Check.in Launches To The Public

What you need to know:
• Check.in is an HTML5 app built by location veteran Brightkite to cute check-in fatigue.
• There are about a dozen location based networks you can check in to right now, and Check.in is looking to be the one check in to rule them all.
• Launches with Foursquare, Brightkite, and three networks in experimental mode: Gowalla, TriOut, and Whrrl 
• Problem is still that there isn't one unified database of places, each service has its own. All Check.in does is coss check and do its best to match.
• Works on iPhone, Android, iPad, and any other HTML5 capable browser.

I've been using Check.in in closed beta for quite some time, and I use it quite rarely and only when I remember. Most often it's because of the simple fact that half the time it can't find me on one of the services it offers. Whether it's Brightkite or Gowalla, it just has trouble actually hitting all (then) three services it incorporates. Foursquare usually worked just fine, but at that point I might as well just use the apps. This isn't a problem with Check.in, it's an inherent problem with the services. There needs to be one central database of places, but it hasn't happened yet. What do you think? Have you tried it out? Let us know in the comments!

Don't Count Brightkite Out Just Yet

Amidst all this talk of location-based check-ins, it seems the frontrunner from just over a year ago has been swept under the rug. Brightkite, with over 2 million users, seems to have stagnated recently, allowing Foursquare and Gowalla to get most of the limelight, despite a smaller user base.

Well, it seems Brightkite has been so quiet because they've been working on some new things. Awesome new things. The first of which is Group Text. This is a smart move for Brightkite. Texting rates are still gouging wireless customers, so texting services like TextPlus and now Brightkite's Group Text do well to offer mass texting absolutely free. Group Text has replaced messages on Brightkite's site and now has an iPhone app [iTunes link] out, independent from the Brightkite iPhone app.

Brightkite has also managed to nab the domain http://check.in. This is where it gets good. With all of us suffering from severe check-in fatigue, I've been praying for one service to let me check in to everything at once. Brightkite is planning to fill that void for me. Jay Donovan from CrunchGear managed to get a demo from the Brightkite team at SXSWi, and I'm super psyched to see it come to fruition.

Check out the video demo after the jump.

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Gowalla Partners With Travel Channel, Puts Out Android and WebOS Apps

As we gear up for the great cornucopia of tech that is SXSW interactive in Austin, TX, the location wars are getting ever more serious. Gowalla announced early this week, their first major media partnership. Gowalla is teaming up with the Travel Channel and one of their brand new shows (which I'm psyched to watch) called Food Wars. The show features two food rivals in one city in a battle to determine which is better once and for all. Much like the Foursquare partnerships that have popped up over the last month, Gowalla will offer special incentives to users who check in at a location attributed to the show.

This comes very close in timing to the launch of Gowalla 1.0 for Android. The beta for Android has been out for a few weeks, and I've been using it since then. I've been under whelmed by it, and I'm even more disappointed in the major release. Gowalla, I want to love you. I really do. I tell everyone about you, I think you're richer than Foursquare, I think you're certainly prettier than Foursquare, but the app just doesn't cut it right now, I'm sorry to say.

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