O2's i-mode internet service launches in the UK

O2’s long awaited i-mode Internet service has finally been unveiled in the UK. offering users the chance to experience a fast and cost effective internet service. Already the world’s most widely-used mobile Internet service with more than 50 million users in 22 countries, i-mode is supposed to be an easy-to-use service, which runs significantly faster than most services. Available in the UK exclusively from O2 on 1st October, the service will launch on Pay as You Go and Pay Monthly and will be on both 3G and 2G services.

Around 100 international and local mobile Internet sites have been unveiled at the launch, with brands such as Egg, Interflora, lastminute.com, Rightmove.co.uk and Monster.com getting involved. As well as advanced internet services, with banking, shopping, email, ticket bookings and news all available, a push email service will also be included, allowing you to get your emails straight to your phone instantly.

Four unique i-mode handsets, with more to follow, have been unveiled: Samsung S500i (£249 Pre-pay, free Post Pay); NEC 411i (£99 Pre-pay, free on Post Pay); the NEC 343i (£79 for pre-pay, free on Post pay) and the Samsung Z320i 3G slider phone, which will cost £249 on pre-pay and from £79.99 on contract (Full details after the jump)

In countries where it has already been launched, i-mode has proven to be far more popular than WAP servies, and because it employs commonly used open Internet technology, companies are already equipped to create and update their sites. Another difference is that i-mode site providers, such as lastminute.com and Egg, can do things like charging customers directly for any additional services they buy, rather than O2 adding the costs to the bill.

More info from release:

O2 UK will sell the i-mode service and handsets at its 300 retail stores in the UK, the O2 online shop (www.o2.co.uk) and through popular retailers like P4U, Carphone Warehouse, The Link, Argos, Woolworths and other channels.

Browsing and downloading is priced at £3 per megabyte, with each megabyte equal to approximately 100 pages, which is the same rate that O2 charges for other consumer data services. In addition, customers can save more than 50% on their browsing cost by adding simple data bundles known as O2 Bolt On’s. These Bolt On’s have been tailored for the regular and heavy users to make it easy for customers to plan and control what they spend.

Emails without an attachment will be charged from the outset at the same price as standard text messages. Furthermore, if an email is sent to more than one recipient (up to 5), it will only be charged as one message.

Samsung S500i
1.3 mega pixel Camera with flash
MP3 player with external controls
80 MB internal memory with optional Transflash removable memory card
Dual external speakers
Tri-band
Large 262k QVGA internal TFT screen
Stereo Bluetooth headset support
Weight – 98g

NEC 411i
•          1.3 mega pixel camera
•          Large 65k colour screen
•          Bluetooth
•          MP3 player
•          Still image and video capture playback
•          26mb of user memory
•          Downloadable games and ringtones
•          Tri-band

NEC 343i

•          Slim and stylish design
•          VGA camera
•          Large 65k colour screen
•          Tri-band
•          Downloadable games and ringtones
•          1.3mb internal memory

Samsung Z320i

•          3G Slider phone
•          262k Colour Screen
•          Video calling
•          1.3 Megapixel camera
•          Multimedia Player with Dual external speakers
•          100mb internal Memory
•          Stereo Bluetooth
•          Internal Antenna
•          Quadband
•          Weight – 105g
•          97 x 48 x 22.5mm