Webware

The economy is in a major state of flux right now. Although unemployment is still on the rise, the stock market is on the rise too as of late.

If you're one of those people trying to make sense of the markets, you might be happy to know that instead of jumping from site to site to get all your financial information, you can simply add some gadgets to your iGoogle home page. From currencies to commodities, iGoogle gadgets will satisfy any desire.

10 finance gadgets

Commodities Market If you're looking to find a way to easily track the price of oil and natural gas, the Commodities Market gadget is for you. The gadget displays the major commodity indexes, including crude oil, natural gas, and even coffee. You'll see the price fluctuate as market factors change throughout the day. It's a great way to stay up on the commodity market.

Stay up-to-date on commodities with Commodities Market.

(Credit: Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)

Company Overview After you install Company Overview, you can input any company's ticker symbol and see an overview of its operation. You can also get company news, see key financial ratios, check out its financial performance, and even see who the company's key managers are. If you want to listen in on quarterly earnings calls, you can find all the information you need to join those calls in this gadget. Check it out.

Company Overview displays a lot of great information.

(Credit: Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)

Google has been once again revamped its iGoogle start page for easier use on iPhone and Android handsets. It lets you see and interact with your gadgets in a similar fashion to the desktop version, by making use of tabs and displaying content that runs in iFrames. The previous version, which was mysteriously discontinued by Google in late January, simply put everything into one, large vertical stream, and required you to go back and forth to get at different sets of widgets.

One nice feature that was not found in the previous version, is the option to set certain widgets to automatically open and load when you first start iGoogle. Normally you have to open these up for it to pull down the data. Next to this option there are also controls to move them up and down the page which is specific to the mobile site, and will not rearrange the order of your widgets on the desktop.

As far as compatibility goes, the newer iteration of the service handles Ajax better, meaning you can get updates from specific widgets without refreshing the entire page. It's also borrowed a few tricks from the mobile version of the Google News site, allowing you to view and expand news story previews without leaving the page.

There's still the issue of Adobe Flash compatibility though. Widgets that are written in Flash still won't work unless it's supported in your browser, and for Android and iPhone that means you're currently out of luck. That's kind of a bummer considering how many cool Flash widgets there are for iGoogle--especially the games.

When Flash eventually makes its way to both platforms (which will be sooner for Android users), iGoogle has the potential to mirror some of the usefulness found on its desktop counterpart. Even with this update, however, it remains a lightweight, and useful alternative to installing widget-like apps on your phone.

The new iGoogle for iPhone and Android phones has been streamlined from the old one and now supports widgets that take advantage of Ajax, and iFrames. (Click to embiggen.)

(Credit: CNET)

Google's Marissa Mayer announcing new video game themes for iGoogle.

It's perhaps a sign of how little major game industry news was made at the 2009 Game Developer's Conference that Google's simple announcement of a new series of video game themes for its iGoogle personalized home page was one of the best-attended press functions of the show.

In the midst of a dark, noise-filled warehouse space converted into a temporary gaming hub, complete with Guitar Hero and Street Fighter IV setups, we caught up with Google's ubiquitous vice president of search products and user experience, Marissa Mayer, to talk a little about the company's very tentative initial inroads into gaming.

Why is Google interested in gaming right now, and why iGoogle themes?
The iGoogle engineers--all of them--are gamers. Video games are not only something that reflects your interest, but they're really emotionally connected to the user. Everyone's got that experience of finding a new trick or winning a game. It's also something that provides an element of whimsy that our team wanted to put in.

Gaming companies are very particular about how their IP is used. How hard was it to get nine different companies on board ready to launch at the same time?
I have to say, it was relatively easy. For the publishers of the games, they were very excited to connect with their fan base in a new way. iGoogle is a dashboard for people's day, and tens of millions of users log on each day.

I think it's really interesting to think about how a video game can participate in people's home page experience, when you open that browser the first thing in the morning.

A lot of people already have game modules in their iGoogle pages. This seems like a very logical leaping-off point toward something like that for the games represented here. Are these themes the first step toward integrating that kind of in-browser game content?
Absolutely. We think that games are social, and as iGoogle becomes more and more social--we launched chat last week--we'll know who your connections are, and that will allow you to interact with all your friends and start playing games on your iGoogle page. And they won't be just single-player games, but (also) multiplayer games.

So how long until we see Street Fighter from Capcom, for example, as an iGoogle gadget?
We can't speculate as to when, but I will say that there's an amazing opportunity there.

Photos: iGoogle gets its game on

Google's new gaming themes are available starting March 25. The initial release includes themes based on franchises from the following nine publishers:

Activision: Call of Duty: World at War, Guitar Hero
Blizzard Entertainment: World of Warcraft
Capcom: Mega Man, Street Fighter IV
Eidos: Tomb Raider: Underworld
Electronic Arts: Burnout Paradise: Ultimate Box, Dragon Age Origins, FIFA 09, Mass Effect 2, Scrabble, Spore, The Godfather II, The Lord of the Rings: Conquest, The Sims 3
Namco Bandai Games: Galaga
Nintendo: Animal Crossing, Donkey Kong, Mario, Wii Sports, Zelda
Square Enix: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time
Wizards of the Coast: Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering

SAN FRANCISCO--Google unveiled on Wednesday the latest addition to its iGoogle start page service: a collection of themes designed by video game publishers.

The search giant has partnered with nine publishers to come up about two dozen themes from recent games such as Electronic Arts' Spore to arcade classics such as Galaga.

Like other themes produced through the iGoogle themes API, each one will change throughout the day, including with Easter eggs that some developers tucked inside their designs. Unlike gaming designs created by individuals, these can be used by anyone without stepping on copyright and intellectual property.

Marissa Mayer, Google's vice president of search products and user experience, announced the new set of themes at an event as part of this week's Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. Mayer then hosted a panel of gaming personalities, including Capcom producer Yoshinori Ono, and Charles Huang, co-founder of RedOctane, maker of Guitar Hero.

A new iGoogle theme featuring Nintendo's Link from the Zelda series.

(Credit: Google/Nintendo)

Among the topics discussed was how the Web had changed gaming development. The general answer was that game developers and publishers alike are getting much more feedback during the development process, in part from increasingly simpler ways to aggregate information from blogs and message boards, as well as public beta programs.

Huang also noted that user-generated content created inside of games has been on a sharp rise, as witnessed by the number of user-designed tracks that have been created and downloaded in the latest Guitar Hero title--the figure now tops 10 million.

Notably missing from the announcement was any mention of iGoogle as a gaming platform itself. Mayer very quickly mentioned that there would be new things for OpenSocial developers, but that they were not being announced at this time. However, a handful of casual social-gaming services were announced as coming to iGoogle, including Chess.com, Zynga and PlayFish.

Click below to see some shots from the event, including an arcade-style Google swag booth.

Photos: iGoogle gets its game on

If you're fed up with having to choose from other people's iGoogle themes, you'll soon be able to create your own.

A new tool, which should be available to all iGoogle users in the next few hours, lets you upload photos from your desktop into an editor that lets you crop them down to fit inside iGoogle's header space. There's also a color picker to change each individual color of your iGoogle page.

All in all it looks quite similar to Blogger's theme editor. The added benefit in this case is that you're able to publish and share your theme when you're done, and it will go out into Google's public directory for others to use on their own iGoogle pages.

A similar tool is expected to hit Gmail at some point this year, but may make its way into Google's RSS reader product first considering it and iGoogle now share many design similarities.

Previously, users were only able to create iGoogle themes using Google's API and submitting their work to the design gallery. This tool also replaces third-party online tools such as igThemer, which let non-tech savvy folks create iGoogle-compliant themes from inside the browser.

Update 9:11 a.m. PST: The tool is still not up, and all mentions of it have been removed from the iGoogle site. I've contacted Google for comment and will update with any further information.

Uploaded shots go up into the top header. Meanwhile, you can pick out what colors you want for the header text and for the tops of the theme widgets.

(Credit: Google)

(Credit: AOL)

It's been a busy two days for AOL Mail. On Wednesday, AOL launched a beefier version of the AOL Mail gadget for iGoogle. On Thursday, AOL won a few more fans with the introduction of its beta feature AOL Sync.

AOL Mail for iGoogle improves upon the previous gadget by replacing the preview-only capability with functionality that lets you compose, reply, and fully manage your in-box from the iGoogle page.

AOL Sync beta, launched today, targets mobile and desktop users with the ability to sync their AOL address book and calendar in real time to Microsoft Outlook, the iPhone, BlackBerry, phones running Windows Mobile, and phones made by Nokia, Motorola, and Samsung.

You'll get started on AOL's Sync site, where you'll sign in to get access to the mobile or Outlook plug-in. On that end, AOL has turned to Funambol, which brings open-source push synchronization to companies like AOL.

It's a little disappointing that AOL Sync beta won't yet sync e-mail, but we're always big fans of two-way syncing and if this beta catches on, message-syncing would be the next logical step.

On Thursday, I described the Pageflakes and Netvibes home page services, which I turned to after iGoogle suddenty grew a left pane and put me a click further away from my full-function Gmail in-box, among other questionable enhancements.

I also tried two other iGoogle alternatives: the beta version of the Symbaloo service and Yahoo's Delicious bookmark-sharing site and toolbar. I was hoping to find a way to view my Gmail in-box, Google Calendar, Google Reader, and Google Docs on my home page.

In the end, only iGoogle let me put all four of the elements on my start page. Still, both Symbaloo and Delicious offer lots of ways to get to the Web information you need.

Pack your home page with shortcuts and RSS feeds
Symbaloo looks like a cross between a Twister mat and '60s-vintage pop art. Your home page consists of a grid 10 squares wide and 6 squares tall. The middle 8 squares display the contents of news and weather feeds, your Gmail in-box, and other Web information sources.

Plot your favorite RSS feeds and shortcuts on the grid of the beta Symbaloo service.

(Credit: Symbaloo)

Each square of the grid represents an RSS feed or shortcut to a favorite site. You can add entries from the selection offered by Symbaloo or enter the URLs of any RSS feed. You also get a choice of Internet radio stations, specialty search boxes, and other Web applets, though the current selection of widgets is slim. But that's to be expected with a beta test version such as Symbaloo.

Even with the unique view of your favorite Web resources, Symbaloo lets you see the contents of only one widget or feed at a time. I was able to see my Gmail in-box in the Symbaloo window, but the Google Reader and Google Calendar squares are merely shortcuts that open each service in a separate window.

Dig deeper into your bookmarks with Delicious
This service previously used the interesting URL del.icio.us, which I always found difficult to remember (guess I should have bookmarked it). After you sign up at the Delicious site, you can import your existing bookmarks, browse other people's bookmarks, join a bookmark-based social network, or view your bookmarks by their tags.

The Delicious toolbar puts your bookmarks in a row along the top of your browser window. Likewise, the Delicious sidebar opens on the left side to show your bookmark tags in the top window and your bookmarks in the bottom window. You could use your Delicious bookmark page as your home page, but there's nothing dynamic about the list, so all your information remains a click away.

Get several different views of your browser's bookmark via the Delicious social-bookmarking service.

(Credit: Delicious)

Only iGoogle provides a snapshot of your Google services
It's easy to see why Pageflakes, Netvibes, and Delicious have garnered such loyal followings. I'm betting that the new Symbaloo service becomes the home page of choice for many people as well, once its lineup of widgets improves. But I've grown accustomed to opening my browser to a view that includes my Gmail in-box, Google Calendar, Google Reader feeds, and Google Docs file list, all without an additional click (once I've signed in).

In a comment to yesterday's Worker's Edge post, "hdkruger" pointed to a Greasemonkey script that he says removes the left pane that has been added to iGoogle. Perhaps I'll give that script a try, or maybe I'll get used to the list of widgets and tabs that right now just seems to take up valuable screen real estate. But what I'm really hoping for is that Google gives me the option of reverting to the old-style iGoogle page.

Last week, my iGoogle home page suddenly got a new look via the addition of a pane on the left side containing shortcuts to my widgets. I didn't ask for the new arrangement, and I can't find a way to make the new left pane disappear.

What's worse, when I now click my Gmail in-box, I get an abbreviated version of the application, minus a search box and other useful features. To see the whole enchilada, I have to click the Launch Full Gmail link in the top-right corner of the window. Huh?

The upshot is that the change motivated me to check out my home page alternatives. For the last couple of years, I have used Netvibes as the home page on one of my browsers and iGoogle on the rest. (I rotate between five or six different browsers, just so I don't fall into a rut.) I also took a look at Pageflakes, Symbaloo, and the Delicious social-bookmarking site.

While each of the services offers something unique to Web denizens, I ultimately returned to iGoogle--even with the funky left pane and dumbed-down Gmail module. The difference makers were the ability to see my Google Calendar, (crippled) Gmail in-box, Google Reader feeds, and Google Docs files all in the same window. iGoogle was the only service that manages this trick.

Here's a quick look at the Pageflakes and Netvibes custom-home page services. Tomorrow, I'll cover the beta test version of the new Symbaloo service, Delicious, and the new-look iGoogle.

Pageflakes gets you custom info in a flash
If you don't want to mess around with registration, Pageflakes will serve up information to order in just a few seconds. Just click the big link at the top of the page to open a menu listing about a dozen categories, including news, sports, tech, movies, and gossip.

Choose the categories of information you want to see on your Pageflakes page.

(Credit: Pageflakes)

You can add "flakes" of all descriptions to your home page, or create several themed pages that you can jump between by clicking their tabs. If you register with the site, you're prompted to allow the service to search your Web mail contacts to connect with friends and colleagues who also have Pageflakes accounts. I passed on this social aspect of the site.

While I was able to place widgets showing my Gmail in-box and Google Calendar, I struck out trying to do so for Google Docs and Google Reader. Still, you'll find "flakes" of every description at this service. It may not sound like it, but that's a good thing.

Netvibes has the interface edge
In terms of content and features, there really isn't much of a difference between Pageflakes and Netvibes. Two things give Netvibes the edge: a better-looking interface and the lack of "sponsored" widgets.

Netvibes' themes give your custom home page a polished look.

(Credit: Netvibes)

You can customize the look and layout of both services, but the Netvibes themes appealed to me more than those available for Pageflakes. (Neither service offers the number and quality of interface options you get with iGoogle, however.) And while you can move Pageflake's ad widget to the bottom of your customized window, you can't delete it entirely.

Tomorrow: a look at Symbaloo, Delicious, and iGoogle.

Even with careful testing and an ambition to improve features, it's hard to make changes at a big Web site.

Recent revamps at Yahoo and Google, for example, have riled some of their users. Google updated its iGoogle customized home page service, adding a left-hand navigation bar and a larger "canvas view" for applications, and Yahoo added a new centralized profile page that mimics some Facebook features and revamped the Flickr page to shed more light on the photo-sharing site's social activity. Those changes triggered complaints that already had begun pouring in after Yahoo began testing a new home page.

Yahoo headquarters in Sunnyvale, Calif.

(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET News.com)

"How can I be rid of this ugly piece of crap?" asked one forum user about the iGoogle overhaul. "Google has decided to unilaterally change the layout of my page. If I can't find a hack or a Greasemonkey script to undo this, good-bye Google, hello Yahoo!"

The comment reveals not only that changes are unwelcome, but that a feeling of powerlessness amplifies the problem. People who've invested a lot of time into their Web presence clearly feel some ownership not only of their data, but of the platform on which it's presented.

But here's the rub: the Web is changing, and companies that provide services must change, too. It can be difficult for people who must grapple with that change, but Internet companies that don't adapt can wither and die. On the Web, stasis isn't bliss.

And look at some of the pains that can result when companies don't change fast enough. Arguably the social-networking innovation that took place at MySpace and Facebook a few years ago should have happened at sites that already had a giant socially connected membership.

Instead, because Yahoo didn't change fast enough, people have to worry about maintaining multiple incompatible profiles and contact networks. Even if one particular service doesn't change, the Internet as a whole does, and it's no good being left in a stagnant backwater.

Gripefest
Much of the iGoogle vitriol is chronicled at the 10 Zen Monkeys site--including a link to the Greasemonkey script that did in fact appear and comments from people who posted Google employee e-mail addresses and phone numbers.

Thousands of comments have poured in on Flickr forums, too. Yahoo wanted Flickr to show its members community features such as comments and responses discussing photos, but one common complaint for people who already know about that feature is new difficulties distinguishing their own comments from others'.

Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif.

(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET News.com)

And Yahoo took a contrite tone in explaining some of its profile changes, such as the fact that older profile information isn't imported. "We want to apologize straight away for not being more proactive in communicating in advance that we were making changes to our profiles...We also know lots of you worked hard on your old profiles and want your data. If you feel like you're missing data, we've saved a copy of your old profile (and alias) and our Customer Care team can retrieve this information. You won't, however, be able to revert back to your old profile format, but you will be able to get any data that you think is missing," Yahoo Community Manager Melissa Daniels said in a blog post.

In its comment to me about this matter, Yahoo tried to be delicate, but its message boils down to this: The Web is evolving, and Yahoo is evolving along with it in an attempt to appeal to more customers. You'll be consulted, but you'd better get used to it.

Here's the polite version: "As the Web matures, people's needs are evolving and Yahoo is constantly striving to meet the changing needs of consumers. Our recent changes are intended to help users more easily find out what's happening with the people who matter most to them. We recognize that change can be difficult, and not every person will like every change, but we truly value all feedback and strive to keep consumers at the heart of our product development process. Evolving and changing our products helps Yahoo to continuously deliver the best online user experience."

Don't freeze up
But here's the way I see it: Should these companies freeze Web site designs? Of course not. I don't want Yahoo.com circa 2003 back, much less the 1998 version.

I know that's an oversimplification, but the trouble is that it's not financially feasible for companies to maintain multiple incarnations of their sites, so contented people are frog-marched to a new design. Unusual cases where old designs are preserved, as with Yahoo Mail and Hotmail, are the exceptions that prove the rule.

New doesn't necessarily mean better, of course, and certainly fads or ill-advised management whims can trigger counterproductive redesigns. But user testing, careful measurement, and warnings to users ought to be able to defuse some of the troubles, and responding to feedback can help.

Of course some people will never like the new look. Reading inflamed comments about Web site redesigns, I'm reminded of a Los Alamos National Laboratory manager I once spoke with who'd been involved in various attempts to reorganize the lab's thousands of employees: he saw the organization as similar to a living organism, and any change triggered a rejection response like that from the antibodies in a human being's immune system.

What annoys me is the number of people who see other complaints and assume everyone agrees with them. Sure, there are more than 3,700 comments about the Flickr home page change, many of them critical, but rarely do people take time to remark when something new is better.

Worse are those who assume just because they weren't consulted, nobody was. In contrast, Google said, its iGoogle design incorporated changes from testers' comments.

"We're constantly thinking about how to improve our products for our users. Then, we take our ideas, prototype them, and put them through a vigorous set of usability tests and experiments to make sure we are doing the right thing for users. The iGoogle features we launched yesterday went through this exact process, and we've made changes along the way based on feedback from users and developers," Jessica Ewing, iGoogle group product manager, said in a statement.

One such change was a narrower left-hand navigation pane on iGoogle. Maybe that accommodation wasn't enough for those who don't want it at all, but it's naive to assume Google steamrolled over objections during its months-long switch to the new design.

I'm glad people feel empowered enough to squeal when they don't like change--it beats complacency and passivity by a mile, and it can help companies do what's best. Yes, change is a pain, but in balance it's unavoidable when it comes to something as fast-growing, social, and adaptable as the Internet.