The absence of true push email is one of the most frustrating shortcomings of the iPhone, but if you're sick of waiting and don't mind a workaround solution then help may be at hand with iMapIdle.  Supporting IMAP servers only, contrary to Visto's version (which requires no installation) iMapIdle installs on your iPhone and then sits quietly in the background, waiting for new mail to drop into your inbox.  There's a choice between a sound prompt and a pop-up alert box (or the phone will vibrate if it's set to silent mode), at which point you can flick to the Mail app and poll the server for the new message.

It's not perfect - it needs your data hook-up to be constantly connected, which is likely to have a pretty hefty impact on battery life, plus there are a few situations where the software will crash if you're not careful - but it's free and that goes a long way to improving people's patience!

Let us know in the comments if you try it out...

[via Mobility Today]