Today's Live Show: Have Fun with Google!

The iGoogle solution is improved every once in a while but today's update is somehow different from the older ones. Basically, it adds interoperability between the personalized homepage and Google Checkout, the product that allows you to buy all kinds of things from a single webpage. Yes, you've guessed, it's all about a simple gadget that displays the funniest products listed on Google Checkout, enabling you to buy them with a single click. This tiny tool shows a little description of the product, the price and the merchant along with a relevant picture, all these bundled into a nice interface.

Google Checkout is now involved into an important battle with the famous eBay so it's extremely important to be supported by most of the company's products. Using this new gadget, the customers will remain up-to-date with the latest funny products listed on the service and, who knows, maybe some of them will even buy the stuff.

"Starting today, you can add a new gadget to your personalized iGoogle homepage. The gadget, called Shop with Google Checkout, will feature fun top-10 lists of products available through Google Checkout. We'll be updating the gadget every day with new lists and products, so you can get a daily dose of entertainment as you browse and shop using Checkout," Graeme Roche, Associate Product Manager, Checkout.

The gadgets usually represent tiny tools that can bring one major function to a stand-alone product. iGoogle is the platform that allows the gadgets to work in order to enable the customers to benefit from their functions. Let's suppose you want a YouTube search on your personalized homepage. You can create your own iGoogle page and add a simple gadget that allows you to search for clips published on the famous online video sharing service.

But sometimes, the gadgets are becoming even more powerful than the stand-alone application they replace. Take for example the Google Talk Gadget. It was improved several times with lots of functions and it is now even more popular than the downloadable instant messenger Google Talk.