"People who "check-in" to Revision3 shows can unlock special badges - they're also giving away a prize every week for the next 10-weeks to a Miso fan who has earned one of the badges," said Somrat Niyogi, CEO of Miso.

Miso also allows you to republish your check-ins to your Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Where do game dynamics come in?

"We are also using an implicit check-in model for beamME based on proximity rather than specific venue presence...We will shortly be adding Foursquare and Gowalla integration along with the option of updating status, and following or friending users across networks directly from within beamME (Twitter has already been built)."

The question regarding both these services, and others like them, is whether the activity of checking in itself constitutes game play. (Another question is whether they rob attention from the activity that a user is checking in for.)

Further, even with an occasional prize, will this mechanics make the difference if the user were not already interested in the simple peer communication they offer? The pay-off of game play comes in obstacle resolution, dynamics and scaling, not just bottlecaps. That is not to say they can't be an element in a larger structure. I just doubt it will prove to be the magic bean.

BeamMe's Twitter integration lets you beam information from your iPhone or iPod Touch directly to Twitter userIDs (@username). This could be a much easier way to send information to your recipients as it will often be faster than typing in a phone number or email address in many cases. It's also a useful feature if you don't have that information on hand, yet need to share your information with someone on Twitter.

But before you panic about an oncoming wave of beamME spam, take heed. The service has introduced some safety precautions to make sure that doesn't happen. For one, you have to activate this feature before it will even work. (You can do so here.) Also, the recipients of your "beam" have to already be following you on Twitter in order to receive your card as it's sent via DM so as to keep your personal info private.

If, however, the recipient isn't following you on Twitter, the beamME app will send them an @ message first, asking them to follow you to receive your card. No additional @ messages or DMs are sent after the initial exchange takes place and if either party wants to unfollow the other later on, that's their choice.

To use this new Twitter integration, you'll need to download the update to your beamME application from iTunes then activate the feature.

beamME Pitch - Could Be Used for More than Just Pitches

Next up from rmbrME is a brand-new application to complement their growing suite of beaming tools which include beamME (the free app), beamME Pro (well worth the price for the extra features), and beamME CV (the "beam your resume" app).

The new app is called beamME Pitch, and, as its name implies, its purpose is to allow sales professionals the ability to beam marketing materials to other phones, email addresses, SMS (worldwide), or again, Twitter. The app lets you send a PDF, PowerPoint, Word, or Text document directly from your iPhone/iPod Touch to your recipient and it will even format it correctly for viewing on a mobile device if necessary. The document is accompanied by your vCard and customizable introductory copy.

Like beamME Pro, beamME Pitch uses the iPhone's geo-location system to place your contacts on a map where you can then tag them with the name of the place you met. It also provides a contact's feed section which tracks your complete beaming history.

However, calling the app "beamME Pitch" may have been a mistake. Using it to beam sales and marketing information may end up being one of its top use cases to be sure, but an app that beams documents wirelessly - sans email - could definitely appeal to a broader crowd. You could easily see this app being used as an email alternative by busy, working professionals who can't carry their laptops with them everywhere but need to send and receive files. It could also become popular among students. Unfortunately, with "Pitch" in the name, we're worried it will get overlooked by the larger crowd of potential users.

This app is available now in the iTunes App Store for $5.99.

Save a Tree, Buy beamME

If you tend to forgo buying premium applications because you're pinching pennies, you should reconsider when it comes to the beamME apps. Not only are they incredible timesavers, the company has partnered with the Arbor Day Foundation to plant a tree for every app purchased. So not only are you saving paper by sending documents wirelessly, you're actively helping reverse global deforestation in the process.