by Paul Quigley
November 15, 2001

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NTT DoCoMo, the world's largest mobile operator, is launching its commercial mobile video clip service, finally kickstarting mobile multimedia in Japan. The prospect of early launch in Europe is expected soon.

Tokyo is buzzing. NTT DoCoMo says it will launch its breakthrough video clip distribution service over its 'FOMA' 3G mobile network next Monday, November 19 and will call it 'i-motion'. The video clip service enables users to download video content at speeds of up to 384 kilobits per second, with a respectable 64 kilobits per second uplink. The user gets the clips from sites accessed via DoCoMo's i-mode portal with i-motion-compatible FOMA handsets. According to DoCoMo, the service fee is even included in the 100-yen basic monthly fee that FOMA subscribers pay to use i-mode.

However, some i-motion sites will be charging an 'i-motion information charge' for accessing key information. On the same day, DoCoMo will also start selling its brand new FOMA N2002 handset which is compatible with i-motion services. Initially, 28 content providers will be offering some 37 different i-motion sites to users, with new movie trailers, news highlights and music files among the content on offer. Data will be offered in three formats: video with sound for promotional videos, news, still frames with sound for famous movie scenes and sound-only music files.

So it's finally starting to move. 3G video clips will be big in Japan and will be coming to a handheld near you too if collaborative noises between Nokia and NTT are to be believed. Roll on streaming cellular celebrations.