‘Photo/video Twitter’ Color Launches [VIDEO]

Color, a red-hot tech startup with $41 million in venture capital backing, just launched. It’s available for the iPhone (check color.com). As of 10:10 p.m. EST, it’s not yet available for the Android, but it will be later tonight, according to TechCrunch.

Color is regarded as a ‘photo twitter’ or ‘video twitter’ for the iPhone and Android. Whenever a Color user physically goes to a location, all his photos and videos taken there in the Color program will be available for viewing by all other Color users within 100 feet of him, according to TechCrunch. They’re also viewable by those the users are bonded with.

Unlike Twitter, though, these bonds are not forged by clicking a button to “follow” someone; instead, it’s formed by being physically together often and commenting/liking each other’s photos and videos, according to Forbes.

Bonds also get stronger or weaker over time, depending on the factors described above (and the shades of people’s thumbnails reflect the strength of the bonds). Color calls these “elastic networks,” said Forbes.

The technology strives to be natural and real-time. Forbes pointed out that the bonds and sharing of Color all happen without discrete actions like friending or tweeting; they just automatically occur.

TechCrunch points out that Color can organically spread events and points of interest. For example, if a street performer is putting on an amazing show, Color can quickly help him draw a crowd. Moreover, if a crime or accident is taking place, Color can document and spread them as well.

Color is the latest startup in the trend of bringing social networking technology to the physical world; a key catalyst for this trend is the GPS (global positioning system) capability of smartphones. Besides Color, another example of this type of integration is Seth Priebatsch's SCVNGR.