Windows Phone Thoughts: Gowalla Now Available for Windows Phone 7

“Take a look at the opening Panoramic view where you can quickly access your friends’ activity, nearby spots and nearby photos (a feature only included in Gowalla for WP7!). Checking in and adding photos is quick and easy, with the ability to post check-ins to Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and Tumblr.”

The gurus at Gowalla have rounded out their client applications finally with the release to the Zune Marketplace of their Windows Phone 7 Gowalla Client.

If you have not used Gowalla before, you may be surprised at its usefulness, I sure was. To those readers who like to keep friends and family up-to-date on your visits and experiences at places you have been to, then this service is for you. The Gowalla Application makes great use of the now distinctive Panoramic view interface we have come to love which is both smooth and fluid with insight to the next section of the panorama only a glance away.When performing a "Check In" and using its GPS-hook, the Gowalla Application is able to quickly offer up a local list of nearby spots and invariably the one you are after. Thus keeping that "Check In" time to a minimum, whilst maximising your checking-out time wherever you should find yourself enjoying that local ambiance.

Another useful feature of the Gowalla Application is its ability to post via your favourite "Check In" services, be they Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and/or Tumbler. I found this particularly useful as in some cases you may only want a selection of your networked friends to know that you had been to the Smiggle store to refresh your supply of office stationary in that bright colour you like so much!

Keeping on the go and making use of the Windows Phone 7 "Glance and Go" metaphor is Gowalla's Tile notifications, which let you, the passport holder know of any "unread" comments and check-ins. You can create custom "Trips" involving those places and sights known as "Spots" and display them in Bing Maps. There is a nice touch with incentives for visiting or posting a "Check In" to a new place not already in the Gowalla database, called "Stamps" and "Pins". This somewhat reminded me of the badges one attained in the Boy Scouts, or Girl Guides and I can see the Gowalla troupe had thought of this too. You will be in cheerful (and not so cheerful!) competition to see who has the most pins or stamps in their Gowalla Application.

The entire interface is clean; the activity input is fast, and the availability of information refreshingly useful. The client application is free along with the prerequisite web service, requiring only a simple signup.