MG Siegler of TechCrunch on Gowalla’s new strategy:

Technically version 4.0, the new version bears little resemblance to the previous versions of the app. Gowalla is no longer predominantly a check-in service. That’s still one aspect of it, but the idea is now to focus on two key areas: travel and storytelling.

Gowalla is popular amongst the technorati but I don’t think I know anyone who uses it over Foursquare or Facebook Places. Trying to attack things from a different direction make’s sense, but I still don’t think it appeals to me.