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Line (styled "LINE") is a proprietary application for instant communications on electronic devices such as smartphones, tablet computers and personal computers. Line users exchange texts, images, video and audio, and conduct free VoIP conversations and video conferences. Line was designed by 15 members of NHN Japan, a subsidiary of the Korean Internet search giant Naver,〔http://thenextweb.com/asia/2013/02/06/nhn-japan-spins-off-its-line-messaging-business-to-focus-on-its-international-expansion/〕 composed of Korean, Japanese, Chinese and American engineers. It thus shares the same symbolic green color of Naver. The idea of Line communication system was proposed to NHN Japan by Lee Hae Jin, the Chief Strategy Officer of NHN, now renamed to Naver Corporation. It first launched in Japan in 2011, reaching 100 million users within eighteen months and 200 million users only six months later. Line became Japan's largest social network in 2013. In October 2014 Line announced that it had attracted 560 million users worldwide with 170 million active user accounts.〔Akky Akimoto, 2013-12-17, (Looking at 2013′s Japanese social-media scene ), The Japan Times〕 In February 2015, it announced the 600 million mark had been passed and 700 million were expected by the end of the year.〔"Number of Line users to top 700 mil. this year" - Korea Times, Feb. 8, 2015: (koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/tech/2015/02/419_173201.html )〕 Line was originally developed as a mobile application for Android and iOS smartphones. The service has since expanded to BlackBerry (August 2012), Nokia Asha (Asia and Oceania, March 2013), Windows Phone (July 2013), Firefox OS (February 2014) iOS tablets (October 2014), and as a Chrome Browser Application (via the Chrome App Store). At one point Line was available as a website (non-browser-app), but that has been discontinued. The application also exists in versions for laptop and desktop computers using the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS platforms. Line began in 2011 as the brainchild of engineers at NHN Japan, the Japanese arm of Naver Corporation (formerly NHN) based in South Korea. Today the popular messaging service is operated by Line Corporation, a spinoff company headquartered in Japan, which still remains a subsidiary of Naver.〔 == History == Line began as a response to disaster. Japan's devastating Tōhoku earthquake in March 2011 damaged telecommunications infrastructure nationwide, obliging employees at NHN Japan, a unit of Korea's NHN Corp, to rely on Internet-based resources to communicate. The company's engineers developed Line to facilitate this, and the company released their app for public use in June. The application proved hugely popular and by late October Line experienced an unexpected server overload. After concluding that the scalability process needed to be improved, NHN Japan chose to adopt HBase as the primary storage for user profiles, contacts, and groups. Within eighteen months of its release Line reached 100 million users; six months later it reached 200 million〔〔〔 and on November 25, 2013 is used by 300 million users.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Line messaging app doubles size in seven months, has 300 million users )〕 On July 3, 2012, NHN Japan announced the new Line features "Home" and "Timeline." The features allowed users to share recent personal developments to a community of contacts in real-time, similar to the status updates in social networking services such as Facebook. On 6 February 2013, the success of Line led NHN Japan to announce a new spinoff company named Line Corporation. Line Corporation, based in Japan, continues to develop Internet resources such as Line, the Naver Japan search portal, and the Livedoor ISP and blog platform. Games, including those for the Line Game brand, remain under the auspices of Hangame Japan. A new joint venture named Line Plus Corporation, also based in Japan, develops overseas markets. At launch the majority of Line Plus shares were held by the newly created Line Corporation (60%) with the remaining shares (40%) held by its Korean parent NHN Corp.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Line (application)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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