Gowalla beats Foursquare to Windows Phone 7

Please see update at the bottom of the post.

When it comes to new mobile platforms, everyone keeps an eye on official app support. That is, people notice when big names bring their products to new mobile lines, as it indicates that there has been enough user demand to warrant the development costs required to port their app.

And so it was long-held that the lack of an official Foursquare application for Windows Phone 7 boded poorly, as surely Foursquare had the money to build the app, but simply didn’t. Until May, when news came out that the company would finally be releasing an official application.

Then came Gowalla, Foursquare’s classic rival, who has now stolen some of Foursquare’s thunder by beating them to releasing an official app for Windows Phone 7. At least, we suspect that the timing of this release was at least somewhat impacted by Foursquare announcement.

For the time being, there remains no ‘real’ Foursquare app for Windows Phone 7, and today the company still points users to a third-party (if very capable) app called 4th and Mayor, in lieu of a real, full, application.

When will the Foursquare app for Windows Phone 7 come out? We are not sure, but for the time being, Gowalla is running the show. The first review for the app came in at five stars.

Here is a shot of the application, just in case it’s your sort of thing:

Update:

Intrepid Microsoft watcher @manan pointed out to us that Foursquare actually did launch a (feature light) app for WP7 when the phone line debuted. It was later replaced with 4th and Mayor, the third-party application, because it was so much better. We apologize for the confusion.