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Wednesday, June 22, 2011

[UPDATED][COMPLETELY RIDICULOUS SPECULATION] Uhm let's brainstorm Photovine

OBSOLETE ARTICLE


UPDATE: Shortly after I posted this to twitter, a account named @vine_me started following me.



http://twitter.com/vine_me/status/83563939266437121
http://www.vineme.com/

Dude. You can't be serious. LOL. Ok, moving on.

As we all (probably not all [probably just a minority]) of us might already have heard, Google is about to launch (probably not today or tomorrow) a new service called "Photovine".
Ok, we all are excited and all that stuff, and want to know what that is, but... there is no evidence out there except a few little hints that are about as distinct as a politician's speech before elections, but "a man can dream", can't he?

The clues:
Domainname and Trademark

  • photovine.com
  • photovine


The Trademark Application [here]:

  • Communication services, namely, transmission of visual images and data by telecommunications networks, wireless communication networks, the Internet, information services networks and data networks
  • Non-downloadable computer software
  • On-line social networking services
That's all that we know.

Interpretation:
Context and competitors:
  • Apple starts some kind of web-based text-messaging service (some crazy people think to replace text-messages) and teams up with twitter.
  • Facebook starts the project Spartan, an app(lication) store for HTML5 based webapps on iOS.
  • Apple has facetime.
  • Group-messaging apps and platforms are currently hyped.

Google's current strategy:
  • is under full steam working on it's social services (no classic social network!)
  • pushes location based services with latitude and places on desktop & mobile
  • offers checkin's via latitude on mobile
  • brings gTalk's video-chatting capability to Android smartphones and tablets (showing Apple's facetime the stinky finger)
  • extends the support of Google Buzz's activity stream
  • playtested something called Typhoon in the context of Video or Pictures
  • playtested Circles and pulled the hints (probably unrelated)
Ok, here is a total shot in the dark:

Photovine will be a photo-microblogging service for both desktop and mobile-phones that combines location based services like Places and Latitude with mms-like messaging (but with group-support).
Most likely it will be push-capable and support either a user to wall (without any special addressee) or a user to group messaging service.
Google might try to offer an alternative (no, Google won't replace anything) to classic MMS messaging, that works over data-connection both from desktop/chromebook/notebook via webcam or from smartphones via camera (frontfacing or back).

This service will most likely also include the OPT-IN (yeah OPT-IN, don't be scared, you have to explicitly say you want to be found) facial recognition service to add all snapped pictures to the "photos of you" section on Google Profiles. That includes also if you make a group photo with other Google Profile users that might have OPT-ed in to facial recognition. Everyone who wants get's autotagged.

And, as I assume, it will also be the possibility to answer to a snapped picture with another one. (kinda dailybooth style).
The pictures might be tied to Google Places and Latitude Checkins, so you can check out if a Place a friend of yours visited is... awesome.
There might also be an option to post the pictures public (probably without tags for non-friends... People who don't follow you can't see who's linked) on the Google Places site of a Club or whatsoever.
Privacy settings will be rather high initially, due to recent media coverage about the "issues" of some major blue social net.
You might be able to add a picture to your review in Places.
Hopefully you'll be able (would make sense) to connect Photovine to Google Buzz.
Photovine might be the new name for Typhoon.

Most speculative: The option to post a picture public on the places page. Probably won't happen for now.

Summary:
It is maybe a photo-microblogging-group messaging service that is heavily focused on Smartphone usage but is also available for desktops. Might offer a fully featured HTML5 interface (to offer initial support for a lot of mobile platforms), hopefully a native App for Android first. Pics probably will be, Geotagged, autotagged (if you wish) and automatically added to the Pictures of me section of Profiles. (depends on your privacy settings). Might be strongly tied to latitude and Places (though the connection might be optional).


Probably everything I wrote is complete crap. But maybe not. The future will show!


Discuss on Buzz

3 comments:

Unknown said...

we will wait n see

Unknown said...

All sound good. Hopefully this is what Google is building. Somehow i have my doubts that it will be that interconnected with all of Google services from launch. It should be, but it not usually Google style to do it all at once, they usually like releasing features over time. Unfortuantly this means the public and the media can loose interests in the product.

Your description however does fit the trademark an the name.

NoName said...

@David yeah I totally agree with you on that :)

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