It was just a few days ago that Facebook launched new status update APIs. Today, Xoopit is launching an update to its Xoopit for Gmail Firefox add-on that lets users set their status update and view friends’ status updates from within Gmail through Facebook Connect.

Here’s how it works:

1. First, you need to install the Xoopit for Gmail Firefox add-on.

2. Then, you’ll need to authenticate through Facebook Connect by clicking the Facebook “F” icon in the upper right corner of Gmail.

3. You can then update your Facebook status from directly within Gmail.

4. And finally, your Gmail Messages with people who are also on Facebook now contains their Facebook status updates and profile photos just to the right of your Gmail messages in the light blue Xoopit box.

Xoopit for Gmail is one of the first apps that we’ve seen to take advantage of the new Facebook status APIs, and we think it works really well. Xoopit COO Jonathan Katzman says the new tool “gives Gmail users a much more complete and perhaps a little more fun view of their relationships.”

Email is a very logical context for the extension of Facebook status updates. It’d be great if Xoopit’s plugin also offered Facebook Chat directly within email – but I expect we’ll be seeing more tools along these lines soon!