Google has launched a beta of the new Blogger. http://beta.blogger.com
Some highlights.
Your blog is open to all readers by default but new privacy options allow you to restrict your blog to only readers you choose. These readers will need to log in before reading your blog. You can also limit the blog reading to only the blog's authors.
Templates are the same. I expected more here. I find the variety and quality of templates on blogger to be less than that offered on WordPress.com
The labeling system is new as well. Most blogging platforms allow the user to tag posts so that they are organised by topic. This has been lacking from Blogger for a while and is one other reason I switched my blogs to WordPress.com.
Blogger pages are now dynamically generated and served from a database a la WordPress.com.
Using the new Blogger will require a Google account. If you already have a Google Account, you can merge your Blogger account with it when you switch. This option did not work for me. A message appeared telling me the beta was in limited trial and that I might receive an invitation to test it.
Not much hear in the new Blogger to impress me to switch back.