Native check-ins for Windows Phone 7 reportedly in development

Offering native solutions to services already offered by third-parties is usually Apple's game, but a tweet posted by Windows software tester Kern Dacey suggests Microsoft may be working on a built-in check-in tool for Windows Phone 7.

As spotted by MobileTechWorld, the tweet since deleted was marked as a test by Dacey, and came tagged with the words "checked in at Microsoft Studio F" at the end.

Checking out the competition

Speculation suggests Microsoft is looking to employ the location-based tool as an extension to Windows Live.

The option to check-in, which could well see the light of day in the 'Mango' update, may then be integrated into other apps and services running on the platform, served up to third-party developers via an API.

However, given the likes of Foursquare and Facebook already offer check-ins on WP7, it remains to be seen how those already in the business will respond to any such move into location-based territory by Microsoft.

Facebook itself was pitched as a threat to existing check-in tools when Facebook Places launched in August 2010, although early stats suggested that Foursquare sign-ups actually increased in the months that followed.

[source: MobileTechWorld]