Updated with comments from Trover CEO Jason Karas.

Trover, the startup created by Zillow and Expedia founder Rich Barton, launched its mobile discovery app today.

Trover is looking to tap into the location-based market with an app that emphasizes the visual and lets users be both explorer and guide.

The app cues you in to the stores, restaurants and scenery in your neighborhood that are recommended by other "trovers," and lets you create a discovery trail by taking photos of a meal, a favorite park or a great sale and posting them to Trover. The app then tags the photos with your location data so it can be discovered by other trovers. You can also add comments about your experiences.

After taking the free app for a spin this morning, I'd say the visual aspects are the most compelling part of Trover. Similar to Foursquare in the way it lets you discover new places, Trover adds a rich photo experience that mimics the way we explore -- with our eyes. The photos are set into a grid-like mosaic and arranged according to distance (i.e. the places closest to you are listed first).

"While Foursquare is really great for undersatnding where things are, with us it's much more about...interesting things that are noticed in the landscape," said Trover CEO Jason Karas.

Karas used the example of discovering a fantastic ice cream shop in Paris: Before Trover there wasn't really a way to notify future travelers that the shop was nearby. With Trover, you can snap a photo and tag the ice cream store so other travelers passing through the neighborhood can discover it easily.

"It's about creating these breadcrumbs," he said. "It's not as time-sensitive as something like Foursquare."

Trover also allows you to follow people, which is one of the most powerful functions of the app, said Karas.

"Through using Trover I've started to bump into other people in my community that have similar interests to me," he said. "As I find more people I want to follow, it really becomes a powerful tool, because I've selected the eyeballs I want to use to see the world."

Trover is wholly owned and funded by TravelPost, the online travel startup founded by Barton, which raised $9.8 million from Ignition Partners, Benchmark Capital and General Catalyst in 2010. Karas -- Barton's brother-in-law -- was the CEO at TravelPost.

Karas said the idea for Trover spun out of TravelPost about six months ago.

"We recognized...that there was this other massive need that people had," he said. "They needed the ability to share the (location) gems they had with their friends."

The six-person team knew Trover was a very different concept from TravelPost, so they chose to create a new startup. Karas said they've devoted a significant portion of the TravelPost funding to launch the company, though the travel site is still operating and generating revenue.

While in beta, the app pulled in over 70,000 users during a three month period. Currently it's only available for iOS devices, but Trover says an Android version is on the way.