I-Mode

ross_castle

Does anyone have any information on Imode and know if any irish operators are looking to launch it

Blaster99

O2 will launch it later this year in all their markets including Ireland. They will launch with four handsets from various Japanese makers. NEC type of stuff. I-mode uses a subscription model to access content, so there will be a number of content providers available in Ireland.

ross_castle

Do you have any idea when they will launch I Mode or what sort of dervices will be avaliable or any info on costs. How does it hold up against 3G. Am i better going for a 3g phone now or hanging on for I mode

Blaster99

I don't know what phones they will launch with (even though this is not a great secret) and I don't know the cost. I think O2 is working on the pricing so nobody knows.

I-mode will run over GPRS to start off with and probably 3G in the future. I-mode in my opinion doesn't really do anything that current phones can't do. It's mostly a marketing concept. O2's buying a portal platform from DoCoMo that can handle subscription services, that's pretty much it. There are claims that i-mode is nearly as quick as 3G, but I can't see how.

I would go for 3G.

Slice

imode will be launched in line with 3G over here for O2

Blaster99

Possibly, but they're not related.

jesus_thats_gre

Imode is basically WAP.. Nothing more to be honest.

When O2 release it, it will look like Imode but will really be WAP..

otron

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

Imode is basically WAP.. Nothing more to be honest.

When O2 release it, it will look like Imode but will really be WAP..

Thats pretty much true, the i-mode technology is based on almost identical technology to WAP2. The differences on the service however include things like Flash support, a special java implementation called DoJa, internet email to/from the handset and subscriptions to sites.

jesus_thats_gre

I would be pretty confident that the I-Mode service that O2 will offer will be I-Mode branded but will be technically restricted to what WAP 2.0 can offer..

ross_castle

Has anyone used I-mode or is able to givw a detailed outline of the pros and cons of I -mode as opposed to 3G. What is the hybred I-mode 3g service like ? On the matter of 3 does anyone know when O2 or Meteor are launching it ?

BuffyBot

Meteor won't be launching a 3G service, as they didn't bid for a 3G licence. They might decide in the future to acquire the 4th 3G licence of piggy back on one of the other networks, but I don't think it'll happen in the near future given their "value" orientated market segment.

jesus_thats_gre

You cannot compare I-Mode to 3G. I-Mode is basically a content service while 3G is an access technology..

You could compare I-Mode to Vodafone's Live Portal..



Meteor won;t buy a 3G license. Whoever takes them over will.. Western Wirelss basically set themselves up for a take over when they didnt buy a licence IMO.

joerules

Hi,


I live in Japan and use I-Mode's competitor (the difference is more in the implementation rather than how it looks). What I-Mode is really good at is giving you the content that you want. It's split into official and un-official content. Official content is built-in to the menu structure of the portal. Un-official can be accessed by a URL.

The problem with it is that most sites charge you a monthly subscription to access their content. It's typically 315 yen (2.40 euro) a month. I'm currently subscribed to a Sega game site and a GPS navigation portal. Unlike Vodafone Live, nearly all of that 315 yen goes to the content provider, not the Network. The network makes its money on packet charges. This means that there is a tonne of content available.

If you can read Japanese check out DoCoMo (they have an english site with less detail). For closer to home experiences check ou German I-Mode or Dutch KPN I-Mode site .

In all the european countries you pay a premium for the content. E.g: Here, you can pay 315 yen and get up to 10 ringtones free a month. I pay 315yen for unlimited Sega games downloads including 3D sega rally. In Ireland and european countries these games and ringtones are incredibly expensive. So I won't expect young people (who tend to be on prepaid) to go with I-Mode. It'll be more of a niche product I expect.

I do wonder when O2 will launch it. It looks like an interesting few months ahead with 3 Ireland supposed to be launching sometime soon.


Joe

The Corinthian

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

Imode is basically WAP.. Nothing more to be honest.

I-Mode is a competing technology to WAP or HDML, developed by NTT DoCoMo in Japan. The pages are based upon HTML 1.0 with a few 2.0 tags thrown in. On a technical level it’s nothing special and generally inferior to the WAP standard.

What made I-Mode a success in Japan was the revenue-split model. Approximately 91% of revenue (from data traffic or subscriptions) went to the content provider, which incentivised better quality, or at least more popular, content. In Europe, operators first began by buying content outright (leading to a lot of really crap content) then later moved to a limited revenue-split model.

I suspect that some marketing bunny decided that they might get some hype from the introduction of I-Mode. Of course, if they’ve not copied the NTT DoCoMo revenue-split model correctly, it’ll die a death in a few months, as content providers won’t really bother providing. If they’re really dumb, they’ll just buy content outright again.

When O2 release it, it will look like Imode but will really be WAP..

If they’re launching the service with a number of specific Japanese handsets then it probably will be I-Mode. As for what it looks like, they all look much the same on a mobile phone. Bit more colour than WAP, AFAIR.