Mobile browser
Underlying technology
Underlying technology
---------------------

The mobile browser usually connects via the [cellular network](/wiki/Cellular_network "Cellular network"), or increasingly via [Wireless LAN](/wiki/Wireless_LAN "Wireless LAN"), using standard [HTTP](/wiki/HTTP "HTTP") over [TCP/IP](/wiki/TCP/IP "TCP/IP") and displays web pages written in [HTML](/wiki/HTML "HTML"). Historically, early feature phones were restricted to only displaying pages specifically designed for mobile use, written in [XHTML Mobile Profile](/wiki/XHTML_Mobile_Profile "XHTML Mobile Profile") ([WAP 2\.0](/wiki/WAP_2.0 "WAP 2.0")), or [WML](/wiki/Wireless_Markup_Language "Wireless Markup Language") (which evolved from [HDML](/wiki/Handheld_Device_Markup_Language "Handheld Device Markup Language")). WML and HDML are stripped\-down formats suitable for transmission across limited bandwidth, and wireless data connection called [WAP](/wiki/Wireless_Application_Protocol "Wireless Application Protocol"). In Japan, DoCoMo defined the [i\-mode](/wiki/I-mode "I-mode") service based on i\-mode HTML, which is an extension of Compact HTML (C\-HTML), a simple subset of HTML.

WAP 2\.0 specifies XHTML Mobile Profile plus WAP CSS, subsets of the W3C's standard XHTML and CSS with minor mobile extensions.

Smartphone mobile browsers are full\-featured Web browsers capable of HTML, [CSS](/wiki/CSS "CSS"), [ECMAScript](/wiki/ECMAScript "ECMAScript"), as well as mobile technologies such as WML, i\-mode HTML, or cHTML.
To accommodate small screens, they use [Post\-WIMP](/wiki/Post-WIMP "Post-WIMP") interfaces.


What are some potential drawbacks or limitations of i-mode HTML?