Last week Google updated its Gmail platform and is now automatically loading images that are delivered to user's inboxes. The move is great for marketers whose images will now automatically be turned on when consumers open their marketing messages and could potentially give marketers more information about engagement. However, Wired has published an article explaining how to disable this automatic feature, suggesting that by disabling this autoload feature that a user's inbox will load faster.

Instagram has revealed a new messaging service that lets its 150 million members send private communications including photos and videos to friends. The tool is called Instagram Direct. The company launched the tool at a press conference in New York last week, right around the same time that Twitter revealed a private messages tool for sharing photos.

All Western Mortgage has stopped using email and has adopted a platform called Unison for communication within the organization. The move has helped the company increase production and save time. Unison is designed to improve communication and works as a kind of internal private social network for companies, claiming to reduce intra-office email by 80 percent. The tool competes directly with Microsoft's Yammer, a tool that actually just added email compatibility.

Letters to Santa are going digital. A Michigan newspaper has published not only its 'Letters to Santa' holiday mailing address, but the publisher is inviting kids to email their letters to email to the email address northpole906@gmail.com. The letters will be published in as the holiday gets closer.

Roger L. Legrand, the former communications chief for former councilwoman-turned Texas Senate candidate Elisa Chan, is being investigated for allegations that he sold a government owned email database. Legrand denies the claims, but The San Antonio Express-News claims their sources suggest that the claims are true. The newspaper has asked permission for government documents, but the city has asked that this request be denied as they're part of an ongoing criminal investigation.

Fordham University sent out an email to 2,500 university applicants telling them that they qualified for financial aid even though those students had not yet been accepted to the university. The school recognized the mistake and sent a follow up message pointing out the mistake hours after the initial send. The correct admissions email was sent the next day. Five hundred of the applicants were not accepted to the university, and the other 2,000 were deferred and have to wait until April to find out if they get in. The university officials blamed the mistake on a third-party contractor.

Google has plans to update Gmail and allow images to automatically display. In the past, Gmail users would have to enable an image to load. "You'll soon see all images displayed in your messages automatically across desktop, iOS and Android," explained John Rae-Grant, product manager at Gmail in on the company blog. The company said that this approach is no longer required for security. The rollout will happen on desktops first and then will show up in mobile apps early next year.

The White House has received a petition with more than 100,000 signatures on it, asking for increased privacy in emails and other online communications. The petition is asking the government to update the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) so that it would require police to obtain a warrant before accessing a citizen's email information. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) is behind a bill that would require a warrant for the police to access someone's email. The Judiciary Committee approved the bill back in April, but the Senate has yet to vote on it.

ToutApp, a startup that is focused on optimizing email with leads from within Salesforce, has received $3.35 million in seed money from Sigma West Ventures. The company will use the money for sales and marketing. The company will be expanding its sales force and hiring new marketing employees with the goal to expand their user base.

Microsoft has updated Yammer to make it more email friendly. The update allows Yammer to communicate with their coworkers that don't use Yammer to share their Yammer conversations through email. To do so, a user can enter an email address into the CC bar and send the conversation on. The update supports replies as well. So a non-Yammer user can respond via email and the message will show up in the Yammer discussion.