i-Channel Prompts Lazy Surfers

i-mode LogoHere’s one I missed at the beginning of the month; it’s another foundation in the mobile content market behemoth that is Japan. NTT DoCoMo has launched a new service dubbed i-channel, which puts a screensaver-like scrolling ticker on the screen promoting mobile content — such as news, weather, entertainment, sports and so on. “By pushing the i-channel button, a channel list will appear and the user can select the channel they want to view.”
The service is “intended to get people using its i-mode plan (and hence, spending more money) even in cases where they really don’t know how to do so…The idea is that users spot something they’re interested in without actively soliciting it. They then have the opportunity to actually lift a finger and use it to press the dedicated i-channel button to jump on the Internet proper, thereby opening their virtual wallets further”. Despite the promotional nature of i-channel DoCoMo is promoting it as a service, and charging 150 yen (US$1.36) per month in addition to the ‘packet communications charge’ incurred in viewing the channel.
Like i-mode, it’s open to everybody — “i-channel users can also add their own channels, which means any information provider can join the i-channel system”. I think the service is in some other Asian countries as well, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see it taken up by all i-mode operators.
Related stories:
O2 UK’s i-Mode Rev Share: 86 Percent
Namco Launches International i-Mode Gaming Tournament
Qualcomm To Support i-Mode On Chipset

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