Trover, the Location Based Social Network

Since I plan to create and market a travel app in the future, I thought it would be interesting to test out and review an app for a blog post. I recently downloaded the Trover app, and I absolutely love it so far!

Trover describe themselves as “a new smartphone-based social network that lets you share discoveries with friends and fellow explorers in a visual, fun way – all based on your location.” Users are encouraged see what others have discovered based on GPS location, and as your dig deeper into the results you are shown locations further away from you. Shares are brief, consisting of a photo and a quick note.

Your first option in the Trover app is “Nearby” listings. This gives a cool display of shares by other “trovers” based on your location, which can then be sorted by Anytime, Last 7 days, and Today. Underneath the category display is a mileage reading, which increases as you scroll down the thumbnail images of user shares (as mentioned above, the deeper results are those further away from your current location).

There is also a “Feed” option that shows all submissions to Trover as they happen. These are not sorted by location in any way, but you can sort between All Shares and those that you are following. I wasn’t sure how active the feed would be since I hadn’t heard of Trover before, but it turns out there are quite a few users from all over the world actively sharing through this location based social network.

A “Featured” section is also included in the app, which is similar to the Feed screen, but with stars in the upper-left corner of the thumbnails. I’m not sure how featured shares are decided, as there seems to be a combination of views, comments, and shares in the listing, but I consider this a great feature since there’s a lot of content that wouldn’t be seen otherwise (there’s quite a lot in the feed, and unless you search by location you will only see what is shared close to your current location).

The “Me” section lets you invite friends, search users, and send feedback. I may invite some friends, as I couldn’t find anyone I knew with the search users function. They are missing out – for a free app, Trover is great!

Being Young and Making an Impact

I just watched a great video on TED.com of Natalie Warne’s presentation Being Young and Making an Impact. Natalie tells an amazing story of her involvement with Invisible Children, an organization involved in ending the use of child soldiers by the Lord’s Resistance Army in Africa. She explains that what made all of their triumphs possible was the acts of Anonymous Extraordinaries, and that you should follow your dreams because they are what drives you, not because they will make you successful or famous.

Natalie’s mother had two pictures in their apartment: one family picture, the other of her mother at 12 years old looking into the eyes of Martin Luther King, Jr. Natalie would always imagine it was her looking into his eyes, and though she didn’t get to meet Dr. King, she did get to meet Dr. Vincent Harding, who wrote many speeches for the late Dr. King. She explains that Harding is an example of an Anonymous Extraordinary, and was just as important to the Civil Rights movement in his behind the scenes role.

She struggled to find her identity in high school – she received hate letters for being black, and was forced to pick a race due to her mixed heritage. But that situation made her resent both races, and it wasn’t until she saw the film Invisible Children that she found her identity. The film was about Joseph Kony’s use of child soldiers in the Lord’s Resistance Army, and what struck her the most was how one man could start a war that has lasted 25 years.

That made Natalie ask the question of what could one 17 year old do to end the use of child soldiers. She joined the Invisible Children foundation, and flew to San Diego to be meet with the founders. They told her getting a bill passed would be the first step, which lead her on a journey that took her all the way to the Oprah show to gain support.

However, getting on Oprah wasn’t her defining moment. Oprah was a checkpoint on the way to the bill, and the signing of the bill by the president was her defining moment. She wasn’t there, none of the interns were, and yet she felt just as much a part of the movement. Just as the family who ordered 100 boxes of pizza was part of the movement. It was people doing whatever they could, the Anonymous Extraordinaries, that drove the movement, not the Oprah moments. Natalie states that not even a number of Oprah moments strung together could fuel a movement as much as Anonymous Extraordinaries. That is what brought 100,000 people to her rescue event in Chicago that got Oprah to listen to the Invisible Children message.

Natalie says that this is what will define the new generation, and I foresee many business innovations if people do start following their dreams simply because it’s what makes their heart sing. If one person can get Anonymous Extraordinaries to gather around a vision it creates a truly powerful force.

Steve Largent and CTIA

Quick update: my last post was about Siri on the iPhone 4S, and I’ve since then purchased the new iPhone. Siri is amazing from a user experience perspective, and I’m excited about developments regarding Siri’s current lack of an API.

This new development for mobile devices made me curious to find out who has a hand in regulating mobile devices, which lead me to CTIA-The Wireless Association. Their website describes CTIA as “an international nonprofit membership organization that has represented the wireless communications industry since 1984. Membership in the association includes wireless carriers and their suppliers, as well as providers and manufacturers of wireless data services and products.” CTIA is also involved in the Engadget in which he sheds light on his vision of the industry. I learned that Steve Largent plays a major role in lobbying for mobile carriers, which makes him a key figure in the long-term direction of the industry. He mentioned that even the President has given him direct support for his company’s initiatives.

Another interesting point mentioned is taxation of wireless users. There is an average state tax of 15.3 percent on wireless bills, and some states pay as high as 23 percent. I wasn’t even aware of how high the tax could be, and I’m glad to find out CTIA is doing everything in its power to find a more reasonable solution. If they are successful, I think that could potentially mean more mobile users, which would benefit my company directly in that many viewers of Discover Wisconsin are from more rural areas of Wisconsin. If wireless could be cheaper, I think it could potentially translate into more views to DiscoverWisconsin.com through mobile devices, which would make it more likely those same users would get the Discover Wisconsin mobile app.

CTIA is also working to change the tax on digital goods and services. Popular downloading services such as iTunes charge a tax for downloads, which would be another deterrent stopping people from engaging in the wireless user experience.

The U.S. Army is working with CTIA on an Army Marketplace Application Store. Only the Department of Defense can access the store’s content, and the apps will be geared at assisting troops complete their missions. App developers and soldiers will also have open communication, as a soldier can post what is needed in an app, and then a developer can get to work on it. I see a lot of potential for this amount of personalization in app development, with a possible new market emerging related to apps developed for specific individuals in the civilian market.