You will now be able to access, read, write, and search Gmail messages even when not connected to the Web. It sounds unbelievable, but it’s true.

Google, on Tuesday, introduced long-awaited offline access for Gmail, and the company initially rolled out the service for the U.S. and UK consumers and Google Apps users, who will immediately be able to access Gmail offline with a few steps.

Offering offline access for Gmail, Google has gone step ahead edging out its rivals like Microsoft, Yahoo, and other email providers. Offline access for Gmail, in simple words, will enable users to access Gmail, even when they're not connected to the Web.

Developed in Google's Gmail Labs, the service will enable users to load Gmail in a Web browser even without a Web connection. It will enable users to read, archive or write messages. The users will be able to send composed messages that will remain stored in the Gmail outbox, and Gmail will forward the messages to their respective destinations when the user’s computer gets online.

According to Google, Offline access for Gmail, which has been developed with the Google Gears browser technology used to let Google Reader, Google Docs and Zoho Mail render data offline, was immediately available for Google Apps Standard Edition users and consumers in the evening of Jan. 27.

According to reports, Google is planning for offline access to Google Calendar, which will be introduced soon.

Rajen Sheth, senior product manager for Google Apps, explained, "We wanted to, with Gears, make it a seamless experience so that users don't have to download a specialized client or go through a different experience than what they're used to with the Web browser."