The owners of TravelPost launched Trover, an iPhone-based travel social network that aims to "become your highly personalized guide to the world."
Users of the app can use the iPhone's camera to post and share photos and comments about "interesting things to see and do," the company says.
The idea is for people to use visual search to discover new things to do and see based on their location.
Among the numerous images available, the app features photos of humpback whales in Silver Bank, a place to lock your surfboard at Waikiki Beach and the "night sky" in Afghanistan, for example.
You can click on the profile of the person who posted the photos and see other images they've posted.
"Trover LLC is a new company, separate from TravelPost," says Trover CEO Jason Karas, who also is the CEO of TravelPost. "We've been super-focused on getting the user experience of Trover really refined, the social network humming, and collecting early user feedback."
Karas says Trover, which is in beta, will introduce some key product changes at the end of July.
Trover's Facebook page states:
As a trover, you can log remarkable places and things by snapping a photo and adding a quick note. When your friends and others pass by in the future, they, too, can experience your discovery.
Track the paths of friends and other interesting folks using our 'follow' model. Ultimately, Trover will become your highly personalized guide to the world.
Several Expedia alum, including Zillow CEO Rich Barton and about two dozen other investors, acquired TravelPost from Kayak in early 2010. The price tag was $3.6 million in cash and 800,000 shares.
While a relaunch of Travelpost had initially been slated to take place in November 2010, that plan was scuttled and in January 2011 there was a management shakeup and a gutting of the staff.
So questions loom about how the introduction of Trover relates to a relaunch of TravelPost.
Is Trover the TravelPost relaunch?
Sounds like it.
And, if so, what becomes of TravelPost?
For now, Karas -- who heads Trover and TravelPost -- says he's not providing further details about plans.