For the past year there had been rumblings that the Social/Geolocation service Gowalla was looking to build in some additional Social Networking type features to their Check-In only service. This week, those rumblings have become reality. Possibly part in due to the SXSW (South-by-South West) conference being held this week, but whatever the reason, they are pretty slick and a welcome upgrade to the iPhone. Interestingly enough, although the icon remains the same there is a funky greek symbol for beta after the title of the app which gives the implication of possibly more enhancements coming. For that we will have to wait and see.

The first thing you notice when launching the app is that it is a bit brighter than before. They have kept the green theme of the interface, but have lightended the background and use the darker green for the banner at the top. This is where it gets interesting. You are initially brought into the Activity screen where you can see the normal status of all of your friends. But then you notice little bubbles next to each status update. By tapping on the bubble you are now able to dive into the check-in and add comments! This is great for discussing a location or just saying hi to friends who may want more information on what you are doing there. A very welcome for those of us who have been using Gowalla for a while now.

The passport page also seems to have been given a face lift. The avatars seem much larger and the buttons for your stamps, pins, friends and what? What is this other button called 'Photos?' Nice! Another additon of being able to add photos to your check-ins! At the time of this posting, I have not had the opportunity to play around with posting pictures, but I am sure the value of being able to share images of locations adds to the experience. You still have the general profile information displayed as well as a list of your recent check-ins with the comment bubbles available as well. One of the old favorites which made Gowalla so popular is still around; the collection of items at check-in.

As I wrote about in a previous post, part of the allure to Gowalla as a geolocation game is the ability to collect unique items at locations through picking up, dropping off or collecting them. These are all storedin your "Items I'm Carrying" section. As usual Gowalla continues to provide very attractive and artistic iconic representations of items which are now better presented in the Items list. I just noticed, that I am carrying far too many items. Might have to run out and drop some off at local spots. Guess I don't get out enough.

One other area I didn't dive too deep into before was the Trip feature of the application. These are pre-defined mini "tours" of areas wich can contain several different locations to check in at. The list is rather extensive and through the website you do have the ability to create trips to share with others. One good example of the trip feature is rather local to me and I really need to try it out - The Central Park Highlights trip. There are several spots to check-in at on that Trip. The fun thing about trips is that when you complete each trip you get the trip stamp added to your passport. All designed to lure you out and begin to experience the world. Who knows you may even find spots along that way that you can add.

Finally on the social front, the Find Friends page seems to also have been upgraded to now cover your address book, FaceBook, Twitter, Gmail or search the system for existing users by name. There is still much to explore about Gowalla, but the iPhone application's new design and features are definitely going to get me into the experience more. I can't wait to see what they come up with next. With the fun aspect of geolocation being overlayed with an unbelievably well thoughtout function and beautiful user interface, I expect the world of Gowalla will continue to grow and more virtual items littered about for me to collect and add to my pack while I journey about collecting stamps and sharing my experiences and photos with others.

For those who don't have an iPhone app, Gowalla provide the similar experience for Blackberry, Android and other devices either through applications of a recently re-designed web interface which maintains the basic look and feel of the native apps. Again, great job Gowalla!

Facebook will be unveiling a new full tool and feature set centered around location at its forthcoming f8 event, says Bits.

The system will focus on two main thrusts, the first allowing users to share their location with their assorted friends on Facebook, and another letting developers interact with Facebook users and their locations via new location-centric APIs.

Of course, this would raise a firestorm of controversy if Facebook had not already battened down the legal hatches. Back in November they changed Terms of Service to include several references to location-based capabilities. That means that like it or not, everyone using Facebook has already given the social networking giant permission to share their location with their friends if they state it.

That said, the terms of service do say that the service, when it comes to be, will be opt-in. That is, Facebook will not share your status without you giving it. However, once you do it is off to the races.  Facebook has declined to comment thus far.

Bringing Facebook into the location game is bad news for every location-heavy startup in the market right now. With Google and Facebook both moving into the location space with Buzz, Latitude, and the forthcoming Facebook release, startups like Foursquare and Gowalla are going to find increasing difficulty in convincing users to adopt their products over the offerings of the giants.

Facebook and Google can offer better location integration into the services that users already use and have deep investments in. Of course, Facebook could commit a serious privacy error (as they are wont to do), but shy of that Facebook will become a player in the location space on April 21, at its f8 conference.

There is currently much hoopla around foursquare and their offering with the recent release of that service in London, but I found it to feel exclusive to those who live around a major metropolis like London or New York. For me, I have discovered a new player on the block called Gowalla. The concept is simple. You use the GPS function of the phone to pin-point your location and allow you to check in. Then you can 'claim' that location as your own, but with different terminology attached to each of these services. That is about the only place where these two services are similar.

Where I sway towards Gowalla more is their implementation of a sort of scavenger hunt concept. You start out with a set of items in your account that you can drop at locations when you check in. If you are the first you bascially 'claim' that location as the founder. Anyone else who visits that location can check in and has the option to swap something from their items list with that which was dropped by the last person.

If you are like me and are a founder on many locations, sooner or later you run out of items that you can drop. No worries there because you are occasionally rewarded with new items. But the fun doesn't stop there. They have put into the mix the concept of 'Trips' that you can embark on. These are pre-defined landmarks or routes that you can travel on and collect your stamps along the way as you check in. It really invites you to get out and see new things.

I travelled to Washington DC soon and already had found several sites of interest through Gowalla that I visited and checked-in at, all categorized neatly by:

• Architecture & Buildings
• Art & Culture
• College & Education
• Entertainment
• Food
• Nightlife
• Parks, Nature & Recreation
• Shopping & Retail
• Travel & Lodging

Each spot in Gowalla comes with its very own page that lists who has visited, what was dropped or picked up, a google map of the area and who created the spot. All of these nifty little icons and locations you collect are stored as stamps in your Gowalla virtual Passport.
Aside from that the service has all of the usual expectations including Facebook and twitter integration, but what stands out the most is the general design and feel of the service. It is a jazzy kind of experience. The graphics pop and are very well done layed nicely upon a green themed background that is very subtle allowing the colors from the icons and text stand right out.

So for me, I am going to go with Gowalla. Foursquare is good for you city-folk, but if I want to explore and collect things, I have to Go-Go-Gowalla!

*all images from the Gowalla website