MySpace has opted for an integration of Google Gears into its own messaging system. What this will make possible is a back up of all messages to each individual user’s local machine apart from quick search as well as sorting. This is possibly the largest ever ‘third party’ implementation of Google Gears.

Three basic functions, available to developers via JavaScript, are performed by Google Gears. Those are a local server for caching objects like images and web pages, a thread pool, which allows updates and actions to occur asynchronously in the background and a local database (SQLite).

Close to 170 million messages are sent on MySpace per day, claims the firm. Not all users of the service will be offered the new feature straight away. The users with a minimum 5,000 mail messages in their inboxes will initially be prompted to install Gears and use the new system. Any MySpace user who has already installed Gears will get the option of utilising the new system.