Google today updated its iGoogle homepage by improving its integration Google Reader, Gmail, and Google Finance. These gadgets can now make use of iGoogle's canvas feature, which allows a gadget to take up the whole screen. This is especially useful for the Google Reader and Gmail gadgets, which now bring almost all of the features of the actual services to iGoogle.

Google has also updated the iGoogle interface and a number of content providers have updated their gadgets to make better use of the canvas view as well.

Gmail Integration

The Gmail gadget now allows you to perform some of the most common email tasks, including actions like send or reply to messages without having to leave the iGoogle page (though you can also launch the full Gmail client from iGoogle).

Google Reader Integration

iGoogle now makes use of Google Reader's interface for browsing your RSS feeds. Thanks to this, iGoogle users can now share items directly from iGoogle and browse through their feeds just like they would in the regular Google Reader.

Other Updates: No More Tabs

Google has also made some changes to the iGoogle interface. The tabs at the top of the page have now been replaced with a navigation bar on the left side of the screen, for example. This is especially useful if you use a lot of gadgets that make use of the canvas view.

Some content providers like the The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post have also updated their gadgets to make use of the full-screen canvas view.

It's all About the Canvas

Google is clearly positioning iGoogle as a one-stop resource for all Google products. So far, it shared its fate with most other similar services like Netvibes. It was a good homepage for your browser, but the gadgets and widgets on the site didn't provide enough functionality to keep you coming back during the day. Now, iGoogle is basically becoming an interface to the rest of Google's product line and has instantly become far more useful.