PowerInbox, the email platform that’s been on a tear lately in terms of its releases, is rolling out yet another update today bringing a number of new features, including the addition of the most requested in-email app, LinkedIn. The platform already supports email “apps” like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram and Groupon, essentially making emails from those companies more interactive – you can like, reply, comment, tweet, circle and more directly from your email.
With the new LinkedIn app, you can now read more about the person requesting the invite, browse their network, and accept the invite right from your inbox. (Sorry LinkedIn inbox, but I won’t be visiting you as often.)
The new feature lets you see all the shared connections between you and the person requesting the invite and see the other people you may know, to better inform your decision. Plus, you can send LinkedIn invites and follow companies from the new app, too.
But while the LinkedIn app is probably the most consumer-friendly feature of today’s release, PowerInbox has more coming out today, some of which will have more appeal to email marketers.
With the new “PowerEmbeds” feature, for example, you can generate HTML that works in templates from MailChimp, ConstantContact or any ESP. For now, embeds for YouTube, Vimeo and Facebook Comments are offered.
Meanwhile two “PowerApps” (Compose PowerApps and Sidebar PowerApps) are making their debut today as well. The former allows consumers to send interactive content in their email (YouTube and Vimeo). This is obviously less of a concern for Gmail web users, as Google already knows how to extract YouTube links in an email and feature the video beneath the message. But PowerInbox is not a Gmail-only service – it works on Hotmail, Yahoo, Outlook, and others, including even smaller services like UnifiedInbox, SMAK and Fuser.
The SideBar PowerApps put “apps” like your Facebook wall or Twitter feed right next to your main inbox, as an add-on widget. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Unifyo and Followup are currently supported.
The new features are live now. To try them out, head here.