About Us

Introduction of openmaru

What is openmaru Studio?

openmaru Studio, one of NCsoft’s independently developed studios, develops and offers new Internet services. Currently, there are three Internet services launched by the studio: myID.net, springnote.com and www.lifepod.co.kr. Among them, the myID.net and springnote.com services are offered in English as well as in Korean.

Meaning of openmaru

The name, openmaru Studio, means “open platform”. It’s a name which combines the first part in English, ‘open’ and ‘maru’, which means a platform in Korean. As implied in the name, we would like to see various services open to the public being created based on the spirit of openness. In addition, there is also an intriguing story behind the origin of the name. The name was conceived while the term coiner was eating a popular Korean walnut ice cream named ‘Hodoomaru’!

openmaru BI

openmaru-bi

The first letter, O, of openmaru consists of overlapping circles. The green circle symbolizes the Web ecosystem while the blue circle represents the Web infrastructure. The combination of the two circles is aimed at conveying the concept of the services openmaru seeks to offer. In addition, the connected letters of n(Network) and m(Man) indicate that the service brings together the network and the people.

History of openmaru

  • August 2006

    openmaru Studio formed

  • October 2006

    openmaru blog started in Korean

  • October 2006

    Headquarter located at Seohyeon-dong, Bundang.

  • December 2006

    Winter Of Code(http://woc.openmaru.com)

  • January 2007

    openmaru’s first service, myID.net, launched.

  • February 2007

    Started public recruitment

  • March 2007

    Launched second service, springnote.com

Actvities

Winter of Code

WOC(Winter of Code) is held as part of NCsoft-led open source efforts. At the event, nine corporations and other organizations, including NCsoft, provide college students with open source projects. Students submit the project results after four months.
The first WOC, WOC 2006, successfully ended on March 24, 2007, and WOC 2007 is scheduled to take place at the end of this year.

Alternative Language Festival

Alternative Language Festival is a new-concept conference aimed at promoting the communication among different programming languages. Participants enjoy having both educational and recreational experiences with different programming languages while engaging in programming and communication activities with those develop applications in different languages.
Alternative Language Festival 2006 was held September 1-3, 2006. We are also planning to support Alternative Language Festival 2007.