There is a new app in the ‘LINE’ up. LINE Messenger

 

 

 I have been recently introduced to an app that is similar to what i used before, it’s called LINE. I have been only using it on Windows Phone 7.8 and Windows 7 so your expirence may vary… as there as some features not available to me on WP7.8.

LINE was first introduced to the world on June 2011, and i say to the world cause i can’t seem to find any information on the first country they have supported but i’m assuming it’s Korea or Japan, but anyways.. at first they just started with sending free SMS messages* to people and after that they added the essential calling function and eventually as time progresses they have added the eye candy and goodies you may or may not love. I personally am in the middle ground, but hey that’s just me! If you want to see the timeline of their progression i have a small one at the end of this.

LINE has already gone past the 110 million user milestone in 231 countries and they have only been out for about a year and half! So yay for them! LINE has now expanded their service to the Philippines, cause let’s face it… the amount of Filipino’s that have smartphones or are getting smartphones is pretty high and it’s just going to keep on growing!

According to a study The Philippines is still the SMS (Short Message Service) capital of the world! So that would be very beneficial not just for LINE but also to the users as their service is ABSOLUTELY free! So they provide free messages, and local and international calls for the basics, but they have actually gone a step further by making a SNS (social network service) environment withing the app. So you could play games and share stuff you want to people you talk to even if they are halfway around the world!

“Through the continuous release of features, LINE has become wildly popular in Asia and is also rapidly growing in North America and Europe, as well as in Spanish speaking countries. LINE is an ideal communication tool for the Philippines, the world’s text-messaging capital. Users can communicate through various methods such as free messages, local and international calls, and even by playing games together.” He added, “LINE’s fun stickers will also enable the users in the Philippines, who are known to freely express their feelings, to accurately illustrate and visualize their emotions. The Philippines is a new target market for LINE and LINE is striving to introduce localized dynamic and distinct features for users in the Philippines.”

Director of LINE Business Office, NHN Corp., Mr. Hyun-bin Kang

 

 

A picture is worth a thousand words…

 

 

 

But perhaps not exactly a thousand words in most cases but maybe a hundred or a thousand if used in combination… 😉 LINE has several characters for their stickers and special ones like PSY, and other specific stickers but sticking to the the four rascals of LINE they are…

LINE also features something called Official accounts… which i don’t really use? and see? o.0 so here is something you can dwell on..

• Official Accounts 

• Enables users add Official Accounts of their favourite celebrities, public figures and corporate brands to directly communicate with them and receive exciting contents.
• Not only can users follow updates from Official Accounts, but also interact with them in real-time during ‘On Air Mode’, when the Official Accounts can read and respond to messages from users.
• LINE plans to add more local celebrities and brands in each country to become more show its commitment to the local markets

LINE also has the traditional smiley faces that you expect to see from any instant messenger. It also has the Timeline like thing which is supposed to look like the one on Facebook, where you post stats pictures and videos? Well i don’t really know! Which brings us to a couple of what i hate about it! Features are no consistent with all the platforms! I don’t have it on my phone nor on my computer.

Oh yeah, have i mentioned LINE is available for the iOS, Android, Blackberry, and Windows Phone mobile platforms and Mac OS, and Windows  on the computer platforms? I guess not. One thing i like about it is that it has an application for computers and it seems like the app on my phone and the application on my computer works seamlessly with each other.

There is one complaint that i have… why are some buttons not where it SHOULD be?! On the messaging of WP7.8 and other WP versions the send button is on the left, so it is on other apps but theirs… theirs is special… It’s on the right SIDE! -.-” So i suggest keep with the trend and put it on the left, cause it’s quite annoying and it’s just is quite simply absolutely frustrating.

Don’t really know what to say about the other features and cause as i said i don’t have everything nor would even use them in the first place… but here are the facts..

• Stickers

• Users can share realistic and vivid emotional expressions while chatting for more exciting conversations.
• There are more 200 types of stickers that feature characters that all have particular identities (As of January 2013)
• After opening the “Sticker Shop”, where users can purchase fun stickers to send to friends, LINE became the top-grossing app in App Stores in various countries.
• LINE’s four representative characters have distinctive personalities that have allowed them to gain popularity from users worldwide, who are fanatic about the wide array of dramatic facial expressions portrayed by these original characters.

• Home & Timeline

• ‘Home’ and ‘Timeline’ features allow users connected via LINE to enjoy sharing their most recent happenings and life stories with one another by posting pictures, videos and location information on their own space.
• The features serve as another trigger for communication since users will be able to check what their friends have been up to recently, in real time, without the necessity of sending messages.
• The release of Home and Timeline is a critical moment, which marks LINE’s evolution into becoming a ‘Smartphone Life Platform,’ as it moves beyond merely sending and receiving messages.

• PC version of LINE

• User can call his or her LINE friends from PC to PC as well as between PC and smartphones (iPhone/Android).
• To make it even easier to convey users’ thoughts and feelings, users can send text, photos and stickers even while on a voice call

• LINE Game 

• Integrated with LINE messenger to enhance interaction with real friends, while sending gifts to each other and compare rankings
• Offer a new level of excitement by featuring LINE’s original characters
• As of January 2013, there are more than 10 games over 70 million registered players worldwide.

• LINE Camera 

• Allows users to design, decorate, edit and then share your photos via LINE and other SNS
• Offers numerous decorating functions such as photo frames, stamps, unique filtered effects, brushes and font styles. Photos can be instantly shared with friends and family through LINE.
• Within ten months of its release, LINE Camera reached 20M downloads and ranked number one in the camera category of App Stores in 27 countries worldwide.

• LINE Band

• A private mobile group service for managing real-life relationship as a group in a more private, safe and intimate manner
• Particular functions include a gallery where members of a group can see all photos shared and bulletin boards, a schedule check that includes members’ birthdays and anniversary dates, and even a poll feature that allows members to decide on time and place of a meeting.

• Other LINE Family apps

• LINE Anti-Virus is a free security software that protects users’ mobile devices from any security threats
• LINE Card allows users to select a perfect-greeting card from any category and combine this with a message and image of users’ choice.
• LINE Brush enables users make artistic impressions from photos, and draw anything
• LINE Café is a mobile community service where LINE users can share or chat about your favourite interests with likeminded people.

.   Awards

• l  iTunes BEST OF 2012: No.1 in Top Free category (Japan)
• l  iF DESIGN AWARDS 2013: Cross-Media Advertising Award
• l  GOOD DESIGN GOLD AWARD 2012
• l  2012 Shogakukan Dime Trend Award
• l  BEST TEAM OF THE YEAR 2012
• l  The 17^th AMD Award: Digital Contents of the Year ‘11
• l  Nikkei Sangyo Shimbun: Nikkei Superior Products Service Award 2012
• l  Nikkei MJ Hit Products 2012
• l  Nikkei Trendy: Hit Products of 2012: No.2 out of 30
• l  Top Worldwide in Non-Game Apps by Monthly Revenues for iOS/Google Play (November 2012)
• l  elEconomista: Nominated for Best Technology Award 2012 (Spain)
• l  EL PAIS: Nominated for Best Trend of 2012 (Spain)

Mar 2012	Release of ‘LINE Card’
Apr 2012	Release of ‘LINE Camera’
Apr 2012	30 million users achieved
Apr 2012	Opening of the Sticker Shop
May 2012	Release of Official Accounts of famous celebrities
May 2012	Support of Indonesian, Malay, Thai, and Turkish languages.
May 2012	Awarded the ‘Mobile Project Award 2012’ at the Mobile Platform SolutionsDivision’s Excellence Awards
Jun 2012	Release of Windows® Phone version
Jun 2012	Release of Official Accounts for businesses
Jul 2012	Release of ‘LINE Birzzle’ and ‘LINE Birzzle PLUS’
Jul 2012	50 million users achieved
Jul 2012	Release of ‘LINE Brush’
Aug 2012	Release of ‘Home’ and ‘Timeline’ services in LINE Channel
Aug 2012	Release of BlackBerry version
Aug 2012	Release of ‘LINE Coin’ and ‘LINE Coupon’
Nov 2012	Release of LINE Game
Dec 2012	80 million users achieved
Dec 2012	Release of ‘LINE Tools’
Dec 2012	Release of Windows 8 UI Version
Dec 2012	Release of LINE Bubble, LINE IceQpick, LINE ZOOKEEPER
Jan 2013	Release of ‘LINE Birzzle Friends’
Jan 2013	Release of ‘LINE Antivirus’ (Android version)
Jan 2013	Release of LINE BAND