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15th September 2005 - NTT DoCoMo, Inc. and its eight regional
subsidiaries announced plans to offer an information-capture
function, called ToruCa in the "Osaifu-Keitai" when
compatible handsets are released this winter.
ToruCa will enable users to obtain information by simply
waving their phones in front of dedicated reader/writers installed
at restaurants, theaters, music stores, arcades and other
establishments. For example, when a user buys a CD at a store
using the "Osaifu-Keitai," they can simply wave
their DoCoMo phone in front of the store's reader/writer to
retrieve extra information about the CD, artist, etc., and
possibly even a promotional coupon offered by the artist's
recording label.
Information obtained from reader/writers will also be available
at i-mode sites. In addition, users will be able to perform
customizable searches to receive the information they are
looking for. The information will be exchangeable with other
users of ToruCa-compatible phones.
There will be no basic fee for the information service. Users
will only pay packet communications charges when obtaining
information from i-mode sites.
"ToruCa" is a term coined from two Japanese words
that denote "capture" and "card." In Japanese,
"Toru" (pronounced "toe-roo") means capture
and "Ca" (pronounced "kah") is the first
sound of the word for card.
About NTT DoCoMo
NTT DoCoMo is a mobile communications company, serving more
than 50 million customers. The company offers a wide variety
of leading-edge mobile multimedia services, including i-mode,
which provides e-mail and Internet access to over 45 million
subscribers as the world's most popular mobile Internet service,
and FOMA, launched in 2001 as the world's first 3G mobile
service based on W-CDMA. In addition to wholly owned subsidiaries
in Europe, North America and Asia, the company is expanding
its global reach through strategic alliances with mobile and
multimedia service providers in Asia-Pacific and Europe.
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