OVERLAND PARK, Kan.—Google Inc. is offering a download that is designed to make mobile access to its free Gmail service faster, and Sprint Nextel Corp. is making the download available from its mobile Web home page.
The download is free, other than data charges associated with the transfer. Google is offering it through its own mobile site, but also says that it worked with Sprint Nextel to provide easy access to the application for the carrier’s customers.
Gmail users already can access their e-mail through their phone’s browser, but Google promises that the application will provide up to five times faster access and use due to “automatic pre-fetching of messages;” “drastically reduced” clicks and scrolling; fewer keystrokes to reading, composing or searching e-mail; and attachments that are automatically resized to fit the user’s phone.
Sprint Nextel indicated that the applications can be downloaded by most Java-enabled Sprint Nextel devices. For users who don’t have Java-enabled phones, the carrier said that in the coming weeks, it will provide a link to the Gmail WAP site from its Sprint PCS Vision or Power Vision home page and they can still access e-mail through their browsers.
“We realize the role mobile phones play as a key driver for balancing online and offline worlds, and we’re committed to developing products that help people stay connected when they’re away from their computers,” said Deep Nishar, director of product management for Google.
Google also seems set to make other future forays into wireless. Reuters reported that Chris Hurley, co-founder and chief executive of video-sharing site YouTube Inc., told an advertising conference that the company (which Google is in the process of acquiring) plans to offer a mobile service within a year.
“Within the next year we hope to have something on a mobile device, it’s going to be a huge market, especially for the video mind-set we’re dealing with, it’s a natural transition,” said Hurley.
