Google Releases Updated iGoogle, Now With Canvas View

Google on Thursday released the updated and redesigned version of iGoogle, Google's personalized homepage.

"We've rolled out an updated design for iGoogle to all U.S. users, which includes full canvas views for gadget and support for full feed reading," said iGoogle engineer Matt Gundersen in a statement on the official Google blog.

The old tabs at the top of iGoogle have been replaced with a lefthand navigation bar. Users can expand several of the more popular iGoogle widgets, called gadgets, into canvas -- full page -- views, without leaving their iGoogle homepages.

News gadgets are available for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post.

The Gmail gadget allows users to check their e-mail without leaving iGoogle, and the Google Finance gadget lets users keep a close watch on their portfolios.

Game and entertainment gadgets are available for playing Sudoku, watching YouTube, reading online comics, checking out the latest movie trailers and keeping up with your favorite TV shows.

Thursday's release is only for U.S. users, but iGoogle will be available shortly in other countries, according to Gundersen.

"We're very excited about these changes because it makes iGoogle a more useful homepage and a better platform for developers. And this is just the beginning: Expect to see more canvas gadgets created by developers and more new features on iGoogle soon," said Gundersen.