The e-mail storage race appeared to have reached a new height this week when test users of Google"s free Gmail service noticed having not just 1 gigabyte of storage, but 1 terabyte. But the appearance of the "1000000 MB" ticker at the bottom of their Gmail inboxes was no more than a system bug that Google Inc. is working to fix, the company confirmed Wednesday. "That in fact was a bug," spokesman Nathan Tyler said. "We"re working to fix it. Gmail offers users 1 gigabyte of storage."
A move to 1 terabyte would have been significant, given the storage war Gmail has unleashed since going into an invite-only beta test April 1. Since Gmail"s offer of a gigabyte of free e-mail storage, competitors have rushed to up the ante. Earlier this week, the Lycos Europe portal attempted to overstep Gmail by offering a gigabyte of storage for e-mail users—but for a fee. Google has not said when Gmail will be generally available.