After Australia and New Zealand, Gmail will be available without invitation in Japan. "We want as many people to have access to our service. The change has had quite a significant impact in Australia and New Zealand," said a Google representative.
Gmail was initially an invite-only service, then users from the US and other countries could get Gmail by SMS, and now more countries can have Gmail directly from Gmail.com. Google clearly prepares for the public release of Gmail, after more than two years of beta-testing.
I wonder which of the three email services will get out of beta first: Gmail, Yahoo Mail or Windows Live Mail?
