Google Brings E-Mail Client Access to Gmail
In what it is billing as "e-mail portability," Google Inc. is opening
access to its Gmail e-mail service from desktop clients and mobile
devices. On Wednesday, the company began providing free POP3 (Post
Office Protocol 3) access on Gmail accounts. The rollout is expected to
reach all users over the next two weeks, said George Harik, director of
Googlettes, the name of the Google group overseeing its startup
services.
"This [access] is an important part of e-mail because of all the things
not enabled by Web-based e-mail," Harik said. POP3 access, for example,
allows users to read Gmail messages while they are offline and on
mobile devices that support the standard, Harik said. POP3 is a
standard protocol for receiving e-mail and communicating between an
e-mail server and client. Most major e-mail clients, such as Microsoft
Outlook, support the standard, as do competing Web-based e-mail
services such as Yahoo Inc.'s mail.
News source:
eWeek