Facebook Places

Facebook yesterday finally launched its long awaited first steps into the location sharing market with the introduction of its Places feature. It is currently only available in the US, but the UK is expected to be brought online soon. Is this the death knell for the existing players, such as Foursquare and Gowalla? Time will tell. Those companies were present at the launch and are putting a positive spin on the news, gambling that Facebook will help bring location sharing into the mainstream.