Localmind Review: Innovative Crowdsourcing on the iPhone

Do you ever check out the “Tips” on Foursquare? What if you could ask questions and get back instant responses in real time? That is the premise of Localmind, a brilliant crowdsourcing app that calls upon those checked-in via Foursquare, Gowalla and Facebook Places.

Made in Canada, but Making History Around the World

Developed in Montreal by Lenny Rachitsky (from San Diego), Localmind is the future of micro crowdsourcing. Released just days ago, Localmind gave me a few “cool!” moments after I installed it.

With Localmind, you ask questions posed to people nearby, or to Localminders from far away–even around the globe. You can ask anything you want to any location you want. Want to know of a good place to eat late at night? Ask Localminders. The possibilities are endless. All you have to do is login via Foursquare, Gowalla, or Facebook. Google support is coming soon.

After launching Localmind for the first time, someone sent me a question about where to find a sandwich nearby. You don’t have to respond, as you have options to say “I don’t know” or “I’m busy”. Of course, I had to answer. I gave my recommendations and later received a Localmind email with a personal ‘thank you’ from the user. Pretty cool. I’d like to see this as an alert within the app, instead of flooding my email inbox though.

The more questions you answer, the more ‘karma points’ you accumulate to becoming a Localmind Expert. Apps such as Localmind will grow only when people download the free app to use it (I’m thinking of trapster as an example). The key to Localmind’s success is that its userbase is existing Foursquare, Gowalla, and Facebook check-ins–ingenious!

However, for it to work people need to answer questions. This won’t be a problem as people are competitive, and all want to become a Localmind Expert.

There’s a Localmind Web Interface Too

Don’t have an iPhone? Localmind also has a web interface, which details everything in your account. You can see your history, change settings, and check out other Localminders around the world via the Google Map.

Kudos to Lenny for coming up with such a brilliant app. Localmind is a free download and it’s the crowdsourcing app to watch out for. It’s already taking over the world. Try it out for yourself.

What is Localmind? from Localmind on Vimeo.

Click here to download Localmind–and let me know what you think!

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