May 5--SOUTHLAKE -- Virtually everybody saves travel mementos. Now, iPhone users can save virtual souvenirs of visits to real places.

A new app (short for application, or program) for the iPhone 3G, called Gowalla, was created by Alamofire, a digital collectible company masquerading as a social gaming company that's run by a crew of caffeinated young software designers working out of a second-floor office suite in Southlake Town Square. Think of it as the virtual version of collecting snow globes or matchbooks.

"We're still scratching the same itch," said Alamofire founder Josh Williams, 29. "It's like this real-life affirmation of these places I've been."

A tall, lean guy with dark sideburns, Williams looks like he could front an alt-country band if he weren't otherwise occupied. He was home-schooled in Plano by "forward-thinking" parents, skipped college and made his bones creating software for pawnshops. Along the way he moved his little business out of a spare bedroom into an office suite decorated with skateboards.

He also picked up early clients such as Microsoft and Sandia Labs, along with a couple of million dollars from California venture capitalists. Alamofire now has nine employees, Williams said.

Gowalla began even before its launch at Austin's annual South by Southwest Interactive Festival in March.

"If a vintage suitcase featuring city stickers, a scavenger hunt and iPhone 3G were combined, the result would be ... Gowalla," blogger Josh Spear wrote. "Who doesn't want to be rewarded for visiting extraordinary and everyday places with phone in hand?"

Another blogger compared Gowalla to letterboxing, a hobby that combines orienteering -- a game navigating unfamiliar terrain with map and compass -- art and puzzle-solving. It's also similar to geocaching, in which players hunt for hidden items using Global Positioning System devices.

Williams called geocaching interesting but limited; you need a GPS, and caching in urban areas can be a problem. Gowalla addresses those issues by using the iPhone, which, like most cellphones sold in the last couple of years, has a built-in GPS chip, and by using landmarks rather than requiring that something be buried or hidden.

While Gowalla has minimal practical value, that doesn't mean it's worthless.

"It has perceived value. People have record collections because it evokes memories for them," Williams said. "I think the generation that's growing up, because they live in an iPod generation, is less concerned about the physical but they are concerned about their memories.