Boston creates iPhone application

BOSTON, July 6 (UPI) -- Boston officials said they are preparing to release the city's first official iPhone application, which will allow people to notify City Hall of needed repairs.

Officials said the application, named Citizen Connect, is the first of its kind in the United States and will allow Boston residents to snap phone pictures of potholes, graffiti and burned-out street lights and forward the images to City Hall, The Boston Globe reported Monday.

"If I'm just walking along the sidewalk and I have a complaint -- maybe a storm knocked downed a tree -- I could take a photo and send it immediately,'' said Christopher Loh, 28, a press assistant in Mayor Thomas Menino's office who helped create the idea for the program. "You don't have to bumble around looking for a number to call. It's right there in the palm of your hand.''

Menino said he plans to get an iPhone just so he can use the application.

"If you look at the 24-hour hotline, who's the person who calls the most times?'' Menino said. "It's me. I'm going to use it. I'll tell you if it works well or not.''