future.

One of the problems with wireless charging has been its efficiency compared to a wired connection, but the Qualcomm Halo technology is getting close.

"Wireless loses around 10% over the whole system," Thompson said. "As you increase the power some inefficacies don't actually increase, allowing us to get 95% efficiency from our highest power unit."

Qualcomm currently provides its Halo system in 3.3kW, 6.6kW and 20kW units, with the first two providing an overnight charging solution, while the latter can provide a healthy blast of charge in just half an hour.

This brings the technology close to Tesla's Superchargers, which offer the firm's Model S owners the ability to fully charge their vehicle in 75 minutes (or by 80% in 40 minutes) via a wired connection.

Of course an electromagnetic field isn't a particularly safe thing to have just hanging around your drive, but there are several safety measures in place.

The pad won't activate until your vehicle is parked over it and lined up correctly, and there are two safety systems in place when it is on: foreign object detection and living object protection.

Foreign object detection checks for any metallic objects that may be on the pad, and automatically shuts the system off if metal is detected. If it didn't turn off the metal would heat up and could potentially case some serious issues including fire.

Living object protection meanwhile, as you may be able to guess, is constantly on the look out for any humans or animals which may stray close to the electromagnetic field.

That means your pet moggy or the kid from next door retrieving their ball from under your electric vehicle won't be fried by the pad.

The system can also notify you on either problem via your smartphone, so you can go out and remove the metallic object/poke the cat to clear the pad, allowing charging to resume.

The are a number car manufacturers working on wireless charging vehicles, but just who will be first to offer cars with these capabilities is being kept under wraps for now. We saw the technology in action on a BMW i3 and i8 - so it's probably safe to say the German manufacturer is working on something. Roll on 2017.