As far as I know, i-mode services run on GPRS, do support WML/XHTML content,
have e-mail with attachments, something I guess is relatively easily
integrated with upcoming MMS and today's SMS anyways. So for the end user
i-mode does not deviate much from open technologies really.
The real difference is that i-mode offerings in EU follow in the footsteps
of content subscriptions. This allows content providers to potentially earn
money. Which makes content development attractive. Etc etc. My first
thoughts when European i-mode efforts were announced were: "Oh, what
services could I offer there to make some money?" - I guess I wasn't the
only one.
Of course, European telcos could've done all that since ages and without
paying license fees but they just didn't get that the world of mobile
services today is about farming and not hunting anymore, about creating a
market inside and not just participating in a market. Perhaps this insight
and the billing model was not high on the list of reasons to license i-mode.
The main reason was maybe blind trust in the success of the brand (in the
case of Coke that works, too). Perhaps though it was all perfectly
understood at a point in time when it was considered too late to establish &
market an own approach - i-mode having a good image was then just seen to
help get the necessary attention from content providers, users, etc (*).
Interestingly, i-mode could be a non-starter because - despite its reported
success in Japan - it is potentially perceived as something totally
proprietary that's incompatible with the rest of the world. So a strong
brand can also have its disadvantages.
Marc
(*): Of course it makes total sense that MMS in Europe should be first
targeted at police force and insurance companies who want to take pictures
of accident scenes...
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Olivier MARTIN [mailto:martin@anoria.com]
> Sent: Friday, March 15, 2002 2:14 AM
> To: Gerhard Fasol
> Subject: (keitai-l) Re: Nokia-Germany CEO interview
>
>
>
> 14/03/2002, 18:13:14, Olivier writes :
>
> thank you, really interresting news...
> Nokia has the same arrogance as Microsoft in 1994 when
> Microsoft said what
> they will never invest on Internet ;-)
>
> Thursday, March 14, 2002, 9:34:25 AM, you wrote:
>
>
> GF> Those interested to know what Nokia-Germany's
> GF> CEO thinks about i-mode, sha-mail etc can find
> GF> an interview here:
> GF> http://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/0,1518,186861,00.html
>
> GF> Here are some interesting extracts - he says that:
> GF> - 77% of imode usage in Japan is SMS
> GF> - imode has no future in Europe
> GF> - he thinks WAP, GPRS, MMS offers the same things
> GF> as imode in Japan
> GF> - he thinks typical applications for images
> GF> via mobile (sha-mail) in Europe will be
> GF> police officers and insurance agents reporting
> GF> images from accident scenes to operation centers
> GF> - European handset makers are unlikely to offer
> GF> imode handsets
> GF> - Nokia will introduce UMTS handsets on Sept 26.
>
> GF> Gerhard Fasol
> GF> http://www.eurotechnology.com/
>
> GF> This mail was sent to address martin@anoria.com
> GF> Need archives? How to unsubscribe?
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This mail was sent to address MPrintz@724.com
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Received on Fri Mar 15 05:18:51 2002