Big in Asia, Line app hopes cute factor will win worldwide



SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Mickey Mouse, Hello Kitty: Move over. And make way for laidback Brown bear and his irrepressible girlfriend Cony the bunny.

Once just digital stickers that users of mobile messaging app Line send to each other like emoticons, the bear, the bunny and their seven friends will soon be unleashed through stores, virtual reality and possibly an animated film.

For smartphone users in Asia where most of Line’s 181 million monthly users are located, the characters are as familiar as old school icons such as Hello Kitty and Disney’s animated stars. They are not well known in America or Europe but owner Line Corp. hopes to change that.

Read more: http://tech.thaivisa.com/big-in-asia-line-app-hopes-cute-factor-will-win-worldwide/7303/

Thing I find curious about this app is that it adds complete strangers to my list of friends! Surely not the most secure of apps for privacy?

If I understand correctly these are people who have acquired old phone numbers of people I once knew who used the same numbers at an earlier time? They are mostly numbers of job acquaintances who once worked in Thailand and had a local number, and have long since left, though I may have forgotten to remove their Thai number from my phone book.