Gmail Rolls Out Its New, Minimal Look

Gmail just rolled out, via preview themes, their new, minimal look. Keeping in line with the update to Google Calendar, the new interface brings a lighter and cleaner look to your Gmail inbox. It's not the default just yet, so to turn it on:

1. Go to your Themes tab in Gmail
2.  Click one of the Preview theme links (bottom right of the themes for me); one is called Preview, the other Preview (Dense)
3.  That's all

Gmail's the preferred email client of most of blogs's readership, so a redesign of this magnitude is pretty significant. Give it a try on your account and let's hear how you like it in the comments.



A preview of Gmail's new look | Official Gmail Blog

Best Email Client: Gmail

Last week we asked you to share your favorite email client, then we rounded up the results for a vote. Now we're back to announce the winners and how the race shook out.

Google Adds 5 New Dynamic Templates to Blogspot Blogs Viewers

If you’re blogging through the free blogspot platfrom by Google, then you might have experienced new changes over the past weeks. They have redesigned the blogspot dashboard, also now Google has added 5 new dynamic templates for blogspot blogs. Google says ” people can previewing five new templates in Blogger and they will soon be available in a wider launch. Also it adds, the new template views use the latest web technology, including AJAX, HTML5, and CSS3. The new template views include Mosaic, Flipcard, sidebar, and Timeslide.

What are the benefits of these 5 dynamic templates ?

Tamil FM, Hindi FM, Online FM Radio Chrome Extension

BBest Bollywood FM online can be enjoyed with this excellent chrome extension. It supports bollywood and kollywood FM radio’s online. You can enjoy those bollywood mp3 songs for free with Hindi, Tamil (regional languages in India) FM chrome extensions.

Hindi FM Radio and Tamil FM Radios are two excellent extensions for Google chrome which I have stumbled recently. While I was searching for an best online internet radio websites, I accidentally found this extension for my favorite browser Google Chrome. It plays bollywood music and Tamil musics flawlessly for free.


Hindi FM and Tamil FM Online Radio extension plays the online radio in background. Background playing allows you listening radio program while continuing other work. It supports Non Stop Music with 67 Hindi FM, Tamil FM/Radio Stations and it is 100% free.


Just install the extensions, select your favorite FM radio and play the music. This extension uses Windows media player plugin to play the songs. Mostly, your system will be pre-loaded with Windows media player plugin ( If you’re using Windows 7, then don’t need to install any plugin ) if you don’t have, you can install it from here.


Download Hindi FM | Tamil FM Online Radio [ Chrome Extension ]

Play YouTube Videos in HD format by Default

As you all know, YouTube supports High Definition videos. Normally when you play a video, it doesn’t automatically play in High definition quality. If you want to play all the videos in high definition quality or what ever may be the available quality, then you can use this extension named ‘ Auto HD for YouTube video Auto HD for YouTube extension for Chrome allows you to play all the YouTube videos in High definition quality, or with any available quality you like. Once you’ve installed the extension, it takes you to the options page where you can set the quality level to 720p, 1080p or your preferred quality.

Also it gives you the option to widening of the player when set in high definition. You can set for always widen or always shrink option and then hit the save button.
Now when ever you play a YouTube video it automatically plays it in HD format.


Download Auto HD YouTube video extension

Google announces ‘Instant Previews’ search feature

People who use Google can already read short snippets from a site before they click on it, as well as the date a news story or article was published.

People searching on Google will soon be able to see previews of websites before clicking on them.
The “Instant Previews” feature, announced on Tuesday, is meant to help people bypass websites that are either irrelevant or simply too visually cluttered for their tastes.


It works for Google web searches, as well as searches for news, video and local businesses.
After clicking on an icon of a magnifying glass, people will see a picture of the website in the white space to the right of the search results within a tenth of a second.


Although the preview photo will vary in size, just as Google Inc.’s image results do, Google designed the previews so that they’ll never eclipse the search results and clutter the page.
Google will also show a box above the picture zooming in on the section of the website where the search terms appear. The search terms will be highlighted in that box.


While someone looks at a picture of a website, Google will load visual previews for other search results in the background so that people can quickly compare websites by rolling the cursor over the results on the page.
The feature is a follow-up to Instant Search, a feature Google unveiled in September that updates search results as people continue typing. Last week, Google said that people who own an iPhone or a smart phone running Google’s Android software can use Instant Search too.


Google claims that people who use Instant Previews are five per cent more likely to feel satisfied with the website they choose.


Google will roll out Instant Previews in 40 languages over the coming days.

How to Completely BackUp your Google Account files

Raise your hand if you use Gmail, Google Docs, Chat or Calendar (if you’re in a public place, you’re excused from raising your hand--you might look a bit silly). Point is, the majority of us find ourselves knee deep in at least one Gmail Inbox every day, and Docs provides a fantastic service for storing files in the cloud and collaborating with friends and colleagues. But delete a file from the cloud, and you may find yourself scrambling in vain to get it back. Worse, every so often the unthinkable happens--Google’s servers go down.

We’d hate to see you lose an important email or essay or inadvertently wipe out your Contacts list along with your Gmail account. That’s why we’ve compiled a handy guide to backing up all things Google both online and off. Whether you want to duplicate your data in the cloud or keep it safe and sound on your own hard drive, we’ve got you covered.

Online Backup

Say you love having all of your emails stored online, but happen to be a bit clumsy when it comes to tidying up the Inbox. If you’re worried about accidentally deleting that important email from your boss, here’s an extremely simple solution: back up your Gmail account with a second Gmail account! Here’s what you do: set up a new Gmail profile, then head to the “Accounts and Import” tab in the Settings menu. Here you’ll find the option to Check Mail Using POP3. Add your primary email address and password and you're set!


As an extra-secure option, use a Yahoo! or Hotmail account to backup your Gmail Inbox. And remember, always use a different password--if someone hacks your primary account, the last thing you need is an equally vulnerable backup.  Here you may want to check a “leave a copy of retrieved message on the server” option so your emails will arrive in both your primary and backup Inboxes.


If you’re looking for a more robust solution--something that will backup your mail, contacts, and documents in one fell swoop, check out Backupify. Though it’s primarily designed for businesses that want to backup multiple user accounts, there’s a free plan for personal accounts that offers 2GB of storage. Backupify supports Gmail, Docs, Contacts, and Calendar, and a whole host of other social media services like Twitter and Flickr.

Offline Backup

Sometimes there’s just no beating a local repository of those important files. Between massive thunderstorms, ISP outages and unreliable routers, sometimes we lose Internet access right when we need it most. Or maybe you just don’t trust the cloud--that’s okay. Here’s how to download your precious data.

 
Our first suggestion is to set up a free email application like Mozilla’s trusty Thunderbird. Not only does Thunderbird support Windows, Mac OS and Linux, its UI has seriously improved over the years, and version 3.1 looks quite nice. When adding a new email account to Thunderbird, make sure “Leave messages on server” is checked on the Server Settings page of your account--that way all your mail will remain accessible online.


Nothing attached to a Google account is easier to backup than Google Contacts. Login to your Gmail account, switch to the Contacts window, and click on the “More Actions” button. From there, the Export option allows for you to save all of your contacts as a CSV or vCard file. CSVs can be imported into Thunderbird or another email applications like Microsoft Outlook. Backing up Google Docs en masse is also a painless procedure: simply choose Export from the More Options menu, switch to All Items, and get to downloading.

Cram your Google Calendar with important dates? It’s a cinch to back up, too. On the Calendars tab of the Calendar Settings menu, click “Export calendars” to save all your calendar information as a zipped .ical file. For your calendar to be usable, though, there’s a better way to build an offline Google Calendar backup. First, pick a calendar application that supports Google Calendar synchronization like Rainlendar. Another alternative is  Rainmeter, an extremely customizable desktop skinning program, which can integrate everything from processor and weather monitors to RSS readers and synchronized calendars.


Different calendar apps may sync with Google in different ways, but knowing how to access your calendar’s Private Address can come in handy. Once you’re set up with an offline calendar application, head to the Calendars tab of the Calendar Settings menu again. This time, click on the name of the calendar you want to backup--the name of your Gmail account--and scroll down to the bottom of the page. The “Private Address” field provides XML, iCal, and HTML read-only links to your calendar. Certain applications, like the Pro version of Rainlendar, can read and write to Google Calendar as long as they know the calendar name, account name and password. Making changes on the desktop and watching them seamlessly sync to Google Calendar and an Android phone is might convenient.

Backing up in Reverse

This How-to is obviously aimed at providing alternate storage solutions for Google services, but we have to give the Big G its due--backing local files up to Google’s cloud storage works pretty well, too. Google Docs offers a free 1024MB of storage space for whatever you feel like uploading. That should be plenty for a boatload of documents, and they sell more storage space. 20GB costs only $5 a year. There are also ways to use Gmail as a file storage solution. While Google’s free storage may not be the best solution for large-scale backups, it’s perfect for storing important documents and photos just in case disaster strikes your computer.