Gmail has unexpectedly rolled out an IMAP feature for its users which has huge potential for those who use an iPhone or work across multiple devices. It could also pave the way for more people to buy the Google phone, expected to be available by Christmas.

Until today I was unfamiliar with the ins and outs of IMAP so I did some reading up and the more I looked at it, the more I realised that Google’s timing is not accidental. With a Google phone due out in the next couple of months (if the hype is to be believed) then giving IMAP to Gmail suddenly gives the Gmail application for the Google phone that extra piece of buzz that could push sales over the top.

For those of you who are not so into the idea of IMAP (like me), it is basically like POP access where you can access your emails on a internet-enabled phone or on an email client such as Outlook Express or Mozilla Thunderbird. But with POP, the original email stays on the server. So if you mark an email as read on Outlook, it will stay unread on Gmail. So that means you have to log in to Gmail and mark all the emails as read a second time. Very time-consuming and irritating right?

But with IMAP, everything is synchronised. If you mark an email as read on Outlook, it is immediately marked as read everywhere else. If you send an email with your iPhone, the email appears in your Gmail sent folder. Suddenly everything is working together and if you check your emails at another computer or on your phone, you can be sure that the unread emails sitting in your box really ARE unread.

Now look at that in the context of the Google phone (or the iPhone). You have Gmail on your home computer and you have Gmail on your phone. You’re in the middle of writing an email on your home PC and you suddenly have to go out. So what do you do? Save it to your drafts folder and grab your phone. Then if you get a spare minute while you’re out, open up Gmail on your phone, access your drafts folder and keep on typing. When you use your phone to send the mail, it will go to your sent folder automatically and when you’re home again, you can access the email in your Gmail account on your PC. You see, everything works together to make your life easier.

Lifehacker has published some tweaks for setting up the IMAP function but you should be aware that not everyone has IMAP yet. Gmail is slowly rolling it out to users so if you don’t have it yet, just wait a few days. Keep checking your Gmail settings and you will eventually see it.

For those of you who do have it, here’s a video tutorial released by Google on how to set up your IMAP :

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