Obama Launches iPhone Application

Democratic Presidential candidate, Barack Obama, has launched an iPhone application designed to help supporters connect with other voters and keep them up to date on how things are progressing in the Obama camp.

The 2008 presidential elections have seen a lot of firsts, one of these being the fact that this election has seen more online activity from both supporters and campaigners than ever before.

A recent report from Pew Research Center For The People and The Press showed that 46 percent of all Americans have used the Internet as a source for political news and to share their opinions and views about the presidential elections, compared to 31 percent of Americans in 2004. Research also showed that Obama supporters were more likely to gather political information and updates about the elections via the internet than those backing John McCain.

The Obama08 application includes features such as up to date news from the campaign, video, photos and a the ability to point you in the direction of your nearest campaign office. Perhaps the most interesting of tools the the “Call Your Friends” function designed to help you organize your contacts by key battleground states. The idea is you call people you already know and keep record of who’s voting Obama and help spread the word to vote for Barack Obama in November.

Bringing the election to the iPhone is a smart move from Obama and not something McCain is likely to mimic when research shows not all that many McCain supporters are using the internet to keep up to date on the elections. Whether they plan on bugging their friends about voting or not, every Obama supporter in the country is likely to download the application for the sake of solidarity, which in turn will mean plenty of publicity for the democratic party.

Read the official announcement on the Obama site and blog