Google gives Gmail POP3 support, plans antivirus features

IDG News Service - Google Inc. will roll out POP3 support gradually in the next few weeks to Gmail users, who will be able to use the feature to download e-mail messages from Gmail servers to e-mail applications on devices such as PCs and wireless devices.
With Post Office Protocol support, users will be able to transfer server-based Gmail messages to a client-side e-mail application such as Microsoft Corp.'s Outlook and store the messages on their local hard drives, making them accessible off-line. Users with wireless devices that have POP3-compliant e-mail clients will also be able to download Gmail messages to PDAs or cell phones.
Google is also working on adding an antivirus scanning feature to the Web mail service, possibly by licensing an existing technology, and on developing an HTML interface that would make Gmail compatible with browsers that don't support JavaScript. Currently, only JavaScript-enabled browsers can access Gmail, which uses the scripting language extensively.
These and other possible enhancements, such as adding further wireless device support through the Wireless Application Protocol or XHTML, are part of Google's attempt to eventually make Gmail, which is still being beta-tested, the most feature-rich Web mail service available, a Google executive said.
"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. His title is director of "Googlettes," a term the company uses to refer to this type of effort.
While the POP3 support is an important feature, Gmail must gain calendaring and schedule management features, which competitors already offer to complement Web mail services, said Teney Takahashi, an analyst at The Radicati Group Inc. For example, Yahoo Inc.'s Web mail service offers a calendaring system that integrates with various versions of Outlook, Takahashi said.
"Right now, Gmail is very good at managing mail. But I'd like to see the service extended to other areas of your daily life. Managing your schedule and possibly being able to synchronize that with your desktop client, like Outlook, would be very valuable," Takahashi said.

Google should also consider moving Gmail out of its beta-testing phase and into final release soon so that it is generally available; the only way to get a Gmail account right now is by invitation from the company, Takahashi said. The POP3 support may signal that the company is getting close to a final release, he noted.
Google considers POP3 support a must-have for Gmail. "This is a very important