中國創新人物:微信之父張小龍

Chinese entrepreneur Wang Xing stays in touch with a sister in California and an uncle in Australia through chat software that offers a glimpse of how China's Internet companies can compete globally.

中國企業家王興（音）通過聊天軟件“微信”(WeChat)與身在美國加州的姐姐和澳大利亞的叔叔保持聯繫。這款聊天軟件讓人得以一瞥中國網絡公司怎樣參與全球競爭。

China's Internet industry is often derided as a realm for knockoffs, especially of companies banned in China. Chinese search giant Baidu Inc. has a website that looks like Google Inc's. Tencent's flagship product, instant messaging service QQ, was launched in 1999 as OICQ and had similar functions to then-popular instant messaging service ICQ. Sina Corp.'s Weibo, a popular microblogging service, is invariably described as 'Twitter-like' in the Western media.

2012中國創新人物獎中國互聯網行業常常被描述成冒牌王國，尤其是對在中國被禁的那些公司的仿冒。中國搜索巨頭百度(Baidu Inc.)的網站外觀很像谷歌。騰訊的旗艦產品、即時信息服務QQ於1999年以OICQ的名字發佈，與當時流行的即時信息服務ICQ功能相似。新浪(Sina Corp.)廣受歡迎的微博總是被西方媒體說成“與推特(Twitter)類似”。

But industry watchers say that view misses an area where China goes toe-to-toe with Western rivals in innovation: extra features that make the Chinese version more interactive and more interesting to use.

但行業觀察人士說，這樣的觀點忽略了一箇中國在創新方面與西方競爭對手直接對峙的領域：讓中國版本更具互動性、使用起來也更有趣的那些額外功能。

Sina's Weibo service, for example, has long offered features that Twitter lacks, notably a commenting function that allows multiple users to add their own thoughts to a user's posts. Tencent's QQ instant messaging service, which has more than 700 million users, offers additional features such as skins to change the look of the client and serves as a portal for the company to advertise other products and services. Sina declined to comment.

舉例來說，新浪微博就一直提供推特所不具備的一些功能，尤其是評論功能，讓衆多用戶得以在別人發表的微博下發表自己的見解。擁有逾7億用戶的騰訊QQ即時信息服務也有衆多附加功能，比如可以讓用戶改換形象的“皮膚”，同時QQ還是騰訊爲其他產品和服務做廣告的渠道。新浪拒絕置評。

Upon downloading WeChat, users are prompted to register either using their QQ accounts or their cell phone numbers. The application then helps users populate their contact lists using existing entries in their cell phone address books. To communicate, users can upload any photo or video on their device, take new ones, or press a button to save a voice message that is transferred almost instantaneously. Voice messages are played back with short beeps at the end to imitate the feeling of instant connection, similar to a two-way radio.

下載微信之後，用戶會收到提示，讓他們用自己的QQ賬號或手機號註冊。隨後微信利用用戶手機通訊錄裏已有的條目來充實聯絡人列表。進行交流時，用戶可以上傳任何照片或視頻到手機上，也可以拍攝新的照片和視頻，或是按下一個按鈕錄製一條語音信息，信息的傳送幾乎是實時的。語音信息可以回放，信息最後有短暫的嗶聲，模仿無線電對講機那種即時聯絡的感覺。

Users say the voice messages are transferred quickly enough to have a conversation on the platform. But different from free voice applications such as Microsoft Corp.'s Skype, it also offers the flexibility of answering messages at a later time. 'I can decide when to reply, or not to,' said Beijing WeChat user Robin Wang.

用戶說，語音信息的傳輸速度很快，可以在微信平臺上對話。但和微軟(Microsoft Corp.)的Skype等免費語音應用不同的是，在微信上還可以另選時間回覆別人發來的語音信息。北京微信用戶Robin Wang說，我可以決定什麼時候回覆，以及回不回覆。

In addition to WeChat's core private and group messaging functions, users can also find new contacts by using the application's Drift Bottle function, where a user records a message and sends it out to see in a virtual bottle for a stranger to pick up and respond. Its Look Around function, similar to some mobile dating applications, allows users to browse the profiles of other users who are in close proximity. It also has a function called Moments that allows users to share photo albums publicly with groups of contacts, much like photo-sharing application Instagram.

除了作爲微信核心的私聊和羣卿功能之外，用戶還可以通過“漂流瓶”功能尋找新的好友，具體方法是錄製一段信息裝在虛擬的“瓶子”裏扔出去，等陌生人撿起來回復。“查看附近的人”功能與一些手機交友應用相似，用戶通過它可以瀏覽附近其他用戶的資料。另外還有一個名叫“朋友圈”的功能，用戶通過它可以將相冊公開分享給好友羣，跟照片分享應用Instagram很像。

Tencent said in an email it has no current plans to find a profitable model for WeChat. An Internet conglomerate, Tencent is China's largest listed Internet company with a market capitalization of roughly $65 billion and has strong revenue streams from gaming, virtual products and advertising on other platforms.

騰訊通過電子郵件表示，目前沒有爲微信尋找贏利模式的計劃。作爲一個多元化互聯網企業，騰訊擁有650億美元左右的市值，是中國最大的上市互聯網公司。旗下游戲產品、虛擬產品和其他平臺上的廣告給它帶來了強勁的收入流。

It uses its QQ chat application as a means to drive users to its online games and websites. Analysts say a similar model could work well for WeChat, though they also say that WeChat's Circles function adds a social networking component to the service that could eventually attract advertisers.

騰訊通過聊天軟件QQ的渠道將用戶吸引到它的網絡遊戲和網站上去。分析師說，類似的模式對於微信也有可能非常管用。他們也說，微信的“朋友圈”功能給它加進了社交網絡的元素，有可能最終吸引到廣告商。

In China, WeChat has also lured more high-end users, a group that Tencent hasn't traditionally had a strong hold over.

在中國，微信還吸引了越來越多的高端用戶。騰訊過去在這個羣體當中並沒有多高的份額。

Mr. Wang, the WeChat user in Beijing, said he was an avid QQ user 11 years ago but stopped using the instant messaging service because 'it didn't look very professional.' But after downloading WeChat on his smartphone he found 'most of my colleagues and friends are on it, and everyone communicates through voicemails now.'

前述北京微信用戶Robin Wang說，11年前他是一位忠實的QQ用戶，但現在已經停用這款即時通訊服務，因爲它顯得不夠專業。但自從在手機上下載微信之後，他發現多數同事和朋友都在上面，現在大家都通過語音郵件交流了。

Meanwhile, WeChat offers perhaps the greatest potential yet for Tencent to gain overseas users. Forrester analyst Bryan Wang said he has seen colleagues and friends in Singapore and India begin to appear on his WeChat contact list.

與此同時，微信恐怕也是騰訊吸引海外用戶潛力最大的產品。Forrester的分析師Bryan Wang說，他看到新加坡、印度的同事和朋友也開始出現在了自己的微信好友列表中。

'It surprised me, but it's a good sign for Tencent getting abroad, because in particular WeChat is a combination of WhatsApp and Instagram, so it's a unique value proposition that is probably pretty good for emerging market consumers,' he said.

他說，這出乎我意料，但對騰訊走出國門來說這是一個好兆頭，特別是因爲微信同時結合了WhatsApp和Instagram的特點，所以是一個獨特的產品，對於新興市場消費者來說可能是一個相當不錯的東西。

Tencent has been helped by agreements to pre-install software with Chinese handset makers who sold increasing numbers of handsets abroad in recent years, particularly in emerging markets, according to Mr. Wang.

據Bryan Wang說，騰訊跟最近幾年在海外特別是新興市場銷量越來越大的那些中國手機廠商達成了預裝軟件的協議，這給它提供了助力。

Although Facebook is blocked in China, Tencent has linked WeChat to Facebook, which means that users outside of China can use the service in conjunction with the world's most popular social network. That is a boon for WeChat in Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines, which have large numbers of Facebook users. Tencent has offered WeChat in languages for all three markets.

儘管Facebook在中國被屏蔽，騰訊還是將微信同Facebook連接起來，這意味着中國以外的用戶可以同時使用微信和世界上最流行的社交網絡。在印尼、泰國和菲律賓等東南亞國家，這對騰訊是有好處的，因爲這些國家擁有很多Facebook用戶。騰訊針對這三個市場都推出了各自語言版本的微信。