Gmail design change.. could somebody explain?

I noticed that my gmail's design was changed a bit this morning... basically, tasks and contacts along with Mail have been brought at the top..a screenshot i found on net: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZaGO7GjCqAI/TFMC6Ee1bvI/AAAAAAAAW5k/Q4HSClIbd6s/s640/gmail-googler-ui-2010.png Now, I don't really understand the changes. I am by no means a usability expert, but considering "Contacts" and "Tasks" are rarely used by any gmail user I know, what's the rationale behind bringing them up? I found the design less intuitive than the basic one. So, I am really curious what would have been the designers motive?