White House launches iPhone app

Washington - There's a new application for Apple's iPhone and it comes from the White House of President Barack Obama.

"The White House App delivers dynamic content from WhiteHouse.gov to the palm of your hand," White House blogger Dave Cole said.

The free application, which is available through Apple's App Store, features live video streaming, Cole said in a blog post on WhiteHouse.gov late on Tuesday.

"Now anyone with this app can watch the president's public events at the White House, frequent web chats with administration officials, and other events like key speeches and press briefings in real time," he said.

For example, Cole said Obama's January 27 "State of the Union" speech will be available to iPhone users.

"The White House App also lets users stay up to date with the White House Blog," Cole said, and will provide on-demand video of White House events.

"In the coming weeks, we'll also launch mobile.WhiteHouse.gov, a mobile-ready version of WhiteHouse.gov that is optimised for any internet-enabled mobile device, including many other phones," he added.

Obama relied heavily on the internet during his presidential campaign for organising, fundraising and communicating and has created MySpace and Facebook pages and a Twitter feed since entering the White House.

Obama's "New Media" team has also launched a channel on YouTube and the White House is present on photo-sharing site Flickr.

Earlier this year, the White House launched several websites, Data.gov and Recovery.gov, in a bid to provide more information to the public and to provide unfiltered access to government data.

- AFP