backtop

Internet Gmail Gets a Graphics Upgrade With New Themes
Jason Mick (Blog) - November 20, 2008 2:25 PM
Print E-mail del.icio.us 39 comment(s) - last by zolo111.. on Nov 22 at 6:12 AM

Google's plethora of new Gmail themes are either a sight for sore eyes, or a sight to make your eyes sore.  (Source: Google)
Google's popular email service has been given a facelift

After its search and advertising core businesses, one of Google's hottest products is its Gmail service.  One of the most widely used free email services on the internet; Google is constantly at work improving the service.  Typically upgrades target greater functionality, such as a recent upgrade that added voice and video chat to the Gmail portfolio.

However, Google has rolled out a new set of changes that are just pure fun.  Google has followed in the likes of Microsoft and Apple in realizing that customers like nice looking UIs and is rolling out 30 new themes for your Gmail inbox that will help it stay "more in tune with your personality".

Google search guru Marissa Mayer brought an early version of such themes to the table with the snazzy iGoogle themes in the summer of 2008.  These artist-developed themes were much lauded for bringing an artsy side to Google's services and look, while keeping the UI very usable.

Currently Google is in the process of rolling out its new themes.  When you receive them, simply navigate to your "Themes" tab and check out the new features such as the Graffiti theme.  All users should receive the themes over the next few days.

Google guru Annie Chen describes the update stating:

There's a shiny theme with chrome styling, another one that turns your inbox into a retro notepad, nature themes that change scenery over time, weather driven themes that can rain on your mailbox, and fun characters to keep you in good company. There's even an old school ascii theme (Terminal) which was the result of a bet between two engineers -- it's not exactly practical, but it's great for testing out your geek cred.

Yahoo currently has about 30 percent email client market share compared to Google's five percent.

Comments     Threshold


This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled
Eh
By B3an on 11/20/2008 3:23:12 PM , Rating: 3
...This is worth writing an article about??

What next.. "Google add new button!" ?




RE: Eh
By HighWing on 11/20/2008 3:29:27 PM , Rating: 5
I believe they already covered that when Google added the delete button to gmail


RE: Eh
By SunAngel on 11/20/2008 3:32:46 PM , Rating: 2
Given that the yout' in the picture is gangbangin', I agree. Poor portrayal of Google = article should have been shelved.


RE: Eh
By Mitch101 on 11/20/2008 4:15:43 PM , Rating: 2
I used to wonder how Howard Stern found enough to talk about for several hours a day. Some days are just slower than others.

Reminder to cancel the iGoogle button article.


RE: Eh
By Goatjoe on 11/20/2008 7:35:26 PM , Rating: 1
quote:
I used to wonder how Howard Stern found enough to talk about for several hours a day. Some days are just slower than others.


Its mostly about T&A - What guy cant talk about that for hours a day? I know I think about it ALL day!!


RE: Eh
By OblivionMage on 11/20/2008 10:12:41 PM , Rating: 1
I think its worth it.

Its pretty fun changing around the themes, and besides, I have a feeling that if the poster was someone other than Mick you wouldn't be flaming. Seriously though, its alot cooler than a new button...


RE: Eh
By AnnihilatorX on 11/21/2008 3:51:12 AM , Rating: 2
To be honest I believe this is the world's first free web-based e-mail client with theme support.


RE: Eh
By Quiescent on 11/21/2008 4:55:54 AM , Rating: 2
It is way worth it to talk about. You know how irritating it is to just have woken up, and you go to gmail to check your email just to be suddenly woken up by a blaring white and light blue screen? I prefer to have a dark theme! That white is terrible for me! I want to gradually wake up, not wake up so suddenly, what if I wanted to go back to bed after I checked my email? Well now I can.

Anyways... lol... I really like the fact that Google made themes for Gmail. My mom was like, yeah, yahoo has themes too. And I told her, not like this one! Yahoo is still blaring white with big ads taking up so many pixels!

However, I have a critical comment to make:

What's the point of making dark themes with Gtalk and reading and composing emails are frickin' white? That's even worse! At least when it was a light theme, I could adjust to it accordingly, but having a white on black kind of theme like that is just asking for that white to look even brighter than before!

Otherwise, I really like having the themes, and I use the planets theme. I like how it's dynamic, and my planets change.


Yahoo Mail > GMail
By Jedi2155 on 11/20/2008 4:14:17 PM , Rating: 2
Unlimited Space + Better Interface is why I still use Yahoo. Gmail is nice, but its interface and design is lacking in comparison IMO. Sure you get free pop access, but that would be the only reason I would consider gmail over yahoo. I have work, school and ISP email accounts for my exchange/imap needs so I don't need a free pop account.




RE: Yahoo Mail > GMail
By Kode on 11/20/2008 10:16:08 PM , Rating: 2
It's not only pop but also IMAP. And a nice addition is that with google apps you can create mailboxes for your own domain (e.g. me@somethingelsethengmail.com. Never saw that at yahoo.


RE: Yahoo Mail > GMail
By AnnihilatorX on 11/21/2008 4:36:35 AM , Rating: 2
I haven't used yahoo in a while so I may be wrong.
I found gmail's interface more responsive than yahoo's
The ability to filter and label mails, customize label color I think is a much better approach than using folders.

There are many so called 'beta' plugins are quite ingenious too. I just added one that detect and alerts you if you have typed "I have attached the following" or similar in e-mail and you forgot to attach before you send that e-mail.


RE: Yahoo Mail > GMail
By Quiescent on 11/21/2008 5:09:23 AM , Rating: 2
Yes. I love gmail for it's functionality. As me having one of the four personality types; the thinker, I like to have details. I didn't know about the filters until I tinkered with gmail, but I loved it even more after that.

My mom gets more spam in her inbox than I do in my gmail inbox. I get maybe, MAYBE once every three months.

I also love having NO BIG ads. Because it isn't like you're going to be able to access a computer in which you can install firefox and the addon to block ads.

I love having an integration of gtalk in there, and I haven't figured it out, but apparently we can also talk to AIM users. I use Gtalk a lot, and me using my EeePC for a majority of my basic uses such as check my email, even having an gtalk in the same screen works for me.

Even though I LOVE details, I love having details in basics. I can access gmail from anything - Lynx browser that is not a UI browser, mobile, anywhere. It is not very task intense.

I still see how much faster gmail is than yahoo. When I was at school, our teacher would send our work to our email addresses. I was the only one who got it first - I was the only one who had gmail, everyone else would get it 3 minutes one after the other after I got it.

In general, gmail has unlimited space. Don't let the 7GB fool you. I have had my gmail account since 2004, and I occasionally delete my emails, if they're useless, but I still have never passed anything over 10% usage. Once I get there, it seems the total space just grows and I just never seem to pass the 10% usage mark. So it is virtually unlimited space.

A logical reason why Google is much better than Yahoo?

Google has more money to spend on infrastructures and research for making their products better. Yahoo is still taking a beating.


RE: Yahoo Mail > GMail
By FITCamaro on 11/21/2008 10:55:24 AM , Rating: 2
I use gmail because of the spam filter.

I couldn't care less about themes.


They're an improvement
By headbox on 11/20/2008 2:41:15 PM , Rating: 2
I like most of the themes, although I wish I could customize my entire interface- from desktop to web- to look like Valve's clean and simple gray.




RE: They're an improvement
By afkrotch on 11/20/08, Rating: 0
RE: They're an improvement
By MatthiasF on 11/20/2008 3:03:42 PM , Rating: 2
Sure you can't already with a CSS hack?


RE: They're an improvement
By afkrotch on 11/20/2008 4:20:42 PM , Rating: 2
Would be a whole lot more work for the user. Isn't that the point of these companies? Produce a product to make my life easier, while in the process they make money.

Course if they limit you to their own themes, they can eventually just start charging money for "special" themes.


RE: They're an improvement
By FITCamaro on 11/21/2008 10:56:08 AM , Rating: 2
Use the classic theme.


Mine is already available
By Screwballl on 11/20/2008 4:26:15 PM , Rating: 2
checked a few minutes ago and changed mine to a space theme... but I wonder WHY they need to know your City or location in order to display this...




RE: Mine is already available
By Etsp on 11/20/2008 8:59:09 PM , Rating: 2
"This theme will change depending on your location."

It's right there, on the dialog box. As far as WHAT changes, that is the real question.


RE: Mine is already available
By Quiescent on 11/21/2008 5:13:42 AM , Rating: 2
The planet.


RE: Mine is already available
By FITCamaro on 11/21/2008 10:56:59 AM , Rating: 2
Bang...err...Save the che