i-Mode: A Robust Model For Mobile Internet of The Future



NTT DoCoMo's i-mode is a mobile internet (as opposed to wireless internet) service popular in Japan. Unlike Wireless Application Protocol or WAP, i-mode encompasses a wider variety of internet standards, including web access, e-mail and the packet-switched network that delivers the data. i-mode users have access to various services such as e-mail, sports results, weather forecast, games, financial services and ticket booking. Content is provided by specialized services, typically from the mobile carrier, which allows them to have tighter control over billing.
Like WAP, i-mode delivers only those services that are specifically converted for the service, or are converted through gateways. This has placed both systems at a disadvantage against handsets that use "real" browser software, and generally use a flat pricing structure for data. Even i-mode's creator, Takeshi Natsuno, has stated "I believe the iPhone (a phone that uses the traditional TCP/IP model) is closer to the mobile phone of the future, compared with the latest Japanese mobile phones."
Through this presentation I shall try to portray the incapability of the traditional forms of mobile internet, based on wireless connectivity like WAP, and then present a more robust technology for mobile internet (accredited to acceptance of more standards compared to traditional internet on mobile), as developed by the Japanese telecom major NTT-DoCoMo.

Keywords – Mobile Internet; WAP; Sedentary Systems Internet on Mobile Devices; Mobile Internet and Smartphone Revolution; Standards and Protocols of Mobile and Sedentary System Based Internet; Innovative Applications of Mobile Internet.