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An ode to iGoogle
Out with the old and in with the new, First it was Reader, now iGoogle, too. While Nexus and Android are bathed in attention, iGoogle's passed over with barely a mention. Confusing of name, though with a personal touch, Ladened with gadgets, it all proved too much. But oft go astray, it's said of best laid plans, Our warmest regards to all four of its fans.
Google retiring iGoogle, Google Mini, others for 'spring cleaning'
To everything (Turn, Turn, Turn). There is a season (Turn, Turn, Turn). Sometimes those seasons can get a bit convoluted, however -- or such is the premise of Google's "Spring cleaning in summer" post, outlining the end of a handful of tech offerings. Because heck, even a company as big as Google has to pick its battles. On the chopping block this time out are the Google Mini enterprise search system, the Google Talk Chatback widget, Google Video, iGoogle and the Symbian search app. Of course, the company won't be leaving people hanging entirely. Google's pushing users toward existing properties like the Meebo bar for Talk Chatback and YouTube for Google Video (which already stopped taking uploads a while back), the latter of which will be fully integrated into the more popular video offering come August. More info on what all this means in the source link below.
Google finally pulls the plug on Buzz amid 'fall sweep'
Before there was Google+ there was Google Buzz, the company's big effort to stake a claim in the social networking space. That, of course, didn't exactly work out for the search giant, and it even managed to spark some lawsuits and attract the eye of the FTC. Now Google has finally swept it under the rug in a bit of fall cleaning, stating in a blog post today that Google Buzz and the Buzz API will be shut down "in a few weeks," and that it will now focus solely on Google+ instead. Also getting the axe is Jaiku, a social networking service that Google acquired in 2007, as well some of the social features on iGoogle, and the company's Code Search service, which will officially be shut down along with its API on January 15th of next year. And, if that wasn't enough, Google also confirmed that today's the day that the Google Labs site will be shut down (its demise was announced this summer).
World of Warcraft iGoogle theme
More and more people (myself included) are starting to use iGoogle as their homepage, because it's incredibly useful. There's all sorts of widgets you can use to customize your homepage, from useful things like the weather and a feed of the top news stories, to goofy things like games and videos. I started using it awhile ago, so I was excited to hear about the addition of World of Warcraft iGoogle theme.The theme is pretty basic as far as its appearance goes: A little art on top, a little art on the bottom, and text colored to match. No absurd bells and whistles or major distractions. The cool thing this theme does, like a few other iGoogle themes, is it changes depending on the time of day in your region. When I first put this theme on my homepage earlier today it had a somewhat orange tinge to it all, the art being what I believe is Durotar. Orcs, all of that sort of thing. As of my writing this, it's only 2 PM Central and it's already switched over to the dark blue of the Lich King. It seems a bit early to be swapping to what appears to be the nighttime version of the theme, and it's somewhat depressing in an odd sort of way.
iPhone gets iGoogle
An optimized version of iGoogle is now available for iPhone users. iGoogle, which can be customized to display RSS feeds, news on a variety of topics, crossword puzzles, weather maps, online tetris, etc. The iPhone optimized version lists all feeds and gadgets in one column (and if the TestiPhone.com site is to be believed, content is scaled to the screen) and you can select individual tabs at the bottom of the page (very similar to the traditional iGoogle set-up). The iGoogle iPhone address is http://www.google.com/ig/i and it is a significant improvment over the US-only Google Mobile page.
iGoogle -- not an April Fool's joke, not a merger
Quite a few early risers emailed us today about an interesting change overnight at Google. Seems that the personalized Google homepage they usually visit had been secretly replaced with... Folgers Crystals? No, iGoogle. Did Google buy Apple? Is there a merger in our future? Wha'appen?Call off the dogs: Google's official blog notes the name change as simply the externalization of what had been company shorthand for the 'personalized home page' feature. Also released today are 22 new localizations of iGoogle and a 'make your own gadget' feature to add interactive blocks to your Google homepage. That's gotta sting for these other items called iGoogle (a Windows app and a Dashboard widget, respectively).Phew. Wheeze. Where's my inhaler?Thanks to everyone who sent this in.
