Facebook getting real live email via Project Titan
Facebook’s weak messaging interface has been the bane of many users and has kept people from going all Facebook for their online interactions. Now Facebook is catching up to MySpace by prepping a full webmail interface for users.
According to Michael Arrington of TechCrunch, the project to bring webmail to Facebook is being called Project Titan. He says that employees are also calling it the Gmail killer.
For many, a replacement for Gmail that’s tied into their social network might just be what they’re looking for. Facebook already offers instant messaging and email services could wean some users off of other platforms altogether.
This is a long overdue addition to Facebook’s product portfolio. In fact, MySpace started offering webmail to its users in 2008, so Facebook is lagging two years behind.
The rumor is that there will be one huge differentiator between MySpace’s webmail and Facebook’s, other than being part of the world’s most popular social network. Facebook email users will be able to use POP or IMAP to access their email using a desktop email client or on their phone.
This is one important angle that Facebook also took when releasing its IM product. By users open access to their email and IM services, Facebook has the ability to replace Gmail in users’ lives without it being a huge hassle.
Now beating Gmail’s interface is an entirely different challenge entirely. Many people use Gmail for its minimal interface as well as its open access to your messages.
However Facebook has an edge over Gmail in being able to include pictures of your friends and already having many of your contacts built right in. However we’ll see if that’s enough to convert hard-core Google fanboys to the dark side.
So who’s going with Facebook and who’s going to be sticking with Gmail?
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February 5th, 2010
I’m not so sure. Email itself is dying, as more people are prefering text and IM…