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)
Flickr slide shows show up a little grainy, but otherwise smooth and easy to use.
(Credit: CNET Networks)Google pushed out a nice update to the Web version of their Talk application earlier this week. Users can now have more than four conversations at once, embed Flickr slide shows into chat, and my personal favorite, pop out the chat list as its own window.
The Flickr slide show implementation is pretty slick, although I got a little confused trying to paste in the slide show URL, only to get a dead-end. Users need only paste in an album URL, and Google Talk will automatically convert it into a slide show for you. You can shuffle back-and-forth between photos, which resize dynamically depending on the size of your chat window. A word of warning though: pictures will appear a little grainy, so if you want to see the clear, full-size shots, you'll have to view them on Flickr.
Google also added a button to fire up the chat on blogs, or Web pages, which I've added below.
It's always neat to see a product or service improve after criticism. There are still a few nagging things missing, like file transfer, the lack of a warning message to ask if you want to close out a window with active conversations, and the necessity to have Google Talk installed on your PC to use the VoIP call feature. In the meantime, the Web version has become a really full-featured alternative to the Windows client, and the new-media sharing options set it a step ahead other Web-based chat tools like Meebo and KoolIM.
Google has released a new module to use on its personalized homepage that retains the look and feel of its Windows-only installable chat application, Google Talk. What's interesting is that the Web-based version ends up having a few extra features you don't get with the desktop client. For instance, starting a conversation with a contact creates a new tab on the top of the interface. You can jump through these like tabs on a Web browser. It's far better system than the Google Talk application, which uses expandable horizontal bars like Microsoft Outlook.
There's also a neat new feature that lets you view Picasa albums as well asYouTube videos right inside the chat window, simply by inserting the URL. Interestingly enough, for videos it uses a semitransparent control interface that looks like something you'd find on OS X's Dashboard instead of YouTube's somewhat dated metallic player. I'd be interested to see if it makes its way into YouTube (assuming there still is a YouTube) in the near future.
Google has had a Web-based version of their chat client within Gmail since last June. This new module is coded in Flash, whereas the Gmail one is HTML. Fittingly, the new one is flashier and much more responsive. Despite this, I'd still like to see Google let you 'pop' it out to be placed on the desktop, something you can do with Meebo and conversations in Gmail's chat. Windows Vista users can use Amnesty Generator (review) to put it on their sidebar.
The only drawbacks thus far are a four tabs at-a-time limit, reliance on the Windows app for the call feature, and less customizable interface. Expect those things to be fixed in later versions.
Google has done a short video overview, which I've embedded in this post. In the meantime, you can grab the module here.
[Found on The Google Blog]
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