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Today a new social game called VinPass launched. It's an application for wine lovers to "share wine reviews, win badges and earn real rewards." VinPass uses the 'check-in' paradigm popularized by location-based social network Foursquare and extended into other areas by the likes of GetGlue (entertainment) and Foodspotting (food). In a nutshell, you check-in to tasting a certain type of wine. If you write a review, you earn points and eventually unlock badges. VinPass promises that these badges have "tangible value" - including coupons on e-commerce stores, MP3s, ringtones, event tickets and more.

Foursquare is still a relatively geeky app, offering little in the way of tangible value in its badges. But focusing on wine should open up plenty of possibilities to offer value for VinPass.

The mobile social travel diary and game Gowalla launched version 3.0 of its popular, if market-trailing, service last week and it's a great example of the potential and the pitfalls of contemporary social software.

If you're familiar with Facebook Places or Foursquare, Gowalla now reads friends' updates from and posts your check-ins to those other services, if you like. That's a really fantastic feature. Unfortunately, the way it's poorly implemented is one of several heartbreaking problems with the new version of Gowalla. Here's an update on what Gowalla does and doesn't have to offer in the heated competition to be our primary mobile companion in travels throughout town and the world.

One of the leading trends this year has been check-in apps. Typically mobile apps, they allow you to announce that you're at a place or doing something. The excitement started with the location check-in apps: Brightkite, Foursquare, Gowalla, Google Latitude and others. But over the past year the practice of "checking in" has expanded to many other 'things' beyond location. You can now check in to TV shows, movies, books, food, events, and more.

Below we list some example check-in apps, so that you can check out this phenomenon yourself!

If you can believe it, a company called CheckPoints has just come up with yet another twist on how "check-in" location-based services applications should work. With its new smartphone application, consumers are rewarded for scanning the barcodes of their favorite products while shopping. The scans add up to points which can then be redeemed for prizes - good prizes, too, like frequent flier miles, Amazon gift cards, iPods and iPads.

But in return, users are essentially agreeing to receive a one-time mobile ad from each product they scan. This makes us wonder: how far will people go for a free iPad?

Earlier this summer, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) partnered with social check-in app GetGlue to offer rewards for a few of its shows. GetGlue has seen strong engagement numbers from its sticker promotions, and not long ago announced many extended promotions from networks like HBO and Showtime. PBS, having seen tremendous social media growth from its campaign has announced a brand new set of reward promotions with GetGlue for its upcoming fall lineup of shows.

Nokia debuted a new feature for its Ovi Maps service at this week's Nokia World 2010 event in London: check-ins. But, thankfully, the company isn't hopping on the bandwagon of location-based social sharing with its own self-branded service (also known as "yet another social network I have to sign up for.") Instead, Nokia is taking the idea of location seriously, enabling real-time social sharing privately between friends or, with just a tap, to your social networking services of choice.

The service integrates with both large global networks like Facebook and Twitter, but also smaller, more regionally focused networks like China's RenRen and Germany's StudioVZ.

More importantly, though, the issue of privacy has been thoughtfully addressed.

Social check-in app GetGlue has been making significant strides in the mobile space lately with the release of an Android app following success on the iPhone earlier this summer. Today, the popular app which allows users to check-in, rate and like things like movies, TV shows and music, has come to everyone's favorite "lean back" entertainment device, the iPad. With some added functionality (and more sticker deals to boot), GetGlue hopes its iPad app will become your couch surfing app of choice for "second screen" media interaction.

Have you ever wanted to walk into a building and be automatically checked into Foursquare, without any action on your part? That's the promise of an intriguing DIY project from electronic engineering hobbyist, Casey Halverson. He has come up with a low-cost solution that involves a Nike+ sensor, a $25 breakout board and a Web service called Stumble.to that watches for electronic devices, then automatically checks you into your favorite places via Foursquare and other location-based social networking services.

Topguest, the check-in program for frequent travelers, is now integrated with Facebook Places, making it the fourth company to do so, after Yelp, Booyah and Gowalla. This service, which offers program loyalty points and travel rewards for check-ins at hotels, airports and other travel or hospitality-related venues, functions as sort of a middle-man between travel rewards programs and users of location-based and social networking services including Foursquare, Gowalla, Brightkite, Twitter and Facebook.

With the new Facebook Places integration, Topguest members will now receive automatic rewards for their check-ins via Facebook.

Check-in apps are all the rage in the mobile space, but these days users aren't just checking into business and landmarks. Apps like Miso and Facebook's recent acquisition Hot Potato, which allow users to check-in to movies, TV shows, books and other activities, have been part of the fuel behind the recent check-in craze. Another player in the "check-in to anything" game is GetGlue, whose popularity ballooned after the launch of its iPhone app earlier this summer. Today, the startup hopes to build on its success with the release of an Android app, a mobile website and new brand partnerships.