What is i-Mode

- i-Mode is the packet-based service for mobile phones offered by Japan's leader in wireless technology, NTT DoCoMo. Unlike most of the key players in the wireless arena, i-Mode eschews the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) and uses a simplified version of HTML, Compact Wireless Markup Language (CWML) instead of WAP's Wireless Markup Language (WML). NTT DoCoMo has said that eventually it will support WAP and WML, but the company has not said exactly when this will happen.
First introduced in 1999, i-Mode was the world's first smart phone for Web browsing. The i-Mode wireless data service offers color and video over many phones. Its mobile computing service enables users to do telephone banking, make airline reservations, conduct stock transactions, send and receive e-mail, and have access to the Internet. As of early 2000, i-Mode had an estimated 5.6 million users