Every March, the city of Austin, Texas, welcomes the world for its annual South by Southwest Festival, otherwise known as SXSW. The festival consists of three parts: SXSW Interactive, a four-day geekfest for the Internet community; SXSW Film, ten days of international cinema programs; and SXSW Music, a four day non-stop celebration of live music.

The Interactive section, known as SXSWi, is always a prime spot for the early adoption of new online technology. This year's edition featured a showdown between location-based applications Gowalla and Foursquare, as well as the debut of Google Bike Maps, and examples of citizen journalism at its geekiest.

Below is a recap of SXSW Interactive 2010 by Vancouver-based photographer Kris Krüg.

The talk of SXSWi was Gowalla versus Foursquare.These applications use the GPS on your smartphone to allow you to check-in at locations, earn points for your travels, and connect with friends. Austin-based Gowalla appeared to be the crowd favorite, though Foursquare seemed to win in terms of user numbers.

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