Instagram Launches One-Touch Photo and Video Messaging App Bolt Outside the US(techcrunch.com)
techcrunch.com
Instagram Launches One-Touch Photo and Video Messaging App Bolt Outside the US
http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/29/instagram-bolt/
3 comments
Previously: https://blog.bolt.co/2014/07/28/dear-instagram
And our discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8096936
And our discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8096936
This was the first thing I thought about when I saw this was released. It will be interesting to see if that goes anywhere.
crickets
Just a copy clone of Taptalk.
As far as I can tell, the success of these similar apps boil down to network effects. If Instagram can transition their Instagram users into Bolt users in NZ, it might be able to compete with SnapChat, but until they do, it's clearly an uphill battle to build these redundant networks.
Regarding name stealing, I recognise that a lot of people put effort into their branding and I'm not a trademark lawyer, but I haven't seen much success with little companies defending messaging-app marks against big companies.