yobongo! Out of private beta, ready for you to chat with people nearby but in selected cities

That’s right, those of you who have been dying to test Yobongo and/or attending SXSW the wait is over. Yobongo is finally out of private beta and ready for you to chat with people nearby on your iPhone. Today Caleb and David the cofounders of Yobongo announced first in the Yobongo private beta room that you can now download yobongo from Apple iTunes App store. But there’s a catch, Yobongo is launching in selected cities starting with Austin, New York and San Francisco, Yobongo’s HQ. More from Louis Gray about the Yobongo launch.

The service is following Foursquare’s roots in starting slow geographically, which will no doubt draw some irritation from expectant users outside the covered geographies, but there’s a method to the madness. San Francisco and New York are well-known social media hubs, central to the success of Twitter and Foursquare, and Austin is home to the SXSW event starting next week, which could be a high-profile beginning for Yobongo.

The launch also comes only days after the announcement of Facebook’s acquisition of Beluga, a well-received group chat application also expected to make waves at the show. Caleb Elston, cofounder and CEO of Yobongo, says, “If we are not in your city, don’t fret! You can vote to bring it to your city next :)”

As a yobongo beta tester I’m excited to see yobongo launch and use it at SXSW next week. As a NC resident I’m crushed, but it’s a smart move by yobongo to launch in selected cites. You can download Yobongo iphone app at here [iTunes link]

Update:

You can vote to have yobongo launch in your city at http://yobongo.com/cities. Raleigh, NC is on the list and can be requested here: http://yobongo.com/cities/North-Carolina/Raleigh You can expect to see more we want yobongo tweets and facebook status updates for users still wanting in. Other cities on the list are Los Angeles, CAm Chicago, IL, Boston, MA, San Diego, CA, Salt Lake City, UT, New Haven, CT, Seattle, WA Dallas, TX, , Miami, FL. Kansas City, KS and Atlanta, GA.

If you live in Austin, New York or San Francisco let me know about your yobongo experience in the comments