A look at the new customizable search interface planned for Gmail

Google doesn’t have much to say about it just yet, but this week, the company accidentally slipped out a guided tour of the Gmail’s redesign, given by Google user interface guru Jason Cornwell. The new Gmail is more flexible and better looking, according to the company, giving Gmail users a way to stretch and shrink the display to their own tastes.

“We’ve completely redesigned the look and feel of Gmail to make it as clean, simple, and intuitive as possible,” Cornwell says in the video, which was quickly yanked from YouTube Thursday.

Google has been on a bit of a user interface kick lately, cleaning up its UI site-wide over the past few months. Gmail is used by over 40 million people, according to research outfit comScore, and its the centerpiece of the company’s Google Apps suite, which is available to businesses as a subscription service. According to Google, Apps is now used by over 5 million businesses, but this accounts for only about 1 percent of the total market.

In June, Google’s Cornwell offered a taste of the new interface, but this new video shows a lot more detail. There are cool themes, profile pictures associated with each message, and a new customizable search box within the Gmail interface.

The fact that Google has taken the time to produce a demo video seems like a pretty heavy hint that the new Gmail isn’t far away. But for now, Google isn’t saying much.

“Oops, you weren’t supposed to see that,” a Google spokeswoman said Thursday. “Stay tuned, we’ll be sharing more info on Gmail’s new look soon.”

Google removed Cornwell’s video after it was uncovered by blogger Carlos Jimenez, but if you’re quick, you might be able to see a copy of it here.