CBS has release an iPhone application which may spell out the future of television and mobile phone convergence.

Television shows being promoted via exclusive mobile phone content is not anything new, but having an entire application built around one show is.  Starting on April 9th, CBS will be launching a limited 13 episode series entitled Harper’s Island which is a murder mystery dealing with a series of deaths on a small island near Seattle, WA.

This is an unusual format for an American television series, and hence will require some unique promotion on the part of the network.  What the Harper’s Island iPhone application (iTunes link) does is provide viewers with extra information about the history of the island and its inhabitants via clippings from the fictions Harper’s Globe newspaper archives.  It also focuses heavily on a series of murders known as the “Wakefield Murders” that happened seven years before the happenings of the series.

While we are sure you will be able to enjoy the series without the information contained in this application, it does sound like it might enhance your enjoyment of the show.  What we think is interesting is that according to a quote in Broadcasting & Cable from Jeff Sellinger, Executive-VP and general manager CBS Mobile, this is but the first of many applications to come.  “We’re absolutely going to do more,” he said.  He also went on to add “the company is also exploring applications for Blackberrys as well as Apple iPhones.”  (although we wonder the confusion there at the end since this is for an iPhone…)  So this could be the first of many applications coming out that aim to enhance your enjoyment of various television shows.  Who wouldn’t want a 24 application that helps you track the number of people Jack Bauer has killed?

The application is available now in the iTunes store for free, and the television series premieres on April 9th.