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This is what Saudi Arabia's 100-mile long emission-free smart city could look like
The Line is part of Saudi's controversial Neom mega-city project.
Nintendo is shutting down 'Dr. Mario World' for mobile on November 1st
Nintendo has announced that it's ending service of Dr. Mario World, a mobile version of its highly successful Dr. Mario NES game, on November 1st.
Line messenger now works with Google Assistant on Android
If you use Line's Android messaging app, you can now ask Google Assistant to send and read text messages. It's as simple as saying, "Hey Google, send a Line message to..." or "Hey Google, read my Line messages."
Netflix is giving Line's cute mascots their own animated series (updated)
Line Friends, a group of cute characters that started as stickers for the Line messaging app, are getting their own Netflix series. Line, as you may know, is huge in Japan and other parts of Asia. Brown, Cony, Sally, Moon, James and the other Line Friends characters even have their own merch -- an official store opened in New York's Times Square a couple of years ago -- and mobile games.
AI bar system ignores jerks who cut in line for drinks
There are two kinds of people in this world. Those that queue patiently at the bar for their drinks because they recognize their place in the great order of things, and those that elbow their way to the front and jump the queue because they're massive jerks. If you're the latter, I see you, pal. And now, thanks to AI, so does the bartender.
Nintendo is making a 'Dr. Mario World' mobile game with Line
Nintendo is developing yet another mobile game, this time making Mario put on the lab coat he wore once back in the '90s. The gaming giant has announced that it's working on an action puzzle game entitled Dr. Mario World with Line Corp. If it's anything like the original Dr. Mario released in 1990 for the NES, SNES and Game Boy, it'll offer a Tetris-like experience that'll have you killing viruses on-screen using capsules tossed in by the beloved Italian plumber-turned-physician.
Google Maps ETA sharing comes to iOS, third-party apps
The overhaul of Google Maps is continuing, this time with ETA sharing. After first introducing the feature in 2017, Google is giving users the ability to share their location and route in real-time with others on both Android and iOS devices—and through third-party messaging apps.
Messaging giant Line catches cryptocurrency fever
Let's say you run Line. Your messaging service, plus other forays like smart speakers and music, aren't enough to avoid substantial losses. What do you do to turn things around? If you ask the company, finance is the answer. Line has created a new financial company that will offer cryptocurrency trading on top of staples like insurance and loans. It's not saying what currencies will trade or when the virtual money service will be an option, but it plans to make all the services available within the Line chat app.
‘Skullgirls’ relaunches on mobile as developer ditches publisher
Stylized fighting game Skullgirls came out for mobile in May of last year. It was developed by Autumn Games and initially published by Line. Now, the developer has decided to part ways with the publisher and go back to being independent. As a result of this transition, the developer launched a new version (basically Skullgirls 2.0) and shut down the old one (now called LINE Skullgirls) on the App Store and Google Play.
Google shows the waiting times at your favorite restaurants
If weird food trends (cronut, anyone?) have taught us anything it's that people are prepared to wait a long time for a seat at a restaurant, so whether you're visiting a popular local eatery or Time Out's latest gastro-pick, you're faced with two choices. Attempt to beat the crowds by having dinner at 4pm, or rock up whenever and hope the people in the line ahead give up before you do. Now though, in a development we can't believe didn't happen sooner, Google will show you the wait times of nearly a million sit-down restaurants around the world.
A popular messaging app inspired Times Square’s latest tourist trap
In Japan and South Korea, the messaging service Line is king. But it's almost unknown in North America, let alone the rest of the West. That leaves people this side of the international dateline unaware of a cultural phenomenon that's arguably more beloved than Line itself: the service's adorable animal mascots. Last week, Line Friends -- a standalone company fully dedicated to promoting the characters -- opened a storefront in New York's Times Square, its 73rd brick-and-mortar location worldwide and the first in America. But the shop isn't just a cursory expansion into the US market. By planting itself in one of the most tourist-trafficked areas in the world, Line Friends hopes curious travelers will peek inside -- and take some of the cute characters back to their home country.
Line’s cute AI speakers are unimpressed by your mindless requests
We knew Japanese messaging giant Line was working on an AI assistant called Clova, and that it would first inhabit a clever-looking smart speaker called the Wave. What we only just discovered, however, is that Clova's next physical avatars would include an unamused duck and a bear that always looks just a little disappointed.
Line is building its own digital assistant called Clova
Japanese-based messaging app Line is wildly popular in other parts of the world and the company has even expanded from a simple chat app to a full-service mobile carrier. According to a new report from the Financial Times, Line is branching out again and developing its own digital assistant called Clova to compete with the likes of Alexa and Google Assistant, complete with its own line of smart speakers.
Twitter could rescue Vine through a sale
When Twitter decided to kill Vine, there was a common reaction: why didn't the company just sell its looping video service instead of reducing it to a memorial? Well, cooler heads might prevail after all. Sources speaking to our TechCrunch colleagues claim that Twitter is looking at "multiple" bids for Vine that flooded in the moment it put the service on the chopping block. There are no definite suitors, but messaging giant Line is rumored to be in the running.
Facebook tried to buy Snow, the 'Asian Snapchat'
Facebook was rebuffed in its attempts to buy Snapchat and Mark Zuckerberg's been like a jilted nerd ever since. The latest entry in his burn book comes courtesy of TechCrunch, which reveals that the social network tried to buy Snow, a Snapchat-esque service used in Asia. Snow was built by Navver, the South Korean company that created Line, to take advantage of Snapchat's apparent lack of interest in all things Asian.
Messaging giant Line becomes a phone carrier in Japan
Line already dominates phones in some corners of the world through its messaging app and rapidly expanding list of services, but it's now taking that control one step further: it's becoming a carrier. As of this summer, Japanese residents can subscribe to Line Mobile and get unlimited use of not only Line's chat and call services, but the "main features" (browsing and posts) of Facebook and Twitter. It's cheap, too. The DoCoMo-based virtual provider will start plans at as little as ¥500 ($4.40) per month with unlimited Line use, and it's considering offering Line Points (cash back on Line's payment card) when you pay your phone bill.
Now you can call 199 of your Line friends simultaneously
Messaging service Line introduced a unique new feature with the latest update to its mobile and desktop apps: the ability to conference call with up to 200 people. Skype, for comparison, supports only 25-person chats. The feature is now available on iOS, Android and Windows desktop with Mac support coming soon. The feature is free and can be initiated from both group and multi-person chats. Interestingly, the conference call feature will first be released outside of Asia -- sort of as an informal beta test before Line introduces it to its core markets of Japan, Thailand, Taiwan and Indonesia.
Former Nokia music service MixRadio is shutting down
When Nokia signed a deal with Microsoft to license Windows Phone, the Finnish smartphone maker built a suite of apps to help lure iOS and Android users to the platform. It launched dedicated navigation and camera apps, but also a music app called MixRadio. The free streaming service, which started life as Nokia Comes With Music in 2007, remained exclusive to Windows Phone until shortly after Microsoft acquired Nokia and the software giant deemed MixRadio surplus to requirements. After little more than a year, its current owner, Japanese messaging firm Line, has also decided enough is enough and announced today that will shut down the streaming service.
Indonesia demands Line remove LGBT stickers from its app
Indonesia's Information and Communication Ministry spokesman Ismail Cawidu on Thursday has called on social messaging app maker Line to remove a selection of stickers depicting LGBT themes from its online store. While homosexuality isn't technically illegal in Indonesia (outside of the Aceh province), it is a taboo subject in the socially conservative nation. The stickers' presence generated a severe online backlash from the apps users, prompting Cawidu's demand.
Line's Android launcher swaps widgets for wabbits
For a while, it felt like Whatsapp and Line were bitter rivals in the mobile messaging war. The former had the user base (and later Facebook's clout), but Line offered a family of apps and features like stickers, games and more recently music streaming. Line continues to follow it's own path, by releasing an Android launcher. Now you can have Cony and Brown (you know who those are, right?) present in almost every corner of your phone's interface.