DOCOMO to Trial Service that Makes Smartphones more Intuitive
—Utilizes trend data, usage history, more to predict support by time and location—
R&D
TOKYO, JAPAN, March 22, 2013 --- NTT DOCOMO, INC., Japan’s leading mobile operator and provider of integrated services centered on mobility, announced today that it will trial Tap-de-Concier™, a smartphone service that uses trend data, operation history and selected service statistics to enable basic device functions and services from DOCOMO’s dmenu™ portal to provide highly intuitive information and support, adjusted by location and time. The trial will last from March 26 to September 30.
The service app (in Japanese only), which works with most DOCOMO smartphones running on Android™ OS 2.3 or higher, can be downloaded for free at Google Play™ or DOCOMO’s dmenu portal.
By tapping on the icon, the user is presented with a screen of selected functions and/or services that the user is predicted most likely to need. Predictions are based on analysis of trend data from DOCOMO’s dmenu portal, Tap-de-Concier operation history, and usage and statistics of DOCOMO’s Shabette Concier™ voice-agent service. Information provided by the selected functions and services is highly tailored to the user’s predicted needs with respect to current location and time.
For example, the service learns if a user is likely to leave the office at a given time of day and then automatically provides a list of likely destinations, which the user can tap to obtain a specific train schedule. Or, for a user who frequently looks up recipes with their smartphone before dinner, Tap-de-Concier can provide quick, easy access to popular recipes in the late afternoon and early evening. Conventionally, users select and launch functions and services individually and then input information or perform operations manually, but DOCOMO’s new Tap-de-Concier service greatly simplifies this process while providing intuitively selected information.
The service works in conjunction with eight built-in handset functions: phone, mail, memo, alarm, timer, calendar, camera and music player, and 15 Web-based services: transit, maps, weather, location guide, restaurants, recipes, videos, music, images, app searches, games, ebooks, tweet searches, news and Wikipedia.
DOCOMO tablets, Raku-Raku smartphone and certain smartphones running on Android 2.3 or higher are not compatible.
DOCOMO will use feedback from the trial to enhance the service prior to a commercial launch in the coming future.
(Attachment) Tap-de-Concier Service
- About NTT DOCOMO
- NTT DOCOMO is a world-leading integrated-services company centered on mobility. The company serves over 60 million mobile customers in Japan via advanced wireless networks, including a nationwide 3G network and one of the world’s first commercial LTE networks. Leveraging its unique capabilities as a mobile operator, DOCOMO is a leading developer of cutting-edge technologies for NFC mobile payments, mobile GPS, mobile TV, intuitive mobile assistance, environmental monitoring, smart grids and much more. Overseas, the company provides technical and operational expertise to eight mobile operators and other partner companies. NTT DOCOMO is listed on the Tokyo (9437), London (NDCM) and New York (DCM) stock exchanges. Please visit www.nttdocomo.com for more information.
Tap-de-Concier, dmenu, Shabette Concier, FOMA and Xi are trademarks or registered trademarks of NTT DOCOMO, INC.
Android and Google Play are trademarks or registered trademarks of Google Inc.
Tap-de-Concier, dmenu and Shabette Concier are only available to subscribers in Japan.
