Google will test new e-mail service Google will test new e-mail service (April 09, 2004)

Mountain View company calls it G-mail

Mountain View-based Google announced last week that it has begun testing a free e-mail service that would offer users the ability to store the equivalent of 500,000 pages of e-mail.

The new service, called "G-mail'' will include keyword and other search functions allowing users to quickly find whichever e-mail they are looking for, according to company officials.

Google co-founder Larry Page said the inspiration for G-mail came from a Google user.

"She kvetched about spending all her time filing messages or trying to find them,'' Page said. "And when she's not doing that, she has to delete e-mail like crazy to stay under the obligatory four-megabyte limit. So she asked, 'Can't you people fix this?'''

The service is currently in the beta testing phase and officials have not said when it would be made available to the general public. More information about the service can be found on the World Wide Web at http://gmail.google.com.

-- Bay City News

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