Online travel site TripAdvisor has introduced a new tool called Review Express that makes it easier for travel businesses to send bulk emails to customers asking them to write reviews which will be published on TripAdvisor. The tool allows senders to create customizable emails, send requests within a 24 hour period of the guest's stay and send to up to 1,000 email addresses at a time.

Dextr is a new Android app that lets users filter the messages in their inbox down to emails from their favorite senders. The tool works like Priority Inbox for Gmail, but it's a standalone app, that lets users choose which messages they see (and which they don't see) when they glance at their email.

Apple is planning to redesign its email and calendar apps as part of its iOS 7 update, according to reports. The iOS 7 Mail and Calendar apps will have a dramatic redesign that explores the way users interact with their devices.

Mail Pilot is a new iOS app that's lets consumers turn their email inboxes into a to-do list. The tool lets users defer email to a later date and make it disappear and then reappear when it is needed. The app competes with Dropbox's email app Mailbox, though as CBS News points out, there are some differences between the two.

SkinCareRx, an e-commerce company that sells skin care products, wanted to improve its email program. The company tapped email marketing services company Listrak to help clean up its email list, create a welcome series, and create an abandoned shopping cart email program. The shopping cart abandonment effort alone resulted in an 18 percent conversion rate during a five month period.

Seventy to seventy-five percent of email subscribers are inactive, according to research from Lyris. With this in mind, Ernan Roman Direct Marketing president Ernan Roman recommends that marketers run re-engagement campaigns to reengage inactive subscribers.

Microsoft has integrated Skype with its Outlook.com email service, bringing the ability to make video calls from within a user's email inbox. This new feature is only available in the UK right now, but is expected in the US and Germany in the coming months. There is a preview version that users can test. Users must install a browser plugin for Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Chrome to use the test service.

Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz has raised $38.5 million for Asana, a new task-management startup that aims to replace all office email. The tool works by giving users access to a joint inbox through through which they can create and manage tasks. A user can create a task and invite others on the list and then assign duties to everyone involved. The creator can post updates and communicate about the project through a shared folder, which can be made accessible to select employees.

Siri investor Shawn Carolan has launched a new Web-based/iOS app called Handle, that is designed to help users organize their email inboxes. The app lets user manage emails by flagging, deleting, archiving and creating projects out of them. It is integrated with tasks and calendar appointments. Handle competes directly with Mailbox, the popular email app that was snapped up by Dropbox last month.

Internet security experts are reporting that email hacks are on the rise. Andrew Storms, director of I.T. and security for security companyTripwire, told KTVU.com that small and medium businesses, large enterprises, and consumers are at risk to have their email accounts hacked into. "Everybody is going to fall victim at some point in their life," he said.