Tired of pre-selected themes for your Gmail account? No worries, Google has that covered for you now.

Back in November of 2008, themes and colors were announced for Gmail, but there was nothing that you could customize to be closer to a look or feel that was more your own.  According to the official Gmail blog, all of that has now changed for users of the regualr edition of the service.  As with most advancements with Gmail, users of the apps version of the service for business will have to wait a while before they get the new features.  Someday we at StarterTech are hoping to understand why those users have to wait longer for features.

To take advantage of the new colors, you just need to go to “Settings” in the upper right corner of the main screen, click on the “Themes” tab and then you will find “Choose your own colors” at the bottom of the screen. If you end up hating the selections you make, you can always click “Reset” and revert back to the default colors until you try again.

Ever wondered if someone is accessing your Gmail account? You’re in luck! There is an easy way to tell.

It is inevitable that every one gets the feeling at least once that someone has accessed their email account without permission.  We recently received a question from a reader about how to tell if his Gmail account had been accessed by someone other than himself.  Luckily there is an easy for you to check this as often as you like with just a few clicks… two to be exact.

The first thing you need to do is scroll all the way to the bottom of the page of your inbox.  In the area where it tells you how much space you’ve used and so on, you will see the word “Details”.  Simply click on the word and you will see a popup window appear.

In the popup window you will see the last five sessions of your Gmail account, and the IP address you are currently using.  If you see an address radically different than your own, simply click on the button that says “Sign out all other sessions”, immediately killing all other logins into your account other than the one you are currently on.

That’s it, you’re done!  Super easy to check, and something you can do as many times a day as you like to see if someone you don’t approve of is accessing your account.

Apparently conquering the Web is no longer enough for Google, now they want to get in to your home also.

PowerMeter is a new piece of software currently being tested by Google that will allow home owners to see a graphic representation of how much energy they are consuming, and hopefully help you control your electric bill and your carbon footprint.  With a piece of software on your computer, you will get near real-time information on your energy consumption, and specifics on what exactly in your home or business is using the most power.

Armed with this information, people will be able to better manage their home’s power consumption and get the double benefit of cutting their energy bill and lowering their impact on the environment.  Sadly, The Official Google Blog informs readers that the system is still in the testing stages, but they are actively lobbying to get the software out to the public.  One Google engineer mentions in their promotional video that he has cut his energy consumption by 64% over one year, and saved almost $3,000 off of his bill.  Another Google employee mentions in a testimonial that after monitoring her usage, she changed to Compact Florescent Bulbs (CFLs) and reduced her energy consumption by nearly 13%.

There is no word when this software package will make it out to general consumers, but I for one can’t wait to give it a try.

Gmail is back with yet another new feature, and this time it is an information junkies’ dream.

While we have already seen offline support for Gmail last week, according to the Official Gmail Blog, they already have another exciting feature for all of us: multiple inboxes.  The concept is simple in that by activating this new feature in Labs, where all the good stuff seems to hide, you will now have multiple panes in your inbox, saving you a lot of time from having to switch windows for looking up information.

While the above picture makes the layout seem a bit crowded, once you have it open, you will see it isn’t that bad. I switched to it this evening, and I already love it. To try it out, go to the “Settings” tab in the top right corner of the Gmail window, then select the “Labs” tab, locate the “Multiple Inboxes” option, choose “Enable” and then scroll to the bottom of the page to click on “Save Changes”. Within minutes you will be enjoying the whole new look.

Google is on an unbelievable tear with new products and enhancements, and while we never meant for StarterTech to focus this heavily on Google, it is hard to ignore that they are leading the technology development field right now.

Google Chrome looks to be set to finally be getting extensions.

According to Google Operating System, a recent document announcing a developers conference for included the following blurb about a seminar focused on Chrome.

“Learn how Google Chrome makes it easy to write extensions using the web technologies you already know. This talk will cover the basics of the extension system (distribution/packaging, installation, updates), as well as the different APIs to enhance with the browser.”

We have been saying since Google Chrome launched that the lack of extensions was keeping us from switching to it for all of our work.  Since this seminar is scheduled for May 27th, it looks like we can safely say we will have extensions by this summer.

Ever wondered where your friends and family were at any given time? Well, now, thanks to Google, you can see where they are any time you feel like it.

Google is continuing on their march to release as many new products as possible it seems, and the newest toy is Google Latitude.  This new tool was announced by the Official Goggle Blog this morning, and it works with Google Maps version 3.0 for mobile phones (list of supported phones here), and accesses your built-in GPS to help you see which of your connections are around you, and also allow others to check up on you. You can then use mobile phones and web browsers to see where the people you have connected with are at any time.

While this may all sound scary, Latitude gives you a lot of control over how information is shared.  You can connect with someone and share no data, just let them know the city you are in, or let them see all of the details.  You can also set yourlocation by hand if you like, so your spouse doesn’t need to see you stopped off for a drink after work.  The other good news is Google stores no data about where you have been, and only has the data of your latest transmission.

While geolocation services like Brightkite have become popular, it was a bit of a pain as you have to update it by hand when you change locations.  With Latitude, it is all done behine the scenes via your phone’s GPS.  You also can think of the possible uses like my family travels a lot, and as I type this, they are driving to Texas.  Well, now I can look any time I want as to where they are, and if they should get in an accident, I would know where to send help.  What if your phone gets stolen?  Follow it!

Overall, I’m impressed, but I don’t plan to share my data with very many people.  For more information, check out the video below.

Google Earth has released a new version, and Google has added the ability to explore the planet’s oceans.

Although Google has already made their product Earth able to show you satellite imagery of the entire planet, and later allowed you to explore space, now they have turned their eye to below the surface of the oceans.  Through a mixture of topographical data, videos from various sources and 3D data, you can now explore every corner of the planet.

Other new features include the ability to look at various locations over time, even pre-dating the launch of satellites, exploring a 3D Mars, and the ability to record explorations you make with Google Earth so that you can share them with other users.  Due to these numerous updates, they decided not to number this version 4.3, and instead went directly to 5.0.  You can read more about the new features at the Official Google Blog, and you can also check out the video below that shows the new features in greater detail.

In one of the oddest marketing moves we’ve ever seen, Google has added one of the most popular features of their Chrome browser to their Firefox toolbar.

One of the most intriguing features of Google Chrome is the thumbnails you see of the sites you visit most often when you open a new tab.  Now, in the most recent update to their popular toolbar for the Firefox browser has been updated and they have included this feature with it.  Why they would want to do this is a mystery to us as it feels like you are giving away one of your most popular features without the growth of your own product.

You can download the latest version of Google Toolbar here, and you can read more about the updates at the Google Blog.

What exactly is Gears, and why is it something you need?

Originally named Google Gears, Gears  is a small bit of open source software launched on May 31st, 2007 by Google that enables Firefox and Internet Explorer to run small pieces of code that improve your Web browsing experience.  In some instances, as with the recent announcement of using Gmail offline, Gears will allow you to do some things on your computer without an Internet connection that used to be online only activities.  It can also be used to speed up certain activities that you do online such as it to cache images used by WordPress in the administration section to speed up page loading times, and decreasing the strain on your server.

Though the software is closing in on its second birthday, it seemed to go relatively unnotice until just the last few months of 2008.  While the name has been mentioned numerous times, and what potential it had, no one seemed to be using it in their everyday lives.  In just the past week, I have added two new systems to it that I use every day, so maybe it is time for Gears to finally bust out of being a niche product into a part of the average Web user’s life.

While “cloud computing” is a marvelous tool, it leaves you without the ability to work on things when you are without Internet access.  Luckily Google is slowly looking to remove this hurdle from their products.

While they have already offered the ability to take your Google Docs with you on the go, but now they have added the same support for Gmail.  According to the Official Gmail Blog, the support is rolling out across the service, and may not be available for all users yet, but it will be soon.  For those who haven’t seen it activated yet, the new feature will make use of Google Gears, a tool to run small programs, and itwill store a cache of your email you can read even when you have no Internet access.

You will simply open your browser, go to the usual gmail.com address, and you will find all of your email waiting for you.  You will be able to label emails, star them, write replies, delete and everything else you normally do.  The next time you are connected to the Internet, all of the changes you have made will be automatically synched with the online version of your account.

If you are dying to try this out, simply click on the “Settings” tab in the top right corner of the Gmail window, then select the “Labs” tab, locate the “Offline” option, choose “Enable” and then scroll to the bottom of the page to click on “Save Changes”.  With that, you’re done, and you will be able to read all of your emails anytime, anywhere you want.