Naver "Alpha" website for experimental apps, labs, designs

Update 2020-12: The Naver Alpha experiments site has been discontinued. They suggest playing around with the features in the "Labs" section of the Naver App preferences instead. 

Post continues below for reference only.

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Naver has a site, alpha.naver.com, where you can test and play around with new experimental concept apps, leaving feedback and helping to participate in the development process. A little bit like Google Labs, where if the feature is useful and feedback is positive, it can be "graduated" into a fully deployed part of the Naver ecosystem.

Naver Alpha experiments. Image: Naver

Here are just a couple of examples that are active right now.

Tarte experimental organization app

They've got a few experiments up right now, including one called "Tarte" which looks pretty powerful. It's a "smart" to-do and note-taking app, which facilitates getting things done faster. Think Google Keep, but enhanced with AI. 

Shot of Tarte in action. Image: Naver

Planning a list of stuff to do for a holiday trip, including purchase a swimsuit? Why bother? Let it "shop" for you and you confirm the purchase immediately. Have a few lists to sort? Why bother? Add the entries, let it sort them into the appropriate lists for you. Etc. 

You can actually download Tarte right now:

• Tarte: 똑똑한 할 일 목록, To-Do 리스트, 알림 - Apps on Google Play
• App Store에서 제공하는 Tarte - 똑똑한 할일 정리 To-Do 앱

Dumbo experimental communication app

There's another called "Dumbo" that's a bit like Google Duo but with TTS built in. 

Dumbo in action. Image: Naver

This means that Person A (let's say, a mom in a meeting) takes an incoming call from her son who is too young to read. He says "hi" to mom on the phone. Dumbo writes out his "hi" on the screen for mom. Mom texts back "Hello" and Dumbo plays the audio "Hello" to the kid. It's more aimed towards interaction with people with hearing problems but it could be useful for a variety of situations. Maybe. 

More at Naver Alpha

There's others too, including a peak at a neat food label info site. Great for those who want to know what exactly they're putting in their gut, and what all those fancy ingredient names mean. 

Just check out the site for yourself and play around with it: NAVER Alpha. I know this is a cursory glance but I'm sure we'll see other legitimate news on it in English soon. Just wanted to draw your attention to it. 

With all this neat stuff, it's no wonder Naver got #9 on the Forbes World's Most Innovative Companies yet again. Something I've liked about Naver the past few years; they haven't just sat on their laurels as The-One-Who-Held-Back-the-Big-G.