The Right Guy’s Blog

Gmail Updates Its Look, Adds Themes

Google’s beloved web-based email client has always been ripe for third-party design customization (we’ve always been partial to the Gmail Redesigned skin in Better Gmail, for example), but now Gmail is officially riding the interface customization train by offering 30-some new themes to spice up your inbox. Keep reading for a quick look at some of the cool new offerings.

Unfortunately I still don’t see the Themes tab in my Gmail settings, but Google is an expert of the slow rollout, so we can all expect them sometime in the next few days. I’m partial to the ascii/Terminal theme, though it’s probably a touch on the impractical side. Other than that, a lot of the offerings actually look really nice—especially compared with some of the lame duck skins Google offers in iGoogle. If I see themes in my account soon, I’ll update the post with larger pictures. Let’s hear which themes you like best—and whether or not they’re actually enabled in your accounts yet—in the comments. Thanks Mark!

Pipl Updates, Offers Better Organized Stalking

Previously mentioned people search engine Pipl has updated with a slightly tweaked look and better, more organized results. In a quick comparison between recently featured 123people and Pipl, the results at Pipl thoroughly outdid 123people on accuracy when I searched for myself, including much more accurate results for real email addresses belonging to me. Just enter anyone’s name and the city where they live and let Pipl dig up their online profiles, email addresses, photos, and more. With the abundance of people search tools available on the internet, it’s easier than ever to track down anyone online. If you’ve already got a favorite place to stalk, let’s hear about it in the comments.

Get $25 Restaurant Gift Cards for $1.50

Thanks to some sweet, sweet discount serendipity, $25 gift cards to restaurants around the country from Restaurant.com can be had through tomorrow, for $1.50 using a coupon code and a FatWallet link code. It’s pretty much the same offer as we previously posted, just a bit cheaper and, well, back again. The details: Head to Restaurant.com, see what restaurants are participating near your ZIP code (and what caveats a gift card might entail, such as a minimum purchase amount or menu restrictions). Use FatWallet’s 25 percent off discount link to actually buy the gift card, and enter the coupon code SURPRISE at checkout. You’ll need a FatWallet account to claim your 50 cent savings, and the coupon code is only good through Nov. 20, 2008. If you’re stuck for gift ideas for a food-loving friend, this is a pretty cheap way to knock one off the list. Tell us any catches or successes you find in the comments.

Battle of the Free Visual Voicemail and Transcription Services

Both YouMail and MessageSling have long offered free services that let nearly any cell phone user listen to and manage their voicemail online, in the style of the iPhone’s “visual voicemail.” The stakes were raised this month when both also announced new transcription services, allowing you to read that call you just missed in a text message or online before actually listening or responding to it. One offers a limited free service, while the other is offering one-week trials of its paid transcription plans. We’ve given both a try and compiled each service’s feature package for comparison, so read on to see if it might be worth ditching your plain vanilla voicemail for something a bit more useful.

Note: Both services use a basic voicemail-forwarding trick that works on any major carrier’s phone, and both respond fairly quickly to get you MP3-quality recordings of your voicemail.

I tested one of YouMail’s free transcription services, which the company says “vary in quality” compared to paid plans, and are limited to one contact or five messages from anybody, against MessageSling’s one-week trial of their 20-message-per-month “Basic” plan. I’d have liked to compare a YouMail paid service against MessageSling, but “ordering” a free plan from YouMail somehow blocked my attempts to buy a paid plan. If and when I can try out a paid plan, I’ll post the transcription results here.

YouMail

What’s free:

• Web-based visual voicemail listings and dial-in voicemail checking
• Caller ID service
• Customized greetings for specific contacts or groups
• Download messages as MP3s
• Folder organizing and archiving of messages
• Unwanted caller blocking (hang-up before voicemail)
• Non-Flash site for iPhone/Blackberry/WinMobile

Message notification: Email with direct link to Flash voicemail player, or text message with caller ID, number, and voicemail stats (left or not, duration), with transcription stub if enabled.

Ads?: Corner ad on notification emails (in-house at the moment), banners and right-side box ads on voicemail page, and text ads at bottom of SMS notifications.

Transcription Plans:

Transcription accuracy (free plan):
What was said (MP3):

Hi Kevin, it’s, uh, Kevin. I’m calling to test out transcription. See you in Tallahassee tomorrow. Bye.

What came in the text:

Hi Kevin it s uh Kevin. I m calling 2 test out transcription. See u (cut off).

Online transcription:

Hi Kevin it s uh Kevin. I m calling to test out transcription. See you in Tallahassee tomorrow bye.

Your web-based inbox:

MessageSling

What’s free:

• Web-based visual voicemail listings and dial-in voicemail checking
• Customized greetings for specific contacts and groups
• Download messages as MP3s
• Gmail-style message labeling and search
• Can edit transcripts of voicemails and update.

Ads?: None in emails, text alerts, or on site (so far).

Message notification: Email with message MP3 attached and voicemail stats, and/or text message with phone number (and contact, if in book), voicemail stats, and transcription stub if enabled.

Transcription Plans:

Transcription accuracy (”Basic” plan):
What was said (MP3):

Hi Kevin, it’s, uh, Kevin. I’m calling to test out transcription. See you in Tallahassee tomorrow. Bye.

What came in the text:

Hi Kevin, it’s Kevin. I’m calling to test out transcription. S (cut off).

Online transcription:

Hi Kevin, it’s Kevin. I’m calling to test out transcription. See you in Tallahassee tomorrow. Bye.

Your web-based inbox:

That’s enough from our side of the screen—let’s hear how users of the two services, and those just catching up on them, split the difference in the poll below. If you’ve got another similar service that does the job for you, choose “Other” and tell us about it in the comments.

Which voicemail replacement service appeals to you?
( polls)