Difference between I-mode and WAP?

paddylonglegs

Just wondering is there a difference between the new i-mode thing that o2 are promoting and the WAP internet acces of a couple of years ago.Is there an actual differance or are they just marketing it differantly?

Random

There is and there isn't a difference. Imode is marketed as "as close to the true internet experience as you can get on a mobile phone".

It comes with a free (til end of march 2006) email service called imail which is operated off your mobile phone.

It allows you to securely subscribe to websites for information.

It allows you to book things like tickets and hostels online with your credit card.

Basically, it's WAP done properly.... but not there fully yet.

at least this is my opinion and experience.

Random

Try www.o2.ie/i-mode for an interactive demo.

darraghrogan

wap vs i-mode adds from what I can see colour support.

With imode - developers can write simple HTML (or XHTML if thats your thing) whereas with WAP they had to write in WML which is similar to HTML but still a different learning curve. Most websites just didn't bother. They also had to encode images as w-bitmaps - again big production difference to throwing a jpeg together.

if you look at any imode site such as http://www.paddypower.com/imode you'll see that its just simple html - indeed my non imode nokia 6230 can view it

Darragh

muckwarrior

But its still on a 2.5G network, yeah?

darraghrogan

muckwarrior wrote:

But its still on a 2.5G network, yeah?

yeah - actually doesn't matter if you use GPRS/EDGE/3G - i-mode/wap is simply the data being transferred - doesn't matter how

muckwarrior

darraghrogan wrote:

yeah - actually doesn't matter if you use GPRS/EDGE/3G - i-mode/wap is simply the data being transferred - doesn't matter how

Yeah, but I was just wondering do O2 have a 3G network in place yet. Didn't hear them advertising any.

ffocused

O2 will have to re-think the pricing strategy for imode for it to really take off.
you have to subscibe to each website on a monthly basis. most are EUR2-3 per month. 4 or 5 sites can quickly push up your bill. Then you have to pay the data download costs too.
I got the Samsung S500i imode handset. The download times are quick but i will not be using it as much as i used mobile web on my last phone. I am only subscribing to 3 sites from January as it will just cost too much.
I would like to see a flat monthly charge for your own personalized bundle of sites.
to answer the last post O2 did not get a 3G licence in Ireland, so imode is their next best offering.

Random

they have a 3G network in the major cities which they use for business customers and data cards. They don't have a consumer one yet.

Imode has a flat rate of 1c per KB. You don't have to subscribe to anything to use it, although some websites do have optional subs.

ffocused

most of the websites that i used on wap are subscription only from January on imode. If i had known this i would not have got one.

O2 do not have a licence for 3G so they will never have full 3G coverage.

Conor S

http://www.comreg.ie/links/default.asp?cat=100010&navid=187&s=2

According to COMREG they do infact have a 3g licence.The fourth 3G licence went to Smart Telecom.
Meteor do not have one and unless they 'piggyback' on one of the other networks they wont for the forseeable future.

O2's 3G coverage is limited to say the least,
I have encountered it in Dublin and Dundalk so far.
However rumour has it that they are launching their 3G network in January and will hopefully start developing the network then.

I am currently using the NEC 343i I-MODE phone as a second phone and I have to say it is a very attractive, stylish handset but lacks A LOT in the features end of things.All the same, with free I-Mail and free I-Mode aswell as the price (99euro with 100euro credit) it was a good deal.

ffocused

I stand corrected:o O2 got the first 3G licence!!!

I find it a bit strange that Comreg are issuing 4 3G licences compared to the 3 GSM ones.