Reports that GMail could launch today have been dismissed after Google detailed new plans for popular "invite-only" service. Speaking to CNet News late yesterday, GMail project manager Georges Harik dismissed rumors that the one year anniversary of the email service would mark its public debut. Instead, Harik detailed plans to immediately double the storage capacity of GMail accounts from 1GB to 2GB. In addition, Google will continue to increase GMail account capacity beyond 2GB; effectively creating a limitless storage medium for users.
"One gigabyte did seem like a lot, but it turns out there are a lot of heavy users of mail," he said. "They send attachments, share photos. It all adds up."
Herik did not provide a timeline for a public release, but with Google currently handing out 50 GMail invites to each user, one would wonder if it even matters. In direct response to the initial GMail threat, leading email providers had to signifigantly increase their storage capacity. This latest move by Google will undoubtedly spark another storage race, benefiting email users everywhere.
Update: Looks as though storage space is already on the move. Google has posted a nifty counter on the GMail homepage, showing users a constantly changing storage count.
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