Fat Geeky Guy’s Review of the Week: Political Apps
Rock the vote from the comfort of your pocket.
Rock the vote from the comfort of your pocket.
Impress politically active women and get some action in the beltway with these 2012 Election apps. Or use them to better the world and make informed decisions. Either way…
App: Presidential Election Race 2012
The Pitch: Election news and a crazy range of election data at your fingertips
What It Really Is: Cool! Track who’s winning and losing with opinion polls, betting markets and Twitter sentiment. Betting markets? Twitter sentiment? Who knew! The app presents all this data in nice shiny charts – fascinating! (Yes, it’s apparently possible to make election data fascinating.)
Maxim.com Press-ready Blurb: “Bet on this app to keep the race in your face!” – Maxim.com
Who’s It For: Data junkies and true election pundits.
What’s Extra Cool: Power to the people! Twitter sentiment tells you the mood of the nation in real time.
What’s Missing: Better news feeds. More! Gimme MORE!
Price: $1.99
Official Website: http://uselectionrace2012.com/
Rating: 4/5 Stars
App: Obama 2012
The Pitch: All Obama, all the time.
What It Really Is: Everything happening with the 2012 Obama re-election campaign boiled down to a single app. Campaign news, video and photos from the campaign trail. The app also has built-in browsing of barackobama.com for everything else.
Maxim.com Press-ready Blurb: “The Obama app is Barack-tastic!” – Maxim.com
Who’s It For: Fans of the president or people who want to read Obama news and complain.
What’s Extra Cool: The app automatically finds Obama related events in your area – I hope there’s free doughnuts!
What’s Missing: Information about free doughnuts/snacks at Obama events.
Price: Free
Official Website:http://www.barackobama.com/iphone-demo
Rating: 3/5 stars
App: With Mitt
The Pitch: Show your support by customizing your photos with Mitt Romney-inspired messages and artwork!
What It Really Is: A complete mystery. This app allows you to take photos, add Romney-esque captions and artwork, and share them with your friends via Facebook, Twitter and email. While it might be fun, other than the “Donate” button, this app does little else. Is this the Romney camp’s attempt to engage the Obama-friendly youth? Who knows –I’m just hoping the next app has more in it than pictures of me.
Maxim.com Press-ready Blurb: “Get your Mitts on this fun photo app!” – Maxim.com
Who’s It For: The extremely photogenic and patriotic.
What’s Extra Cool: I can Tweet a picture of myself with catchy Mitt-isms – “I’m with Mitt!”
What’s Missing: Information about the election or even a link to anything that looks presidential.
Oops: When first released, the word “America” was misspelled in the app. It has since been fixed, but we hear at Maxim take copy editing very seriously. They’re is know excuse for such errors.
Price: Free
Official Website:http://www.mittromney.com/blogs/
Rating: 2/5 Stars
App: NYTimes Election 2012
The Pitch: Your one-stop app for political news
What It Really Is: A complete gyp, even though it’s free. The majority of the app is usable only if you’re a New York Times subscriber. Virtually everything you’d be interested in clicking on in this app requires a subscription. If you’re a New York Times subscriber, there are election guides, multimedia, and a ton of opinions and news.
Maxim.com Press-ready Blurb: “All the news that… [INSERT MONEY TO READ THE REST OF THIS MAXIM.COM PRESS-READY BLURB]!” – Maxim.com
Who’s it for: NY Times Subscribers only.
What’s Extra Cool: The other apps in this review.
What’s Missing: Nearly everything.
Price: Free
Official Website: http://www.nytimes.com/services/mobile/apps/
Rating: 0/5 Stars
Contact the Fat Geeky Guy himself at fatgeekyguy@maxim.com or leave your techy questions in the comments below.Follow him on Twitter (@FatGeekyGuy) and on Facebook.