[LINK] Telstra Ending I-Mode Web Mobile Service in Australia

[Tom Worthington]

According to news reports, Telstra will cease its iMode service on 10 
December 2007 
<http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=ao6r7spY7vAw&refer=asia>. 
The service started in November 2004 and provides web like 
information on mobile phones. The service is popular in Japan but has 
not taken off elsewhere. The UK O2 mobile carrier is also reported to 
be phasing out iMode 
<http://investing.reuters.co.uk/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=allBreakingNews&storyID=2007-07-17T124806Z_01_L17187767_RTRIDST_0_O2-IMODE.XML>.

I tried iMode when it came out and it worked okay. The iMode phones 
were slightly modified GSM phones and also capable of displaying 
ordinary web pages <http://www.tomw.net.au/2005/wd/imode.html>. 
However, it appears few in Australia were willing to pay a 
subscription for news or information on the iMode phones, when they 
could get the same information free on the web. No one knows why 
iMode is popular in Japan; one theory is that because it can be used 
in crowded trains on long commutes.

iMode uses a derivative of HTML called Compact HTML (cHTML) 
<http://www.tomw.net.au/2006/wd/mobile.shtml>. It was designed for 
hand held devices with small screens. This differed from the Wireless 
Application Protocol Version 1 (WAP 1) developed by other phone 
makers, which is an XML format not compatible with HTML. WAP 1 also 
failed to attract much support from consumers.

Current mobile phones have WAP 2 which includes a subset of XHTML and 
thus have more compatibility with the web. Smart phones, such as 
Apple's iPhone have more advanced web browsers supporting HTML, XHTML 
and some new features of the proposed HTML 5 
<http://www.tomw.net.au/technology/it/iphone.shtml>.

However, web content on mobile phones has still not become a popular 
consumer product. It is not clear if large screen phones, such as the 
iPhone, with more advanced software will change that. Features of CSS 
allow web pages to be automatically adjusted, to some extent, for 
hand held screens. However, compromises need to be made to the web 
design to suit both desktop and hand held screens 
<http://www.tomw.net.au/blog/2007/07/iphone-for-emergency-management.html>.



Tom Worthington FACS HLM tom.worthington at tomw.net.au Ph: 0419 496150
Director, Tomw Communications Pty Ltd            ABN: 17 088 714 309
PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617                http://www.tomw.net.au/
Visiting Fellow, ANU      Blog: http://www.tomw.net.au/blog/atom.xml