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mJetz is a mobile web browser that combines feeds, web sites, and widgets (mJetz) into a streamlined interface. The UI is unlike any other application I've seen. Content is arranged in a hierarchy format, which is actually quite intuitive and lets users move quickly from one area to another. Widgets include email (Yahoo!, Gmail, etc.), social networking (Facebook, myGamma, etc.), weather, sports, and lots more. mJetz provides an open SDK to the independent developer community, so new widgets are added regularly and are very diverse in nature. Web-search functionality is also neatly integrated and allows users to choose among categories of results including feeds, full-web sites, mobile-web sites, and widgets. As a result, this is one of the most comprehensive mobile search tools available!

mJetz users can choose to add any of the aforementioned content to their Favorites, which are essentially mobile bookmarks, for instant access upon launching the app. One of my Favorites is a web feed that follows news regarding the US presidential race as it happens. This is perfect-bite sized content for being productive in short segments of downtime. Each new article is summarized in a glanceable paragraph to make the experience even more efficient.

Since mJetz is a free application, I would reccomend that anyone with a web-enabled phone (Java, MIDP 1 & 2) should take it for a spin. Point your mobile device to mJetz.com to download, then use the Search function to find 'Presidential Race 2008' content.

Sites like http://mobile.twp.com/ and other mobile editions of newspapers are a great way to follow political news from a mobile device.  

Sites such as http://race08.go2.com/ compile and list out election-specific information to help expedite having to filter through tons of RSS feeds for the latest information.

Obama has his own mobile site:  http://www.barackobama.com/mobilev2/

While McCain doesn't specifically have a mobile site, this is just as good for GOP b(i)ased news:

http://www.foxnews.com/mobile/

 There are various SMS services you can subscribe to in order to receieve information from candidates, but I will not list them as I disapprove of candidates issuing statements that might automatically charge you money in order to receive the statement (some SMS plans charge for incoming messages).

 

Link references: http://mobile.freedomblogging.com/category/politics/ 

Usually the best approach to discovering mobile content is to check with the source first. In the case of hot politics in the United States, Barack Obama has a text message subscriber list that keeps recipients in touch with his campaign.  While John McCain has no comparable system in place he does comment on Barack Obama's text messaging. That's an obvious difference in approach to mobile communications when comparing the two major political camps. Each candidate is targeting a different audience, so perhaps those approaches make sense.

Text messages are one way to access content from a mobile device but there are others too. Jott provides a text-to-speech service that vocalizes feeds using artificial intelligence. Essentially that puts any political blog at your ear if a site feed is available.

Mobile social networks are another option that will facilitate information between friends. The drawback? Information you read is only as good as the friend's recital so facts can get discombobulated. The plus side is that mobile social networks enable immediate conversation which can result in new insights. Examples are Whrrl, Loopt, and Brightkite. They can also be a good way to develop new friends who share similar (or opposing) viewpoints on politics. Those friends could then transform into organized groups of people working toward a common political goal because they can easily communicate with each other.

Moving to the next vendor of mobile content, there's the current king of microblogging: Twitter. Following the right usernames can put information at your fingertips faster than any other source. Of course, with microblogging the same issue arises; it can be difficult to determine which microbloggers are authentic versus sinister or whimsical. For example, searching for "Obama" on Twitter yields 404 usernames with widely varying intentions. A search for McCain yields 97 usernames. Pick your poison!

Pushing content from these microblogs to your mobile phone is very easy because that is a basic foundation of Twitter's functionality. That, plus its breadth of information available earn Twitter a standout position in this lineup.

Politics Goes Mobile!

As Twitter use explodes into the mainstream I find it to be an interesting mobile source for politics, especially breaking news which is increasingly reported on Twitter before even CNN or local news outlets.   As a microblogging service Twitter is easy to use from mobile or computer, and there is a fair amount of lively political discourse there though it is not particularly well organized.  

Twitter and mobile messaging have also captured major attention from the campaigns.   Obama is *by far* the most followed person on Twitter (even though his entries are, I think, always by a staffer not Obama).  In fact Obama's VP announcement was supposed to be messaged and emailed before it was announced on mainstream media though I'm not sure if that system worked or not.

Perhaps more important than the campaign use is the fact that Twitter has moved dramatically into CNN's frame of reference, which means that you can sometimes use Twitter to communicate with CNN anchors.   This is powerful as it connects "real people" with media moguls and gives a voice and interactivity to the political process.   On Twitter, @andersoncooper  is really Anderson Cooper of CNN and @RichSanchezCNN is really Rick Sanchez.  Both seem to be using the service more and more within their broadcasts to "crowdsource" opinions. 

Although the site is not specially optimized for mobile browsing I think RealClearPolitics.com is a brilliant site with by far the best unbiased, overall picture of the political landscape, regularly updated and with an emphasis on polls.  One could pretty much stay totally informed on most election issues by simply reviewing the RSS feeds here:  http://realclearpolitics.com/rss/

More mobile politics can be found at the major political dissusion site Politico:  http://mobile.politico.com/

The Huffington Post is also a huge watering hole for a liberally influenced read of politics, and they have a mobile environment here:  http://m.huffingtonpost.com/

Want more of a conservative lean to your mobile politics?  Try the Druge Report, Mobile edition here:  http://www.idrudgereport.com/

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An interesting tangent to this discussion is how mobile phones inject a complex challenge for pollsters trying to predict election outcomes.   Enough people have stopped using land lines that sampling without adjusting for that fact can create problems because of the restrictions on cellular unsolicited calls.  These restrictions mean that cellular-only phone users, who are often younger voters, will often not be polled.   Although you can adjust for this mathematically, or you can use samples of people who have agreed to allow you to contact them via cell phone, it's can be a challenge to the survey sample accurately representing the survey's full population.

It's the election of a lifetime -- and it doesn't have to end when you're mobile.

If you're rooting for Barack Obama, why not put him on your phone? His official campaign site offers 12 slick ringtones, including Obama himself saying "Are you fired up? Are you ready to go?" and a hip-hop mix that chants "Go go go -- Obama." Instead of just a ringing phone, you could be hearing the charismatic candidate shout...

"It's time to change America!"
"What I do oppose is a dum war...."
"We can have universal healthcare in this country. We can do that!"

And that's just the beginning. RingTones08 offers ringtones for all political persuasions, including "It's raining McCain," "the Ron Paul revolution," and JibJab's hilarious song parody about the entire 2008 primary season. (And, yes, several variations on Obama's "Yes We Can" speech.) Visitors to the site are even encouraged to create their own political ringtones and share them on the site. Elsewhere another enterprising entrepreneur has specifically registered the domain JohnMcCainRingtones.com. And of course, Barack Obama's site is also offering Obama-themed wallpaper for your cell phone's background.

But it doesn't have to end there. If your phone runs the SymbianOS or the Mobipocket eBook reader, you can even download books by the candidates onto your phone. eBooks.com is offering both Barack Obama's The Audacity of Hope and John McCain's Why Courage Matters for downloading, along with other books by the candidates (and biographies about them.)

I've been following this campaign closely, and was fascinated by the anecdotes posted on Reuters new campaign blog, "Tales from the Trail." I was delighted to discover that it has an RSS feed -- but more importantly, Reuter's created a full web page collecting all of their mobile RSS feeds, including one for all of their political news. Most of the top political blogs have mobile-friendly feeds, including Time magazine's Swampland and the poll-watchers at Political Wire.

In fact, cell phone owners may prove to be the most important voters this election. Polls show that the two presidential candidates are locked in a tied race, but there's one group of voters who aren't being counted. Pollsters can't placed automated calls to cell phones due to the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act -- which means that they've been unable to poll a new demographic of young voters (who often only have a cell phone.) Will they vote for Barack Obama or John McCain? No one knows.

But with a race this close, it's these cell phone-loving voters who could wind up picking our next president.