Google will gradually roll out Pop3 support over the
coming weeks to Gmail users, allowing them to download e-mail
messages from Gmail servers to e-mail applications.
Pop3 support will let users transfer server-based Gmail messages
to a client-side e-mail application such as Outlook and store the
messages on their local hard drive. Users with wireless devices
that have Pop3-compliant e-mail clients will also be able to
download their Gmail messages to personal digital assistants or
mobile phones.
Google is also working on adding antivirus scanning to the web
mail service, possibly by licensing an existing technology, and
developing an HTML interface to make Gmail compatible with browsers
that don't support JavaScript. Currently, only JavaScript-enabled
browsers can access Gmail.
These and other possible enhancements, such as adding further
wireless device support through WAP or XHTML, are part of Google's
attempt to turn Gmail, which is still being beta-tested, into the
most feature-rich web mail service available.
"We want to make it the best e-mail service in every single
dimension so you have absolutely no reason to use any other," said
Georges Harik, who is in charge of new projects at Google and whose
title is director of googlettes, the term the company uses to refer
to this type of effort.
Radicati Group analyst Teney Takahashi said that while Pop3
support was important, Gmail also needed a calendar and schedule
manager, which rivals already offer with their web mail services.
Yahoo web mail service, for instance, offers a calendaring system
that integrates with various versions of Outlook.
"Right now, Gmail is very good at managing mail but I'd like to
see the service extended to other areas of daily life: managing
your schedule and possibly being able to synchronise that with your
desktop client, like Outlook, would be very valuable," Takahashi
said.
He also advised Google to consider getting Gmail into final
release soon so that Gmail accounts were generally available rather
than by invitation only from the company. Pop3 support may signal
that Google is getting close to that final-release stage.
Google considers Pop3 support a must-have for Gmail.
"This is a very important feature that every e-mail system
should provide," said Harik. "We're going to make it easy both to
transition into and out of Gmail so you can use the best possible
e-mail reading interface. We're making our way down the list of
things so in the end you'll be able to access Gmail on
everything."
A Google spokesman said while Gmail users were served up text
ads that appeared next to the body text of messages, ads would not
appear with messages downloaded via Pop3 to the client e-mail
applications.
Also in the works is beefed-up antivirus protection. Currently,
Gmail protects users against viruses by blocking messages with
certain files attached, such as program files. Harik said a
full-fledged virus-scanning feature was on the horizon for
Gmail.
"We block executables and other things that are usually carriers
of viruses so most viruses don't get through, but there are always
weird file types," he said. "So we're working on getting a full
antivirus scanning solution to add to the current list of things
that we do."
Google will also continue to sharpen Gmail's spam blocking and
filtering capabilities, which are based on technology the company
develops internally. Gmail currently detects phishing scams and
provides a button to report them as such to Google. "We intend to
develop the best spam filter in the industry," said Harik.
Takahashi said the efforts showed that Google was taking the
threat of spam and phishing very seriously. "They have been very
closed about what technology they're using for antispam filtering
but it seems to be very effective."
Juan Carlos Perez writes for IDG News Service