Google plans to develop
Gmail into a service that will allow users to manage all their
internet communications, including alerts and chat sessions.
"We would like mail to cover a broader part of the
communications spectrum," Sam Schillace, director of engineering at
Google, told Computer Weekly.
"At present, e-mail sits in the middle of the communications
spectrum that goes from static web pages to dynamic chat sessions,
but we would like to extend that," he said.
Schillace also sees the opportunity to extend Gmail coverage of
the spectrum of communications that goes from personal to
professional.
"We would like to take Gmail past e-mail to something that
handles everything people care about and that helps them find what
is relevant and valuable to them," he said.
According to Schillace, users are overloaded with alerts and are
beginning to find it difficult to manage personal data.
Just as information on the web became to difficult manage
without search engines, users are drowning in what amounts to
"personal spam", he said.
"The next place I want to take Gmail is to be something that is
much more powerful in helping people to manage and sift through
personal data," said Schillace.
He envisages a service that will enable users to aggregate and
prioritise all their communications, both personal and
professional, across various channels or media.