Instagram-color revelation

Pinterest was created in 2010. As of May 2011, the company had only four employees, including its founder. Pinterest was originally a website with several theme walls for users to share images. In July 2010, the first round of financing was awarded $0.7 million [1].

Instagram was established in March 2010. As of May 2011, there were 4 employees. Instagram has improved mobile phone cameras, allowing users to take photos and process images. In addition, it also allows users to easily upload images to social networks such as Facebook. In March 2010, Instagram raised seeds for $0.5 million. In November 2010, Instagram cooperated with National Geographic magazine to take photos and share mobile phones to enhance interaction between National Geographic magazine and readers [2]. In February 2011, it received a round of Venture Capital $7 million [3].

Color Labs was established in March 2011. As of May 2011, there were less than 10 employees. The product of color Labs is very similar to that of Instagram. However, color labs features the ability to automatically share images with other users in the surrounding area within the range of 100 feet based on their current location. In March 2011, Sequoia, the second venture capital in Silicon Valley, and two other venture capitalists received a round of venture capital worth $41 million [4].

Figure 1. 2010/7 Pinterest received $0.7 million venture capital, 2011/2 Instagram received $7 million venture capital, and 2011/3 color labs received $41 million venture capital.

For a website or mobile phone that shares images, the $0.7 million investment is expected. 7 million is a little outrageous, and 41 million is crazy. A startup company with fewer than 10 people is worth millions or even more than 10 million yuan. How can we explain this phenomenon? Is it a bubble?

 

For this question, we have consulted Mr. Yang Wei, vice president of investment of Shanda group.

Yang answered sharply, "Because Instagram and color are revolutionizing the traditional camera and even the entire household appliance industry ".

Flickr is the largest online library community in the world today. On September 6, February 2004, the website of flickr.com went live. In August 2009, it was estimated that there were nearly 50 million accounts in the country. (At that time, the background System of the website on the flickr.com was composed of 124 servers, each of which had approximately 0.8 million accounts ). According to this conclusion, the number of accounts on the network was 80*124/2 = 4,960. On September 6, September 2010, the website of flickr.com saved 5 billion images [5].

What is the current value of Flickr? This issue is no longer important. As early as March 2005, that is, just one year after the release of Flickr, it was Yahoo! The purchase price is USD 35 million.

Can I purchase Flickr in 2005 at a cheaper price, such as 10 million or 20 million? This is indeed a controversial issue. Similarly, whether Instagram and color investment is too loose is also a controversial issue.

However, there is no dispute that it is a big mistake to stick to the amount and miss the opportunity to purchase or invest. It is wise to make decisions first and foremost. Because today's Flickr is definitely worth more than 35 million yuan.

When should I start with another employee? The premise is that the target of investment must have a revolutionary force. In terms of Instagram and color, where is their revolution reflected? To be continued.

 

Yang Wei, vice president of investment of Shanda group, believes that Instagram and color are initiating a revolution, a revolution that subverts traditional cameras and even the entire household appliance industry. This revolution will challenge the traditional bottom line, openness, scalability, and interaction in three aspects.

Introducing image processing technology into cameras is not the first of Instagram. However, the first step of Instagram is to make the camera an open platform, allowing users to freely download and install third-party image processing plug-ins.

There are many algorithms for image processing. Different algorithms for processing the same photo can produce different effects, as shown in figure 2.

Figure 2 image processing algorithms and effects [6]

If you can control the exposure duration, the number of exposures, and even overlay each frame of a video, image processing can produce richer and more Phantom effects, as shown in figure 3. If we further integrate computer vision algorithms and perform targeted image processing on the basis of object recognition and understanding in images, traditional cameras will evolve into smart cameras, which has broad application prospects.

Figure 3 image processing algorithms and effects based on HDR technology [7]

For traditional cameras, functions can only be pre-installed. Once the camera is released, the functions remain unchanged for thousands of years. In the face of the ever-changing image processing algorithms and the ever-changing taste and interests of users, traditional closed cameras seem to have a worrying outlook in the face of the surging fashion.

 

How does a traditional camera resist the mobile phone camera attack? The opinion is that the lens quality of a mobile phone camera is inferior, and it is difficult to compete with the advanced lens used by a single SLR camera. A mobile phone camera is like a toy. However, professional photography is still inseparable from traditional professional cameras.

This viewpoint is biased, and there are three bias points.

1. Flickr is the world's largest online database. It not only provides image storage functions, but also counts rankings of popular cameras. Figure 4 shows the ranking of the most popular cameras on the Internet in May 12, 2011.

IPhone 4 is currently the second most popular camera.

Obviously, the market share of traditional cameras is being eroded by mobile phones represented by the iPhone, and the speed of these mobile phones is growing astonishing. If this trend continues, traditional cameras will soon lose the public market and leave the professional niche market to stay secure.

Figure 4. Ranking of top cameras in Flickr, 5/12/2011 [8].

2. Security may not be guaranteed even if you are relatively secure. Mobile phone cameras, represented by iPhone 4, have the same lens definition as professional cameras. Photos taken with the iPhone 4 are of high quality and can be used as the album art of a magazine. I believe that in the near future, the quality of mobile phone camera lenses will be greatly improved.

Figure 5. Use iPhone 4 to take a Magazine album art [9].

3. Even if the mobile phone camera cannot match the advanced camera at the moment, you can use a plug-in to configure the camera with the mobile phone. In this way, traditional camera manufacturers are squashed into lens manufacturers.

The mobile phone operating system, with its hierarchical structure, can ensure a variety of peripheral devices, which are relatively independent and harmonious, and combined with the core function mechanisms of mobile phones.

Taking the Android mobile phone operating system as an example, figure 6 describes the layers related to the communication function in the operating system and the collaboration between the layers. The hardware abstraction layer (Hal, hardware Hardware Abstraction action layer) [10, 11, 12] is particularly worth noting.

Figure 6. Hardware Abstraction Layer HAL of Android [11].

Hal contains many components, which are related to communication functions, such as "Radio daemon" and "vendor RIL.

1. Radio daemon is an inherent component of Android.

Communication device hardware of the same type is manufactured by different manufacturers. Even devices of the same type of the same manufacturer have different models. Radio daemon is a general component. Regardless of the brand or model of the mobile phone, Radio daemon controls the components.

2. Vendor RIL (radio interface layer), provided by the device manufacturer.

Devices of different brands and different models are bound to different vendors. In the form of a function library file, the file name follows the conventions, libril-. So, which facilitates radio daemon to find available vendor RIL.

During real-time running, the application software calls telenphony stack in the application framework. Telephony stack is composed of a series of APIS, which provides communication function call interfaces for application software.

When telephony stack receives the application call command, it instructs radio daemon in Hal to find the currently available vendor RIL and dynamically load the corresponding. So function library. In other words, Radio daemon implements the plug-and-play mechanism.

Although figure 6 only describes the layers related to the communication function and the collaboration between the layers. However, for other functions, the collaboration relationships between different levels are similar. Hal's Plugging Mechanism provides great convenience for Android phones with built-in or plug-ins of new hardware, such as advanced lenses and other additional devices.

Engineers of the Israeli company primesense, using far infrared technology, successfully identified human body locations and movements [13], as shown in the figure. Microsoft applied this technology to Xbox consoles, and it now has the Kinect [14]. In November 2010, Kinect was officially launched for sale. within 60 days, a total of 8 million sets of devices were sold worldwide, making it the most popular home appliance in history. The popularity of devices surpassed that of the iPhone, and it was included in the Guinness World Record [15].

Is it possible to implant or plug the primesense far infrared device into a mobile phone? At least for Android phones, this is not difficult.

Mobile phones are limited in size, so it is impossible to have too many built-in or plug-ins with additional hardware. Arduino breaks through the volume limit of mobile phones and combines android with the motherboard of a general handheld device. With this general-purpose motherboard, you can not only develop tablet computers like iPad, but also various remote control devices, including robots [16]. Figure 8 shows the plant cultivation controller farmbox developed based on Arduino. Users can remotely control farmbox through their mobile phones to water and fertilizer plants in real time [17].

With the rapid development of mobile phones, mobile phones are no longer limited to communication devices, but rapidly expanding to mobile devices with extensive functions. For mobile devices with these wildcard functions, the communication function is only one of the basic functions, while the main function is the camera, TV, game, remote control, and so on.

When Android comes out of the phone, it will be greeted by a vast application space that does not see the horizon.

Figure 7. primesense far infrared somatosensory principle [13].

Figure 8. plant cultivation controller farmbox [17] developed based on the Arduino Control Board.

 

Figure 1. Song Ren's "creation French" is the first official specification of construction engineering in Chinese history.

The amount of funding for the first round of color Labs was as high as $41 million, which caused a lot of debate. Many users have reported that Instagram is more useful than color, and the image processing effect is also more dazzling. But why does Instagram get 7 million only? 41 million is nearly five times higher than 7 million. What kind of killer is color?

The difference between Instagram and color is reflected in different Community creation methods.

Instagram itself does not create a community. He uses Facebook, Twitter, and other ready-made communities to maintain his user base. Instagram has two purposes:

• Shorten the front line, focus on making the best mobile phone cameras, and outsource Community operations to Facebook and Twitter.
• In a Harmonious Society, avoid challenges to Facebook and Twitter.

However, the flaws in this practice are also obvious. If Facebook and Twitter develop their own Instagram-like mobile phones and cameras, how can instagram be reversed? The core technical advantage of Instagram is image processing algorithms, but algorithms are relatively easy to copy, and stable user groups are the foundation. The foundation is not stable. Even if it is prosperous for a while, it is just a flash.

Instagram is very clear about its weakness, and its anti-system measures are the united front. Signed a strategic cooperation agreement with National Geographic magazine to turn Instagram mobile cameras into mobile clients for National Geographic, encouraging potential users of National Geographic magazine to take photos of cultural landscapes around the world, share interactions. While active in the "National Geographic" magazine community, it also reinforces Instagram's user base. This strategy, through the united front of "common Honor and Disgrace", has joined forces to compete with strong Facebook and Twitter.

In contrast, color is more disruptive. Color creates a community. Simply put, "in any location, you will automatically focus on other color users in the surrounding area within 100 feet to share their photos ". This seemingly simple function actually contains two points worth analyzing.

Automatic follow

First, let's reflect on the purpose and means of the community. Community Users build links between people through "follow" and "be followed. The "People chain" enables personalized content dissemination and filtering channels. The content obtained by the user through this channel is basically the content that he or she is interested in, while blocking the content that he or she is not interested in.

Color allows people in different geographic locations to automatically pay attention to each other and share their photos. The implicit assumption here is that people with adjacent geographical locations naturally share common interests, such as sharing nearby service facilities.

For a new product, "automatic attention" helps to quickly cultivate customer groups. However, the unfiltered information is inevitable. Otherwise, the junk content may flood. Five years ago, the "Community text message" went from the hustle and bustle of [1] to the ban, as evidenced.

When a mobile phone user enters the coverage of a wireless base station, the "Community text message" will automatically send the text message. No matter what users need or not, "Community text messages" send a large number of real estate, commodity promotions and other information. After complaints from mobile phone users, Community text messages gradually exit the stage [2].

We will wait and see if color will repeat the same mistakes of "Community text messages. However, introducing location into the community is indeed the trend of the times in the composition of the human chain. The potential of doing so is to link online virtual interpersonal relationships with offline real interpersonal relationships and combine them with offline physical stores. From a business point of view, we can achieve the profit model of "online pull, offline shopping.

Lbs

Is lbs and location-based service inseparable from longitude and latitude and GPS?

If you take a photo with your mobile phone every time, you need to turn on GPS. It takes tens of seconds to start GPS. Even if agps is used, the startup time is shortened, but it usually takes 10 to 20 seconds. Taking photos is often the best action. If you have to wait for 10 seconds for GPS to start, "The best thing to do" will become "the best thing to do.

And cannot keep GPS on, because the power consumption of GPS is considerable.

Another way to estimate the location of a mobile phone is to predict the distance between the mobile phone and the base stations around it by detecting the field strength of wireless signals. Assuming that the longitude and latitude of the base station are known in advance, you can use the triangle Positioning method to estimate the longitude and latitude of the current mobile phone location.

The disadvantage of this method is that the accuracy is poor, not only because the wireless field strength is used to estimate the distance between the mobile phone and the surrounding base station. This method has a large error. The bigger problem is that the longitude and latitude of the base station are only known to mobile operators. On the one hand, when the base station was installed, the workers were not sure about the rigorous attitude when determining the longitude and latitude of the base station. On the other hand, it is not sure whether mobile operators are willing to publish the longitude and latitude of each base station.

How to obtain the longitude and latitude of the current mobile phone location seems to be difficult to solve. Let's take a step back and think about whether the location service is inseparable from the longitude and latitude?

Figure 2 describes the 2g gsm mobile network architecture and the 3g wcdma mobile network architecture. In GSM mobile networks, the protocol stack for communication between mobile phones and base stations is um, while in WCDMA, the protocol stack for communication between mobile phones and base stations is UU. Whether it is 2G or 3G, no matter whether the protocol stack is different, but the same thing is that the mobile phone can know the ID of the base station currently communicating with it.

If every one minute, each mobile phone reports the ID of the wireless base station that is currently communicating with it to a website, then the website can know which mobile phones are currently based on these IDs, the same wireless community. Even if the website does not know the longitude and latitude of the base station or the location of the mobile phone, the website still knows which mobile phones are adjacent.

When a mobile phone user is walking or driving, the mobile phone is transferred from one base station to another. The website will obtain a series of base station IDs time series. Based on a large number of time sequences of base station IDs, the website can predict the topology of the relationship between the base station and the base station.

With this topology, as long as you know the longitude and latitude of a few base stations, you can reverse the longitude and latitude of other base stations.

Figure 2. 3g/UMTS/WCDMA Release 4 mobile network architecture, compatible with 2g/GSM/GPRS.

In February 10, 2011, kpcb, a leader in the Silicon Valley venture capital field, published an analysis report entitled "top mobile Internet Trends" by Matt Murphy, and Mary Meeker, former famous mobile internet industry analyst at Damo [3]. As mentioned in this report, John Doerr, the leader of kpcb, predicted the mobile Internet as social + location + mobile, or solomo, as shown in figure 3.

Figure 3. Top mobile Internet Trends, solomo = Social + location + mobile.

Color perfectly reflects the combination of these three elements. However, it is funny that it is not kpcb, but Sequoia ), and Bain Capital and Silicon Valley Bank [4].

Why is kpcb not invested? According to speculation, the prices of sequoia and kpcb were raised to million. kpcb decided that the price of color was not worth the price, so it withdrew from the bidding.

This speculation is not credible, because sequoia and kpcb are the old birds in the venture capital industry. They both have their own judgments about what company is worth. Usually, it is not because of the competitor's bid.

If both companies are optimistic about a start-up company, most of them will invest in joint ventures. There are many such precedent. For example, in, both companies were optimistic about Google, so they joined hands to invest million USD, 20% of Google shares [5]. Google went public in 168.9 billion. Today (2004), Google's market value is $. After 12 years of investment, the revenue is 1689/0. 25 × 20% = 1351 times. Why is it crazy!

Will color become the next Google? Or, in a broader sense, the mobile Internet industry is booming, and many companies are singing your debut. How can we maintain green leaves?
Only by deep cultivation can we consolidate our roots and never leave us alone. It is said to consolidate the foundation, win by technology, or win by content.

Google's cloud computing platform, represented by GFS, is far larger than other competitors. In addition, after more than 10 years of practical operation, Google has consolidated its technical foundation as a precedent in the history of mankind.

Google servers store more than half of the world's website pages and some historical pages. In addition, Google's coverage is expanding every hour. With the world's first massive web page information, Google has laid a solid foundation for content.

Instagram and color have good ideas, but they are not technical or content-based and easy to imitate. To maintain your competitive advantage, you must accumulate content advantages as soon as possible and expand your technical advantages. We will wait and see when Instagram or color will be able to make future cameras as imagined in the following video.

Video 1. Imagine the future of smart cameras.

 

Reference,

[1] Pinterest Company Profile.
Http://www.crunchbase.com/company/pinterest
[2] Instagram captures their first big brand partner: National Geographic.
Http://techcrunch.com/2010/11/30/instagram-national-geographic/
[3] Instagram Company Profile.
Http://www.crunchbase.com/company/instagram
[4] color labs Company Profile.
Http://www.crunchbase.com/company/color-labs
[5] Introduction to Flickr.
Http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flickr

[6] 22 professional Photoshop Image Enhancing tutorials.
Http://sixrevisions.com/photoshop/22-professional-photoshop-image-enhancing-tutorials/
[7] Introduction to high dynamic range imaging.
Http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_dynamic_range_imaging

[8] the popular cameras in Flickr community.
Http://www.flickr.com/cameras
[9] the cameraman used the iPhone 4 to take the MacWorld cover.
Http://www.ifanr.com/15408
[10] The anatomy and physiology of Android.
Http://www.slideshare.net/viswanath7/anatomy-of-android-google-io
[11] Android telephony porting guide.
Http://www.kandroid.org/android_pdk/telephony.html
[12] Hal and migration essentials for Android driver development.
Http://www.slideshare.net/pandodo
[13] primesense PRODUCTION Introduction.
Http://www.primesense.com /? P = 488
[14] experience Microsoft Kinect.
Http://it.sohu.com/20101104/n277162233.shtml
[15] Kinect confirmed as the fastest-selling consumer electronics device.
Http://community.guinnessworldrecords.com/_Kinect-Confirmed-As-Fastest-Selling-Consumer-Electronics-Device/blog/3376939/7691.html
[16] Arduino at Google I/O, a reflection.
Http://medea.mah.se/2011/05/arduino-at-google-io-a-reflection/
[17] Google's Arduino-based adk hands-on at Google I/O 2011.
Http://www.engadget.com/photos/googles-arduino-based-adk-hands-on-at-google-i-o-2011/

[1] community SMS introduction.
Http://baike.baidu.com/view/571006.htm
[2] Community text message advertisements, convenience or disturbing?
Http://www.cnhubei.com/200705/ca1355203.htm
[3] kpcb released the "mobile Internet Trends Report ".
Http://wenku.baidu.com/view/9f0deac49ec3d5bbfd0a740f.html
[4] color looks to reinvent social interaction with its mobile photo app (and $41 million in funding)
Http://techcrunch.com/2011/03/23/color-looks-to-reinvent-social-interaction-with-its-mobile-photo-app-and-41-million-in-funding/
[5] Introduction to kpcb.

Http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kleiner_Perkins_Caufield_%26_Byers

From: http://www.ifanr.com/40950http://www.ifanr.com/41078http://www.ifanr.com/41122http://www.ifanr.com/41866