Facebook today announced a new feature called Places that would enable users to ‘check in’ at different places and share their location with friends. The feature will work on the Facebook app for iPhone or by visiting touch.facebook.com on any mobile browser that supports HTML5. The feature is currently available only in the US, but it should not take time to be rolled-out globally.



Users can even check in people who are accompanying them or see if any of their friends are nearby. Facebook Places is quite similar to services like Foursquare and Gowalla, though with no gimmicks (not yet). Users don’t get rewarded for checking in to the same place multiple times. This feature was long due and Facebook seems to have got it right.



Read more about how Facebook Places works and the privacy controls on the Facebook Blog