One of the conditions of Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) and Microsoft’s search pact was that Yahoo would be able to continue using its own search for mobile devices, and going forward it would have the option to use Microsoft’s technology if they wished. So, the question is, will Yahoo replace its…

German mobile operator E-Plus is shutting down its i-Mode service as of 1 April, one of the last major European networks to abandon the Japanese import, TelecomTV reports. Germany’s third largest operator launched the service in 2002, when i-Mode was an undisputed success in Japan, serving then some 30 million…

When someone from NTT DoCoMo, the Japanese operator that developed i-mode and is one of the trailblazers in mobile content, has something to say about mobile data business models, it’s always worth hearing. The Times has published an interview with Shuichiro Ichikoshi, “one of the pricinipal architects of i-mode” and…

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…

An obscure, Japanese-language-only press release snippet speaks volumes about DoCoMo’s wider mobile search ambitions. The mobile operator has quietly and cleverly combined FM radio and real-time mobile search in a scheme that sets the bar. D2C, a DoCoMo Group company, has developed an i-Appli—basically an application program written in the…

MTS, the largest operator in Russia, has announced it will cut the number of its direct content partners to 70, claiming the rest can still offer content via those partners it still does business with. “Currently we have hundreds of content providers and we are unable to pay enough attention…

Australian incumbent telco Telstra‘s new boss Sol Trujillo has never been enthusiastic about i-mode, and it (along with WAP) was only mentioned once in a review of the telco’s new direction. The BigPond brand is now being promoted for all the 3G content Telstra offers, as well as its broadband…

This is very interesting and I wish other operators in the industry could follow such an example (but for sure won’t): according to the latest issue of the “Mobile Media” newsletter from Informa, DoCoMo is preparing to launch a full-track-download service, through Imode, with links to several music stores on…

“We found that eBay’s i-mode site is one of the top attractions on i-mode, letting people track the progress of their bids and make new bids on the move - removing the need for people to stay at home in front of their PCs in the vital closing minutes of…

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…

The Vodafone-Softbank joint venture deal for data services will challenge NTT Docomo’s i-mode service, said Masayoshi Son, president and CEO of Softbank. NTT Docomo’s i-mode service has about 46 million Japanese subscribers, while the similar service of Vodafone Japan - called Vodafone Live - has 13 million subscribers. Son wants…

NEC Australia (and its parent company, NEC) has launched a mobile music service for Australian incumbent Telstra’s i-mode service. So far the service has licensing deals with EMI and Warner, and Aussie independent labels Shock Records and Vicious. “The “music-on-the-move” site initially delivers realtones (snippets of high quality digital music)…

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…

Israeli mobile telco Cellcom is a good example of a problem in the mobile content space—the content delivery platform of the operators are different, and change. In Cellcom’s case it launched iMode last September, the management changed and the new guys have reportedly decided iMode isn’t worth allocating resources to…the…