New Official Obama Application for iPhone/Ipod Touch Launched Today

I've been a long time fan of the Obama campaigns use of mobile media to date, and today they took their mobile strategy a step further.

They lanched a native iPhone/iPod Touch application that connects you directly into the campaign over your device in a number of innovative ways.

You can download it today for free from the official iPhone Application store, but here are the features as described on the campaign page:

  • Call Friends: A great volunteering tool
    that lets you make a difference any time you want by talking to people
    you already know. Your contacts are prioritized by key battleground
    states, and you can make calls and organize results all in one place.
  • Call Stats: See nationwide Obama '08 Call Friends totals and find out how your call totals compare to leading callers.
  • Get Involved: Do more. Find and contact your local Obama for America HQ.
  • Receive Updates: Receive the latest news and announcements via text messages or email.
  • News: Browse complete coverage of national and local campaign news.
  • Local Events: Find local events, share by email and get maps and directions.
  • Media: Browse videos and photos from the campaign
  • Issues: Get clear facts about Barack Obama and Joe Biden's plan for essential issues facing Americans.

My early review of the application very positive. Especially impressive is that when you choose Local Events the App checks your GPS location (for iPhone users) to find the closest campaign office near you at that time. Nice. 

Also for iPhone users: Call friends is a great feature that remembers that this is a PHONE application not simply a small Desktop app. As the author of the app describes this feature:  "It organizes and prioritizes your contacts by key battleground states... Caller stats are then aggregrated anonymously to a leaderboard within the application displaying key stats such as the number of callers and total calls made."

The Obama campaign continues to define and evolve what political mobile media outreach is. All iPhone and iPod Touch users interested in what that can mean should definitely check out this new application.