Newbie to iCloud with a Mail question

[Gryz]

I recently set up iCloud on my Iphone to sync solely my contacts and reminders. That seems to be working fine but then I got to thinking about mail.

I am in university and have my mail (both personal and school accounts) pushed to my phone. They are both Gmail accounts. This seems to work great and an email that is delivered to my computer also shows up on my iPhone. Same with deletion.

What is the difference between what I am doing and iCloud email?
It appears I have to use a .me email...cannot I not have my Gmail accounts passed over the cloud to my phone?

 

[iClive]

Good question, well put.

I also have gmail on the MBA, iPad, and iPhone, and because gmail uses IMAP, all 3 are automatically synced, so what use would icloud be in this situation?

 

[techocd]

Its just another option, I have both Gmail and iCloud. Same purpose, different addresses. My experience while working in Apple Retail was many don't have Gmail and having an easy email solution from Apple is a great free option for those who are behind the times.

 

[Gryz]

Thank you. I guess I will leave it as is then.

One more thing about Mountain Lion I am still unsure of...

For iMessages, they are sent and delivered via my Apple ID. On my iPhone I have iMessages set up to be received at my phone number, not Apple ID.

Therefore, for integration of both phone and Mac, I changed my iPhone settings to receive iMessages at my ID.
But now do I have to send out a mass text with my apple ID (email address) so that my friends and family can send me messages via that? I have no idea who has an Iphone and who doesn't....seems like there would be an easier way.

Can I not set my imessages in ML to be received at my phone number?

 

[iClive]

Thank you. I guess I will leave it as is then.

One more thing about Mountain Lion I am still unsure of...

For iMessages, they are sent and delivered via my Apple ID. On my iPhone I have iMessages set up to be received at my phone number, not Apple ID.

Therefore, for integration of both phone and Mac, I changed my iPhone settings to receive iMessages at my ID.
But now do I have to send out a mass text with my apple ID (email address) so that my friends and family can send me messages via that? I have no idea who has an Iphone and who doesn't....seems like there would be an easier way.

Can I not set my imessages in ML to be received at my phone number?

No, but you can set up messages to be received on your iphone at your email address.

 

[techocd]

It is coming in iOS6 to the iPad, I would assume it will be added to ML then, in the fall.

 

[Gryz]

Oh well, the wait continues. Thank you all for the help up to this point.