Raul Kaidro, who is the spokesman of the SK Certification Center in Estonia, says that it will be easy and secure: The voters will just need to previously obtain a free authorized chip. This chip will have an encrypted digital signature, which will allow them to identify themselves and vote using a text message.

The mobile voting will not be the only way to vote: It will be an additional method to online and on-site voting, all of them connected to a central database for instant identification and registration of the vote.

While some think digital voting will open a can of worms, it seems that this is not going to be the case. An independent security audit has certified that the process—which Sweden and Finland would eventually use as well—is completely secure and tamper-proof. In addition to that, their previous experience with online voting in 2007—which also used digital ID cards—was a success.

On the other side, if there is one thing history has shown to us is the fact that there's no 100% secure system... but then again, look at what happens in the US with on-site machines. In other words, if someone wants to do something illegal, they would do it now—with on-site voting—and in the future—with online or mobile voting. I prefer the convenience of the later. [AP]

The Price: Free with registration

The Verdict: Unclear.

There have been lots of criticisms of the betas and early releases of the reliability of the touchscreen models, but all that matters is them working on the release day. And today is finally the release day for these super-hot gadgets after an agonizingly-long two-year marketing push, so expect lines as long as the iPhone lines in certain markets. Plan ahead!

We need more hands-on with these, but luckily, they're free for all American citizens today, so go out and use them and then let us know how it went. Take pictures or video if you're up for it. We want a really comprehensive review here, so make sure you use them. They're the most important gadgets you can play with, after all.

Vote Here!

Version 0.9.2 was rolled out yesterday, and its makers say lots of its performance problems have been solved, particularly with the Windows version which is said to use 50 to 75% less RAM than previous versions. It's free. Get it now.

This is a cool piece of software, pretty much a Tower of Babel for all video formats, and it automatically links up with BitTorrent, too. Even though it's available for Windows, Mac OS X. and Linux, we are a little frustrated that the Ubuntu version hasn't been released yet. – Charlie White

Product Page, Free Download [Democracy, via boingboing]