TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- Japanese cell phone users will test a new service that allows them to download fragrances, major telecommunications company NTT Communications Corp. said Monday.
A downloaded fragrance will be sent from a user's cell phone to a base station that will emit the scent.
Twenty participants using "Mobile Fragrance Communications" can download files of specific scents accompanied by music or video clips, the company said in a statement.
Scent playlists can be downloaded from "i-mode" mobile Web site run by the company's affiliate, NTT DoCoMo.
The service uses a handset's infrared port to transfer the "fragrance data" to a dedicated device similar to a plug-in air freshener that is loaded with a cartridge of base fragrances. The device then mixes them to create the chosen smell, which it then wafts out.
The service is a cell phone version of an existing fragrance download service for scent users' homes and offices. Trials will run for 10 days beginning Thursday.
The company is also testing a device that can be connected to the Internet so that a user can remotely program a scent from a mobile phone.
The company in 2005 launched a similar service for Japanese homes, allowing users to download different programs to emit smells from a 73,500 yen (US$720; euro460) machine
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Image above: A downloaded fragrance will be sent from a user's cell phone to a base station that will emit the scent.