Gowalla: Location-based apps will go beyond current simple set-up

No-one can suggest those behind the wealth of location-based service apps don't have ambition.
While Foursquare has been signing deals with every major company under the sun, Booyah's MyTown has seen its userbase go through the roof in the US.
As such, the one other app realistically challenging for the title of market leader Gowalla now believes the very idea of checking-in being restricted to LBS apps will soon be viewed as archaic.
According to CEO Josh Williams, all games and apps will soon be tapping into this phenomenon.
"Location in general is going to become almost ubiquitous to mobile services and ultimately the internet," Williams told Mashable.
"The idea of a location-based service will become redundant. We see Gowalla coming beyond just a declaration of 'this is where I am', but 'this is where I am, these are the people I was with, and these are the photographs that were taken'."
Check-ins chock-a-block
He adds, "So I can go in and pull up my buddy who checked into the Mavs and Spurs game in Dallas last night and see all the photos taken by fans there, and it becomes a snapshot of what happened in that moment."
Of course, the curious appeal of LBS apps is that they encourage you to leave the house. Gaming, in general, was always seen as an alternative to getting out and about and sampling fresh-air.
If Williams' prediction that checking-in will soon become a part of every game out there comes true, such a notion might well be turned on its head.
"We live in a remarkably big and wonderful world," Williams concludes.
"There's a lot of opportunity to explore. We want you to go out and discover the world, and hopefully Gowalla is a service that's part of that experience. But in the end, whether it's a coffee shop down the street or a mountain viewpoint, we just want you to go out and discover."
[source: Mashable]