NTT DoCoMo will conduct a trial e-book distribution service from late October to late December in Japan, aiming at gaining feedback from customers prior to the start of a full-scale e-book retail service with Dai Nippon Publishing early next year. During the trial, customers will have the opportunity to experience e-books via DoCoMo smartphones, such as the Android powered Xperia and Galaxy S models.The trial will offer about 50 titles, including electronic books, manga comics, magazines and photo books, some linked with supplementary videos and maps.The e-books will be available at docomo market, a mobile portal created by DoCoMo to provide users with easy access to smartphone apps and content from around the world. All titles and content viewers for the trial will be provided for free, other than packet transmission charges.
DoCoMo will use feedback from customers to enhance its commercial e-book service, which is scheduled to launch with more than 100,000 titles. The e-book trial service will be demonstrated in the DoCoMo booth at CEATEC JAPAN 2010 in Makuhari Messe from October 5 to 9. After the launch of the new service, DoCoMo will continue offering an existing service that enables users to view electronic manga and novels via the company’s i-mode mobile Internet platform.
