Tech startup Wickr has a new solution available that allows email users to mask their identities and set their emails to self-destruct after they are opened. The platform uses encryption technology to facilitate emails that are sent and received anonymously and are times to self-destruct. It works because the messages are only stored on a device and not on a server or in the cloud.

Business payment platform Braintree, which was acquired by eBayin 2013, has introduced a new service that allows merchants to use its service simply by providing an email address, URL and a company description. European companies can take advantage of this offer, as well as an offer to get the first $50,000 of transactions free.

PayPal users should beware a scam email going around purporting to come from the online payment platform. The emails warn recipients that their account has been limited. "PayPal recently contacted you after having identified a problem," reads the email. The email includes a link where users are scammed into sharing their personal login data.

Liveclicker, a provider of rich media for email, has revealed that more than 100 companies are using its RealTime Email platform, which launched back in June. Clients include: Adobe, Bank of America, Hewlett-Packard, New Balance, Nordstrom, JetBlue, Salesforce.com, Sony, TaylorMade Golf/Adidas, Toyota and Virgin America, among others.

Online retailer Zulily didn't perform up to shareholder standards during Q3 and the company's chairman Mark Vadon blamed the problem on its email provider. According to Vadon, a large number of the retailer's emails weren't being sent for a period of time, resulting in a drop in transactions. In addition, it hurt customer acquisition, as the brand was unable to start the relationship with new customers.

Students at North Dakota State University are annoyed with the political marketing emails they have received. The students, whose email addresses were likely purchased as part of a list, have complained that their privacy has been violated. That state's attorney general defended the practice, explaining that the student's information is public and therefore does not violate the law.

Google's updated Gmail app for Android is now live. The update brings a few new features, most significantly, the ability to access non-Gmail inboxes from within the app. Aside from this compatibility with Yahoo Mail and Outlook, among others, Gmail's new lapp has a sleeker design and allows for more elegant transitions between the different pages.

TidBITS.com, a blog dedicated to Apple related news, is now able to send its email newsletter to Comcast subscribers after having issues doing so. The publisher was unable to get delivered to Comcast email addresses, but has worked with the provider to address the issue and emails are now being delivered.

The California Court of Appeal has issued a decision in the Rosolowski v. Guthy-Renker LLC, case which clarifies California's anti-spam law. The case examined the role that an email header plays when determining if information has been falsified, misrepresented or forged. The Court contended that a "header line does not misrepresent the identity of the sender merely because it does not identify the official name of the entity which sent the email, or merely because it does not identify an entity whose domain name is traceable via a database such as WHOIS, provided the sender's identity is readily ascertainable from …

Like many publishers, Time uses a daily email newsletter to get readers to visit its site each morning. The daily digest, called "The Brief" is a roundup of what the magazine has published online in the past day. In the past, the organization sent RSS-generated emails for 10 different verticals, but last year combined it all into one daily as part of a site redesign. In the past, open rates averaged about 17 percent but are not at 40 percent.