When adding the gadgets to iGoogle or Gmail, you won't have to enter in your Zoho account information in order to access your Zoho data. That's thanks to the oAuth support built in. In order to add a custom gadget to Gmail, you must first turn on a particular setting in labs which allows for this (Enable "Add any gadget by URL" in Labs).

Note: To learn more about custom Gmail gadgets, go here.

In social networks like Facebook and Orkut, the gadgets function more like applications. Once you click the link on the Gadgets page to add them to your profile, you'll be taken to a page where you'll need to enter in your account information before they will appear in your Applications list.

Finally, for OpenSocial compatible networks and applications, a link to an XML file is provided and for anywhere else you need a gadget, there's a generic embed code that can be used.

For anyone thinking of making the switch from Google Docs or Gmail over to the Zoho Suite, gadgets like these can make the transition easier as you'll be able to keep up with what's new even when you're still in your Google applications. And for those of us who spend entirely too much time in social networks, having these gadgets on hand means we won't miss out on the important information that matters most.

Now head over to the "Gadgets" section in Settings. For any of the gadgets listed below, all you have to do is enter in (or even better, copy and paste) the gadget URL provided into the box. Click "Add" and you're finished!

Twitter Gadget

The Twitter Gadget is a recent favorite of ours. Once installed, it provides a box where you can update your status, check your friends' timeline, read your replies and direct messages, and view your favorites.

Gadget URL: http://www.twittergadget.com/gadget_gmail.xml

Google Map Search

Need to look up an address which was just emailed to you? The Google Map Search lets you do so without having to leave Gmail. Just enter the location in the box provided and click "Search."

Gadget URL: http://www.google.com/ig/modules/mapsearch.xml

Facebook Gadget

Can't get enough Facebook and aren't up to installing the Xoopit Gmail plugin? Another option is the Facebook gadget which lets you get your latest Facebook notifications, check on your friends' updates, view photos, and even perform Facebook searches right within the gadget itself. The first time you install it, you'll have to authenticate with Facebook to give the gadget permission to access your account.

Gadget URL: http://www.brianngo.net/ig/facebook.xml

FriendFeed Gadget

If you're more of a FriendFeeder than Facebooker (or maybe you're both), another gadget you'll probably like is the FriendFeed gadget. This one is a Google Gadget repurposed for Gmail and it just displays your Home Feed, nothing more. There are no settings to customize and the layout hasn't been configured specifically for the small size of the Gmail sidebar. However, it is scrollable and you can "like" and comment within the gadget. If you need your FriendFeed everywhere, it's not a bad option.

Gadget URL: http://friendfeed.com/embed/googlegadget/spec

Digg Gadget

The Digg gadget lets you check out Digg's top stories within your Gmail sidebar. You can choose to just see News, Videos, or Images, or you can view all the stories. You can also use the drop-down box to pick which sub-section of stories you're interested in seeing (Technology, Politics, Science, Gaming, etc.). If you scroll over to the right, the gadget lets you access your friends list and your settings, which is, by the way, the area where you'll need to enter in your Digg username.

Gadget URL: http://digg.com/goog/ig.xml

Honorable Mentions

Here are a few other gadgets you may find of use. These aren't our personal favorites, but perhaps they will be yours:

World Clock: http://gad.getpla.net/poly/clock.xml

Google Translate: http://www.google.com/ig/modules/dictionary.xml

Ask a Word (Dictionary, Thesaurus, Encyclopedia): http://www.openinventions.com/spellcheck/openinventions_spellcheck.xml

Delicious Gadget: http://www.labpixies.com/campaigns/delicious/delicious.xml

MySpace Gadget: http://hosting.gmodules.com/ig/gadgets/file/100080069921643878012/myspace.xml

Flickr Gadget: http://hosting.gmodules.com/ig/gadgets/file/100080069921643878012/flickr.xml

Remember the Milk (Task List): http://www.rememberthemilk.com/services/modules/googleig/rtm.xml

Bit.ly URL Shortner: http://hosting.gmodules.com/ig/gadgets/file/107368512201818821991/bitly-shortener.xml

Orkut Scrapbook: http://hosting.gmodules.com/ig/gadgets/file/105297062528314471242/doomer_orkut_scrapbook.xml

Wikipedia Search: http://www.google.com/ig/modules/wikipedia.xml

Google Calculator: http://calebegg.com/calc.xm

Currency Converter: http://www.ac-markets.com/forex/currencyconverter.xml

Quick Links to Google Services: http://blakewest.googlepages.com/googleservices.xml

Gmail supports iGoogle gadgets, too, so you can actually add any gadget you want. Just find your favorite gadget, click the "share this gadget" option, and then copy the URL that ends with ".xml." However, be aware that not all gadgets will look good when smashed into the Gmail sidebar.

In addition to displaying account balances, this new gadget, now available for download from Fidelity Labs, can also be configured to display alerts on certain account-related activities, including trade notifications and price trigger alerts. Customers can choose to either add the Secure Gadget as a standalone gadget or they can click a button to add a customized Fidelity Tab to their iGoogle. The tab includes the gadget itself, plus two RSS feeds from Fidelity: Fidelity Investor's Weekly and Fidelity Investment Insight Podcast.

Fidelity iGoogle tab (click to view larger):

To use the gadget, customers log in using their SSN or Customer ID and PIN, as they would do online. That information is not saved on Google's servers on any other 3rd party servers, says Fidelity.

The Fidelity Labs web site states that they developed the gadget, but it looks to us like it came from WorkLight, an enterprise 2.0 startup whose banking 2.0 survey data we reviewed earlier this year. At that time, the survey results showed that nearly half of the respondents said they would use web 2.0 tools if offered by their current bank. We also took note of the secure banking gadgets they had under development - gadgets that greatly resemble this one from Fidelity - which we considered to be very promising technology.

The release of Fidelity's gadget may hint at the beginnings of a new trend in banking - making banking 2.0 mainstream. Along with numerous web 2.0 services for managing finances, many of today's banking customers can manage their money from their mobile phones while other customers are receiving personalized recommendations on their iPhones, as well. However, none of the services offered so far have the potential for mainstreaming banking 2.0 the way a Google homepage gadget could. It's already a technology most everyone is familiar with and it's being offered by the financial institution itself, which should help customers feel comfortable about its security. We hope more financial institutions will start offering gadgets of their own in the near future.

Luckily for us, Remember The Milk was hard at work creating a gadget that would help us do exactly that. Now we can finally explain the third Labs Gmail gadget and check that task off our list - from within Gmail. All thanks to RTM.

Using the new gadget, Remember The Milk users get task and to-do functionality in the Gmail sidebar, allowing them to review, add, edit, and manage tasks, without ever leaving the comfort of the Gmail interface.

So how does the functionality of RTM get into the Gmail sidebar? Via a Labs gadget called "Add any gadget by URL." True to its name, the gadget allows users to add third-party gadgets to the Gmail interface by referencing a URL. But what exactly does that mean? Would RSS work? Would any URL turn that content into a gadget? Not exactly.

According to the Gmail blog that means:

There's a third Lab that allows you to add any gadget by pasting in the URL of its XML spec file (e.g. http://www.google.com/ig/modules/youtube_videos.xml). We realize this isn't very user friendly right now; it's a sandbox mainly aimed at developers who want to play around with gadgets in Gmail.

Now you see why we were waiting for an example.

Using the RTM gadget? Simple. Adding it? Not so much. But we'll walk you through it. To get the RTM gadget installed, head over to Labs, activate the "Add any gadget by URL" gadget, grab the RTM gadget XML spec file URL, go back to the Gmail gadgets tab to paste in the URL, and then return to your Gmail inbox to find Remember The Milk in the sidebar.

By Google's own admission, not intuitive. But let's step back a second. There's something much bigger happening here.

RTM Demonstrates the Openness of the Gmail Platform

With the advent of the add-by-URL gadget, the Gmail format has now become wide open to outside developers. No app store. No gating mechanism. No browser-based scripts. Simply direct access to the Gmail sidebar, allowing developers to add any gadget that they can concoct.

That's pretty big news.

Why? Because now when you wish you had something else in the Gmail sidebar - like a to-do list for instance - you don't have to wait for Google anymore. You can build it. Or you can get a developer to build it for you. And you can share it with others.

What's more, it doesn't have to be free. It could be a for-pay gadget. At least that's how the Remember The Milk model works. While RTM offers a free version, they will likely attract new users who will take the opportunity to upgrade to a Pro account for $25 a year.

A must-have gadget for an open platform that continues to grow in popularity - and a revenue stream? RTM may have to add the development of a few more thoughtful gadgets to their list of things to do.

What's the next third-party gadget to take advantage of this new functionality? That's anyone's guess. But it will be really interesting to see how creative developers leverage this new Labs gadget and the access it provides.

What's missing from the Gmail sidebar? Really? Why don't you build that?

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.

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.

This is Part 1 of a 5-part series in ReadWriteWeb's Enterprise Channel. Part 1 covers everything from a physical perspective. What, ideally, you need to have to make the digital office run. In subsequent parts, we will cover browser, web apps, mobile, and more.

LAPTOP

Recommendation: The Mac Book Pro

Why?: Primarily, OS X - arguably the best operating system out there. In terms of hardware however, the MBP's form factor, strength, wireless connectivity, long battery life, speed, memory, improved graphics card, multi touch trackpad and decent sized hard drive all wrapped up in a beautiful metallic case should be enough to convince you.

Asus U2E, Sony Vaoi TZ31MN, Macbook, Macbook Air, Asus EeePC 900

PHONE

Recommendation: Blackberry Bold

Why?: Let me be clear. I'm an iPhone user and I'll openly admit I have yet to use the blackberry bold. However, I have used almost every previous blackberry and from reviews by gizmodo, engadget and a number of gadget sites - this is the best blackberry ever. However, the main reason I have selected the Blackberry Bold over the iPhone is because of the downfalls of the current 3G iPhone rather than the excellence of the Blackberry Bold. Running your digital office you need to ensure you have access to your email, contacts and a solid long lasting battery - the iPhone is still not reliable enough on both of these points. If this post was more about the Social Media Guru's device list... yes, the iPhone would definitely be my phone of choice. Although of course, with an external battery attachment! We are, however, discussing the digital office and the iPhone is not there yet and won't be until battery life is extended, bugs are ironed out, multifunctionality between local apps is implemented and yes, email and connectivity issues are corrected.

Alternatives: iPhone, Treo Pro, Nokia E66 / E71, HTC Touch Cruise

MOBILE BROADBAND

US: Sprint / AT&T

UK: O2 / T-Mobile / Vodafone / 3

The Should Haves

EXTRA BATTERY FOR MOBILE & LAPTOP

EXTRA CHARGER FOR MOBILE & LAPTOP

WIRELESS MOUSE

Recommendation: Logitech VX Nano Cordless

Why?: Stylish, small but not too small, super precise and smooth maneuvering. Very convenient to just need the small usb plugin which can be left in your laptop all the time. Above all though, it's very very cool.

Price: $45.00

Alternatives: Apple Mighty Mouse, Logitech MX Revolution

WIRELESS KEYBOARD

Recommendation: Apple Wireless Keyboard

Why?: Elegant design. Sturdy and durable. Works superbly well. Extremely accurate, (very) small and lightweight, feels wonderful as you glide your fingers across the keyboard. On top of all that, seamless operation with Leopard, Tiger AND Vista.

Price: $80.00

Alternatives: Logitech diNovo Edge, Logitech Cordless Desktop S510

EXTERNAL HARDDRIVE

Recommendation: Western Digital My Passport Essential 500GB

Why?: Uprecedented amount of space for it's weight and size. It's pocket size, flawless performance and very practical - all at a fair price.

Price: $120

Alternatives: Toshiba 320GB Portable External, Iomega eGo Rugged Portable 320GB

USB DRIVE

Recommendation: Kingston DT100/8GB Data Traveler

Why?: 8GB on a usb drive! Above all, convenient, easy to use, small and reliable.

Alternatives: iPhone, HP 8GB USB Flash Drive

Price: $30

BAG

Recommendation: Incase nylon sling pack

Why?: Comfortable, solid protection and padding for your laptop, feels very well made. Lightweight and very slim - so no more smacking into people as you turnround. Works with laptops up to 17 inches. Features a lovely integrated fur compartment for your laptop as well as plenty of space for your iPod and other accessories.

Price: $80

Alternatives: Mobile Edge MEEN01 Express Tote ($30)

MOBILE PRINTER

Recommendation: Canon Pixma iP90v Photo Inkjet Printer

Why?: Small, dinky and portable. Prints pages at a decent speed and color photos come out very well if you're using it for that. Set up is a peice of cake however one drawback, make sure you have a usb cable and buy a few spare ink cartridges as they run out faster than your normal sized ones. Also, a superb price as it is currently on sale at Amazon!

Price: $200+ (currently on sale at Amazon for $151)

Alternatives: Canon iP100, HP Deskjet 460c Mobile Printer

MOBILE SCANNER

Recommendation: Canoscan LiDE 90 (PC/MAC)

Price: $90

Why?: Great value. Just over A4 in size and about 2cm in depth Completely USB powered, extremely convenient and lightweight. Resolution is up to 2400x4800 dpi and scan speeds of approx 15 seconds. Works well with both PC and Mac.

Alternatives: Scansnap USB 10PG Adf Mobile Scanner (pc/mac), Pentax DSmobile 600 Scanner (pc)

WEBCAM

Recommendation: Logitech Quickcam Pro 9000

Price: $80

Why?: Hassle free installation with XP and Vista. Superb picture quality. The Right Light function works very well even in the dullest conditions. If you want a good webcam for Skype, this is it!

Alternatives: Philips SPC900NC PC Web Camera

BLUETOOTH HEADSET

Recommendation: NoiseAssassin-Jawbone II

Price: $110

Why?: Easy to setup, slick to look at, comfortable to wear (at least in my ear). Works well with all bluetooth enabled phones and computers. Definitely does a superb job with controlling levels of background noise - just make sure the headset is actually touching your jaw or else it doesn't do it's job properly.

Alternatives: Plantronics Discovery 925

PORTABLE CAMCORDER

Recommendation: Sanyo Xacti HD1010

Price: $700

Why?: Easy to use out of the box. Brilliant quality image. Practical. Beautifull little camera. Video quality is vivid and crisp. Perfect if you want something you can pull out fast and record.

Alternatives: Samsung mx 20 "YouTube" Camcorder, Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD700

PORTABLE MEDIA PLAYER

Recommendation: iPod Touch

Price: $400

Why?: It's not perfect however you'd be hard pressed to find a better all round device at this size out there. Glorious screen quality and device build. Setup is elegant and straight forward as you would expect. Navigation is equally impressive. Youtube is so easily accessible, accessing e-mails works flawlessly, battery lasts well to listen to music but runs low fast when on the youtube or internet. For such a small thing it can do so much: Games, Calendar, Mail, Internet, Music, Movies, Apps... What are you waiting for? The only real competition in my mind is the iPhone.

Alternatives: Archos 605 Wifi, Microsoft Zune

HEADPHONES

Recommendation: Shure Se210 Sound Isolating Earphones

Price: $130.00

Why?: Perfect to travel with and maybe even miss your flight! Shure's Se210 are in a completely different league. Having used a variety of high spec headphones over the years, Shure stands well above the crowd. An amazing piece of ingenuity. The clarity is astonishing, hearing notes I previously did not. The mid's and high's are exceptional, and the bass is perfect.

Alternatives: Sennheiser CX 95, Klipsch Image

USB HUB

Recommendation: Any Brand

Price: -

Why?: Frankly, I have personally bought a number of USB hubs from ebay over the years and have yet to have one problem. I highly recommend going for the cheapest option which ever that may be. If you're a brand fan and looks are a very high priority however, the two options below should suit you fine

Alternatives: Belkin Hi-Speed USB 2.0 7-Port Mobile Hub, Cables To Go 7 Port USB

3 PLUG ADAPTOR

Recommendation: Monster 4 Outlet Mini Power Strip

Price: $15.00

Why?: Handy. There is always a shortage of power points when you need one. This compact power strip is a perfect for travel and obviously a doddle to use.

The Unnecessaries but Oh So Cool

LIVESCRIBE SMART PEN

What is it? A smart pen that digitally records everything you write and hear. You do however require special paper embedded with thousands of almost invisible dots for the pen to work - these are only $5 for a set of pads though. The recordings are transferred to a computer through a USB docking cradle. Notes can even be shared online and Livescribe gives 250 MB of storage space for free.

Price: $149 for the 1 GB version or $199 for the 2 GB model.

APPLE AIRPORT EXPRESS

What is it? A tiny adaptor size device whicn you plug it into your room's socket, plug in the hotel's Ethernet cable and voila, you have wifi.

Price: $80

Alternative: Linksys WTR54GS

AMAZON KINDLE

What is it? Essentially, an e-book reader launched by Amazon. It uses an electronic paper display and reads Amazons propriertary Kindle format (AZW) and downloads ebooks directly from Amazon.com.

Price: $359

Alternatives: Sony Reader

Next in the Series

Part 2: The Browser. How the browser will increasing play a vital part in the development of digital office. This post will be a run down of tips, tricks and features to make the browser work for you and your team.

Part 3: Web Apps, Desktop Apps & Integration. This will revisit the deskapp to webapp conundrum and the recent developments which have quite possibly sealed the argument.

Part 4: Tools & Services both Online & Off. An illustration of the best tools and services out there which combine to create the digital office.

Part 5: Portability, the iPhone & Mobile Web. This will cover portability and the mobile web, in putting the finishing touches to the new work way.

Top image credit: moriza

For those of you who don't know, the Chumby Touchscreen Internet gadget is a popular...and darned cute...gadget that can be customized with various channels that feature widgets, videos, feeds, games, and more.

To use your Chumby, you plug it in and configure it to work with your Wi-Fi network. Once that's done, you log on to Chumby.com and customize yours with the widgets of your choosing.

These widgets can be anything - web clips, RSS feeds, games, videos, Tweets, news, weather, a clock, photos, or a million other things. Some of the widgets come from deals made with content providers, like the widgets available from CBS, MTV Networks, MySpace, The Weather Channel Interactive, AOL's SHOUTcast and Scripps Networks.

The Chumby also has speakers, so you can hook up the Chumby to your iPod via the USB connector in the back and play your iTunes playlists with it.

Made for Hackers

However, what's really great about the Chumby is that the device is designed for customization. Want to hack, mod, extend, or improve Chumby? Have at it!

The Chumby lets you upgrade your Chumby in four different ways: developers customize the software, build Flash widgets, or even hack the hardware. Arts-and-crafts types can also mess around with the Chumby in their own way, decorating it or putting in a case of their own design.

Software: The Chumby is a Linux-based, open-source platform which means developers can do nearly anything with it. A quick glance on the Chumby forum shows posts about Python & Ruby for Chumby, Java for Chumby, Perl for Chumby, MTASC for Chumby, and much more.

Widgets: For Flash animators, the Chumby can be a showcase for your talents. Artists can upload widgets to the Chumby site and share them with the community so others can add them to their own Chumbys. These widgets are the bread-and-butter of Chumby, bringing most of the cool stuff like news feeds, videos, games, viewers, utilities, and other fun and/or useful tools to the device.

Hardware: The Chumby is made for tinkerers. You can open up the Chumby, take it apart, upgrade it, add to it, and mod it. They even tell you how and provide extensive documentation.

Crafts: You don't have to be a computer nerd to enjoy modding your Chumby, though. Even artistic types can enjoy making Chumby their own. The Chumby is designed so that the core electronics can be easily removed from its casing, letting you create your own look for Chumby without having to write code. See?

Modded Chumby on Chumby's flickr Group

You can even embed a Chumby gadget on your own web site to show people what your Chumby looks like:

Virtual Chumby

Now, don't you want one?

Author's Note: I have a Chumby and I love it.