Google Fixes Gmail IMAP Problem on Windows Mobile

Google said it has fixed a problem that was causing Windows Mobile phone users to receive blank Gmail messages.

In October, Google began supporting IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) for Gmail. That means messages that mobile users send or receive from their phones are synched with their Gmail accounts, appearing the next time users access their accounts from a computer. But shortly after the announcement, Windows Mobile users began complaining in online forums about problems.

In some cases, Windows Mobile users said that HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) e-mail messages showed up blank on their phones. Others said that while they could read message headers, all messages appeared blank.

Google acknowledged the problem and listed it on its known issues page. Late last week, some users of Windows Mobile 6 and its predecessor, Windows Mobile 5, began writing on the online forum that the problem appeared to be fixed. A Google spokeswoman said that it was fixed on Friday, although on Monday it was still listed as a known issue. On Tuesday, the known issues page no longer included the problem.

Google has also posted instructions for configuring the Gmail IMAP capability on Windows Mobile 6 phones.

Windows Mobile users don't have to do anything to take advantage of the fix, the spokeswoman said. They should simply be able to properly receive Gmail messages on their phones now, she said.