What's the point of imode?

Selik

Can't get any pages up on it properly at all. Usually get a msg saying it's too big to fit. Even the AIB banking site on the o2 menu doesn't even let me log into my account. Completely useless at least with gprs on my 6230 that I had before let me go to almost any site including my gmail account.

byrnefm

Giles wrote:

What's the point of imode?

To get people to spend more money on GPRS?
(Sorry!)

I've seen imode in action before but IMO it just seems to be a glorified WAP service for mobiles with limited content?

MiCr0

the nokia 6230 isn't imode either - that prob explains why its not working

JohnLS

Imode was useful in the past but by the time O2 brought it in here it's pretty much obselete. The data transfer is low using imode but phone operators should be reducing data charges so people can use browsers like Opera mobile or Opera mini to browse any site on the net.



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TerrorFirmer

i-Mode is just rubbish.

Blaster99

Giles wrote:

Can't get any pages up on it properly at all. Usually get a msg saying it's too big to fit. Even the AIB banking site on the o2 menu doesn't even let me log into my account. Completely useless at least with gprs on my 6230 that I had before let me go to almost any site including my gmail account.

What phone are you using?

The Corinthian

JohnLS wrote:

Imode was useful in the past but by the time O2 brought it in here it's pretty much obselete. The data transfer is low using imode but phone operators should be reducing data charges so people can use browsers like Opera mobile or Opera mini to browse any site on the net.

Very true. iMode is in many ways what WAP 1.x should have been and in reality while it included a number of nice little features that were unavailable to early WAP (most notably colour and the use of push messaging) it’s real strength was content. The content model of iMode, or more correctly NTT DoCoMo, was that a content provider got the bulk of the subscriptions that people were paying to view their content - which resulted in content providers going out of their way to produce compelling content and consumers in turn using the service.

I don’t get the feeling that O2 has managed to apply the same model successfully. Perhaps they’ve not offered an attractive enough proposition to content providers or perhaps they’ve simply not been proactive enough about getting content providers in the first place. My guess is a bit of both.

So this combined with the fact that iMode has become a technological market lagger has probably meant that it’s a consumer ‘has run’.

Blaster99

i-mode is first and foremost a business model. The technology side of it is not worth writing about. Curiously the things that O2 are banging on about being great with i-mode, like the content provider payouts and the ease of e-mail integration as opposed to SMS, are problems they themselves have created in the WAP world. They could easily have changed that instead of spending money on obsolete technology.

They've done a very good job getting hold of content providers in my opinion. I don't really use the service, but the last time I looked at the list, it was impressive. Whether any of the sites work is another story.

mathie

Anyone know how much imode on 02 speakeasy costs per minute?
Thanks

Sam Vimes

mathie wrote:

Anyone know how much imode on 02 speakeasy costs per minute?
Thanks

as far as i know its 1c/KB so its not done by time

Commander Vimes

Commander Vimes wrote:

as far as i know its 1c/KB so its not done by time

That's correct.

They seem to be spending more time and effort on iMode rather than 3G.

jesus_thats_gre

Whatever happened to O2 Active?

It's still there, just tends not to be promoted it seems. Shows up on my 6680 with no graphics, very plain.

podgeandrodge

Commander Vimes wrote:

as far as i know its 1c/KB so its not done by time

Be VERY careful about the IMODE charges - take with a pinch of salt the following phrase from the O2 website:

"O2 only charges 1c per Kilobyte for browsing and downloading on i-mode®, which is great value. So you could, for example, search for a restaurant for 5c, book a hotel room for 10c or find a job for 7c!"


I tried Paddypower - logged in, went to horse racing , selected a race meeting, then a particular race, then a horse , then placed a bet - the charge for this alone was about €1.60. What the hell would I use Imode for - I would just ring paddypower. Total ripoff. Same applied when trying to use Ebay on Imode - this one cent per kb thing is deceiving.

I contacted them about the phrase quoted above and they only blathered on about it being "sample charges" !

Of course O2 in the UK, as always compared to Ireland, have got the whole thing more right - they offer data packages for a fraction of the cost of O2 Ireland.