Enormous Japanese mobile phone content service i-mode from NTT DoCoMo will be launched in the UK next month via former BT mobile arm O2, according to this article in Technology today. While I'm hopelessly out of my depth here, I do recall saying years ago when I was closer to the mobile phone games industry than I am now that the subscription-based system of the service would be a real draw to potential mobile gamers who are currently loath to download expensive interactive products through (what they consider) incoherent processes. The £3 per month price tag tier for all the content available (from Web to games) should increase the likelihood that people will download Keith's new favourite Camel game and others, and if the Japanese market is anything to go by (40 million i-mode customers by 2003), it should completely revolutionise our relationships with our mobile phones.
But is it too late? Will i-mode arrive beyond the tipping point in Europe thanks to the plethora of other handheld products on the market?
