"What do you get when you mix together a killer domain name, a founder who sold his last company to Apple, a philosophy that borders on "Minority Report"-like futurism, and $41 million in venture funding? Well, it might look something like Color, the photo-sharing app for iPhone and Android unveiled Wednesday evening by erstwhile Lala founder Bill Nguyen".
A quick example taken from the article reads, "You'll be able to see the Color photos of the guy sitting two tables away from you at Starbucks, but when he finishes his caramel macchiato and leaves the coffee shop, you can't see them anymore. But if you spend a lot of time in proximity to someone--an office-mate, for example--that person's photos will gradually begin to stay in your contacts list for longer. It's an "elastic network," Nguyen calls it. "The whole goal is to say hello."
My initial thoughts on Bill Nguyen were that of extremely awesome since we share the same thoughts on our future relating to the ideas tossed out in Minority Report. It's a sweet concept, at least as far as technology goes (not the who crime fighting tactics), and I really believe in its validity. That being said however, Color is one of those apps which requires user participation as well as quality of service to run fluently. Without the users, there would be no crowd to supply and source the database of constant photo recognition. Nguyen stated that GPS was old technology, and smartphone technology is not being used to its full potential. This app may not be quite what Nguyen is looking for but does offer a sweet segue into new ideas of location indexing without complete need for GPS.
We'll see how this pans out, but some threats to consider include privacy concerns and malicious activity. "There's also a distinct idealism to it, as the app is buoyed by the belief that peoples' shared photos will be insightful, provocative, and the sort of things that will prompt introductions. Inappropriate content is clearly banned. "Only public images and videos should be captured," Color regulations state. "Anything captured is visible to those around you and naturally identifiable to you. Color requires real-life etiquette and accountability for all actions. Any violation of decency can result in permanent suspension of service for a specific smartphone." All photos are public and users are encouraged to use it "in the same way as Twitter;" users can block one another if they choose.
This app is free to download and already has a backing of $41 million, let's just see how Nguyen plans to take this reality and make it innovative.
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