Hi, Everyone, It’s Jija.
Today, I just want to share my thoughts on the topic that I am interested in and would like to know what’s everyone thinks too. first of all, you might wonder what’s LINE Conference? Allow me to give you a simple explanation of it.
What is LINE Conference?
LINE Conference is an annual conference, like Apple’s WWDC where they announce or unveil the on-going projects or their new apps/ features. The conference started in 2013 and continue until this year.
Last year, I also had a chance to join the conference 2019 at Maihama Amphitheater (which is located near Disneyland) and I was so impressed by it. Today, because of the COVID-19, I, unfortunately, cannot join the conference there but was still impressed by joining it virtually.
This year, there are 4 main keynotes, which are:
- New Normal x Money
- New Normal x Healthcare
- New Normal x Information
- New Normal x Entertainment
The conference was all in Japanese so, I would like to pick up some topics/ features that I personally interested in and think it might work.
New Normal x Money
First, LINE Pay, Mr.Chofuku Hisahiro or the president of LINE Pay, mentioned LINE Pay ver. 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0. LINE Pay 2.0 is now connected to every payment platform including Apple Pay which was not included in version 1.0. Now, LINE Pay 3.0 interested me cause they plan to connect to outside services too. For example, I can verify myself on other apps by just tapping “Login by Line” or buying a concert ticket by just one tap. This feature will help my life get faster and easier but, let see how trustable the LINE ID will be.
New Normal x Healthcare
Second, LINE Doctor, this is the new feature that they are planning to launch this November 2020. This feature interested me cause it will solve a busy lifestyle problem I have. Basically, you can video call the doctor via Line app itself, consult him/her, and pay by LINE Pay inside the app. This sounds not so new but what’s great is you can do everything by just one stop.
Moreover, they actually use this LINE Doctor prototype in Diamon Princess cruise ship in Yokohama earlier this year too. So, I wonder how it actually looks like.
New Normal x Entertainment
Third, Line Timeline for creator. I remember this project was actually launched last year but it didn't work so well. Therefore, this year they improve it a bit by input some UI and analytic features. For the UI, you can see from the photo above that they include a carousel view on the top which looks similar to any other social media apps now.
However, they grasped the problem that some creators don’t want to make this creator account as public because most of the users think that Line account is for private use. (I personally think so too). that’s why they added the new feature where you can switch to a public and private accounts. This might help them to increase their creator numbers.
They also added 3 main features for Creators which are Analytic, Profit and, Self Promotion. For analytic, you can see the numbers like reach, impression, and likes etc. For profit, you can make money via Line and followers can support you via LINE Pay. For Self Promotion, is basically paid-promotion like Instagram or Facebook.
Bonus thoughts: kudos for the LINE team that held this virtully inside LINE app. It was smoothly broadcast with no problem. Also, the talk with Yahoo on New Normal x Information was also informative and casual fun.
That’s all for my thoughts and what interested me from LINE DAY 2020. Let me know what you think and what features interest you the most.
Thank you!
Jija
