Now that O2 and Telstra have let the cat out of the bag about i-mode, news is leaking out about other markets where the DoCoMo-backed mobile Internet standard has not been living up to expectations. The IHT says i-mode has 50 million users in Japan, but it has failed to…

Updated: This is official now, and O2 has said it would continue to support the service for the next two years but it would not launch any new i-mode handsets from July 2007. Ovum’s anlysis is here: “the i-mode service concept itself runs counter to trends that are emerging in…

Napster is gearing up to launch on Telefonica’s O2 mobile network in Ireland later this month, according to this press release. The service – which features Napster’s catalog of over three million full-length songs, artist images and ringtones - will be available to O2 Ireland’s 1.6 million subscribers via NTT…

UK operator O2 has attracted 250,000 i-mode subscribers in the seven months since its launch, which it claims is “the fastest growing i-mode service outside Japan”. To get the service users have to buy or upgrade to an i-mode phone—and only 75% (187,500) who do so actually make at least…

As a sign of the way mobile gaming is going (hopefully) Gameloft’s new 2006 Real Football will allow people to play against other users in the same country as well as other European countries. It’s an i-mode service… “The cross-country competition will be supported by O2 in the UK and…

Dutch operator KPN has launched a new portal, Mobiel Startsite, which will “make i-mode content accessible for non i-mode customers. KPN subscribers or prepaid users with a WAP enable handset, can access up to fifty i-mode sites, news and “538 ringtunes”. It is also available from KPN prepaid”. It seems…

ITN Multimedia has launched a news service on the i-mode site of UK operator O2. The £1.50 per month includes unlimited text and video downloads, and will offer “home, world, business and entertainment news,plus breaking news bulletins, in both text and video form”. Related stories:—Who Wants Mobile Newspaper Content?—Tribune Venture…

O2 has partnered with InfoSpace to launch an iPub channel on the carriers i-mode service, available “from £3”. It has pub-themed games such as Pub Pool, Pub Fruity and Pub Darts as well as other other games (I’m thinking a pinball game is a must). “George Fraser, VP Sales, InfoSpace…

O2 is set to announce it has signed up auction giant eBay to its i-mode mobile internet service, which will allow users to check their auctions on the move, with the ability to bid, search the auction site and monitor the progress of auctions, but not to pay for their…

A lot of operators are viewing i-mode as the best chance for mobile data to be a success…a few weeks ago UK’s O2 launched the service. I-mode business Strategy has written about a report from Visiongain outlining the challenges O2 will have to overcome for its i-mode service to be…

There’s a couple of mobile initiatives announced today designed to teach people the rules and strategies of the great game of love and seduction… Mobile2win has teamed up with fragrance maker AXE to put the Axe Unlimited Academy on mobiles. Apparently, the academy “helps one learn and master the Art…

This is possibly the biggest non-CTIA story this week: UK operator O2 is launching i-mode service, with content partners including the BBC, BSkyB and online bank Egg, on October 1. The service, created by Japanese operator NTT DoCoMo and requiring an i-mode compatible handset, will allow customers to access online…

[by Mike Butcher] Olivier Laury, content director of multimedia mobile, Bouygues Telecom (one of the three French GSM customers) which is, apparently, the most successful iMode service outside of Japan, spoke about their experience. One of the studies they did found that people want personalised content on iMode. They use…

Motorola has acquired from Melco Mobile Communication Europe, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi, a European team of i-mode design employees and a research center in western France. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The Rennes facility will become a European i-mode focused development center for Motorola…

Not that this is surprising, but goes you to show that operators are still mired in their thinking..UK operator O2 is all set to launch the i-mode service in UK, but will launch without a search engine. Its official content partners on i-mode will get top billing, and even though…

Ministry of Sound and record label Sony BMG are the first music brands to be confirmed to be launching on O2’s i-mode service in the UK this autumn… The subscription will be £3 a month which will include content such as two truetones or wallpapers, but truetones will be offered…

Namco has launched an “international cross-network operator mobile games tournament” in Europe. “The tournament is open to every i-mode phone owner, on all of the mobile networks in Europe where Namco offers its PAC-MAN ARCADE site. This includes Bouygues Telecom (France), COSMOTE (Greece), e-plus (Germany), and KPN (Netherlands).” The competition…

O2 will launch the i-Mode service in the UK later this year, and believes i-Mode is better tha WAP because it aligns closer with internet protocols. “I-Mode today uses XHTML Mobile Profile, which is based on the newest revision of HTML, allowing developers to easily build sites that can be…