Netsize powers RealArcade for O2's i-mode

Mobile business and entertainment solutions provider, Netsize, has announced the successful results of its collaboration with RealNetworks in the design, development and continued management of the RealArcade service for i-mode mobile Internet.

Launched as a key partner for O2's UK launch of i-mode in October, the RealArcade mobile games service offers a rotating selection of casual games, including favourites such as Trivial Pursuit and Playman Sports Series, a sports franchise that has sold more than 1.5 million copies worldwide to date. New titles based on the most popular games from the RealArcade PC service will also feature, for a monthly subscription of GBP 3.00 in the UK or EURO 3.00 in Ireland.

The service will be powered by Netsize's mSuites content management platform, which enables RealNetworks to easily comply with various i-mode Service Level Agreements, and allows real-time subscription checking to authorise access to downloaded games. The mSuites platform has recently been certified for enabling rich media content portals by a number of different European operators.

Gunnar Larsen, RealNetworks' director of mobile games for Europe, commented: "We selected Netsize to develop the i-mode portal due to their global expertise in deploying mobile services and delivering an end-to-end mobile internet solution including design, development, hosting and content management."

"We have implemented over 200 mobile internet portals for global brands across Europe in the last two years and are excited about the new opportunities presented by the launch of i-mode in Europe," added Mayako Fagerfjall, marketing manager for Netsize.

"There is an increased demand for sought after brands over the mobile internet and Netsize is helping global brands to deploy international mobile portals compatible with various handset and network standards, making them accessible by millions of consumers." Fagerfjall concluded.

I-mode is a fast and intuitive alternative to traditional WAP mobile Internet services, and is based on compact HTML coding. The service was developed by Japan's NTT DoCoMo and is available in the UK and Ireland exclusively through O2.