New “learning” geo-discovery app from Geodelic comes to Android first

Mobile company Geodelic has announced Sherpa - its upcoming location-based discovery app today. It learns it’s users preferred locations over time. It uses this info to create a constantly updating map that shows the user nearby locations and services that should be of interest to them. Thanks to a partnership with T-Mobile, Sherpa will be coming to Android first.

The way app works is, essentially, by constantly monitoring and recording your location. It combines this data with contextual information like the time of day, so that it can tailor a different map depending on what you might be looking for. For example, during lunchtime it will focus more on restaurants and places to eat. On the weekends it might focus more on leisure locations and places to shop. The idea is that, based on your previous preferences, Sherpa can suggest nearby locations in a new area that would also be of interest to you.

The second function of Sherpa is to search for information that is relevant to your current location. So if you’re in a clothes shop, it could offer connections to shopping services.

From the release:

Rahul Sonnad, founder of Geodelic: “Any local search application can find the nearest video store or Chinese restaurant, but Geodelic’s approach is to go beyond this and give you the information you want while you’re at these locations - movie reviews, menus or promotional information all while you’re in the store. Our partnership with T-Mobile is the first step toward taking local discovery to the next level.”

“The amazing thing about Sherpa is that it learns your favorite types of locations and preferences over time and the more you use it, the better it knows you,” said Saj Sahay, director of product innovation, T-Mobile USA. “myTouch is all about putting you at the center of the device experience and Sherpa is a shining example of this true, powerful personalization.”

What we think?

The engine Sherpa uses is  called GENIE - which stands for Geodelic ENgine for Interest Evaluation. It’s a good name, but that acronym is so crowbarred it actually hurts!

Anyway, I have mixed opinions about this service. On the one hand, it offers something that I would genuinely like to have one day. The ability to look at my phone during lunch, and have it automatically display a map of nearby places that I would enjoy eating. That would be especially useful if I was away in a different city for a while, and wasn’t sure what was around.

So from that angle it’s a very cool service. But the sheer amount of recording Sherpa does about it’s users is a little disquieting. Not only preferences, but times and places. You thought Latitude was invasive? Check out Sherpa!