Facebook trotted out a new messaging tool today that aims to handle users' e-mail and other communications across different services, taking on Google's and Yahoo's popular e-mail platforms.
Addressing speculation that the world's largest social networking site was planning a "Gmail-killer," Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg told reporters the new messaging system will let users own "facebook.com" addresses, just as Google and Yahoo subscribers get "google.com" and "yahoo.com" handles.
But Mr Zuckerberg, who said more than 350 million of Facebook's half-billion users now actively send and receive messages on his website, stressed that he did not see the modern messaging system as being e-mail-based.
Instead, the new feature lets users send instant and text messages in addition to standard e-mail and Facebook communications, he said.
While people will not stop using email immediately, more and more will shift to an integrated, cross-platform mode of communications such as Facebook, Mr Zuckerberg argued.
More than 4 billion messages get sent everyday through Facebook. Its new messaging platform will incorporate a number of features, including an inbox devoted to a user's friends and contacts on Facebook, and another for other mail and messages.
Facebook and Google's intensifying rivalry is expected to play a crucial role in shaping the future of the Internet. The industry is closely watching their pitched struggle for web surfers' time online, advertising dollars, and increasingly costly Silicon Valley talent.
Reuters