| Cult of Mac

Oprah interviews President Obama for Apple TV+ next week

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Oprah and Obama, together again.
Oprah Winfrey will sit down with President Barack Obama for her Apple TV+ interview show.
Photo: Apple/Cult of Mac

Former President Barack Obama will appear next Tuesday on an episode of The Oprah Conversation. The topic will be his new book, A Promised Land, which hits shelves that day.

While the interview by Oprah Winfrey will appear on Apple’s subscription streaming service, it will also be available free for two weeks.

The Obamas head to Netflix after flirting with Apple

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Maybe the coolest, most tech savvy president ever.
Maybe the coolest, most tech savvy president ever.
Photo: The White House

Former President Barak Obama and his wife Michelle Obama are coming to Netflix.

The duo inked a deal to produce content for the streaming service this week after reportedly being courted by Apple and Amazon earlier this year. Netflix announced the multi-year agreement today which could lead to films, scripted series, unscripted series documentaries and more.

Tim Cook takes high road after Trump’s transgender military ban

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Tim Cook
Tim Cook and Donald Trump don't agree on much.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

U.S. President Donald Trump revealed today on Twitter that he is reversing former President Barack Obama’s decision to allow transgender men and women to serve in the military. And he’s already drawing tons of fire from Silicon Valley.

Apple CEO took to Trump’s favorite social network to blast the decision saying it’s discrimination. Other tech icons are joining his side too with their voices of descent for the president’s actions.

Donald Trump forced to give up his beloved Android

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Donald Trump Liberty University
Trump won't be tweeting from a Samsung for a while.
Photo: Washington Post (via YouTube)

Donald Trump has been forced to give up his beloved Android smartphone as he steps into the White House.

He has now been issued a “secure, encrypted device approved by the Secret Service,” alongside a new phone number that only a few people will posses.

White House won’t back bill forcing tech companies to break encryption

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Having not one but two U.S. presidents in your fan base is pretty good going. Sadly, President Barack Obama is not allowed an iPhone as part of his official wardrobe and is stuck on BlackBerry. That hasn’t stopped him from openly lusting after the iPhone 6 in recent pics, though. He’s also admitted to spending hours each day on his iPad.Photo:
President Barack Obama is playing it cool when it comes to encryption.
Photo: Pete Souza/Wikipedia CC

The White House is refusing to publicly support new draft legislation that would give judges the right to force tech companies like Apple to help law enforcement break encrypted data.

The measure was put forward by Sens. Richard Burr and Dianne Feinstein, respectively the Republican chair and top Democrat of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Both Burr and Feinstein have been contacted by the FBI regarding a briefing on how the bureau was able to circumvent iPhone encryption on an older Apple device.

Obama warns against ‘absolutist views’ on encryption

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Obama at SXSW
President Obama spoke at SXSW Interactive today.
Photo: WH.gov

President Barack Obama was in Austin, Texas, for the opening day of the South by Southwest Interactive festival, and talk turned inevitably to the current tension between law enforcement and tech companies on subjects like security and citizen privacy.

The president couldn’t comment on the specific case that has Apple and the FBI fighting over whether the government can compel a private company to provide access to a locked device (in this case, an iPhone 5c belonging to San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook). But he did provide some insight into the government’s view of the ongoing legal battle.

You can check out the whole conversation in the video below; the session starts about 39 minutes in.

Obama uses Fitbit to get a fit bod while snubbing Apple Watch

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fitbit
Obama decided against an Apple Watch.
Photo: Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee

When it comes to wearables, Barack Obama has given the POTUS stamp of approval to the Fitbit Surge, leaving the Apple Watch out in the cold.

Viewers got a glimpse of Obama’s presidential wrist during his recent appearance on Jerry Seinfeld’s web series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. Given that Obama’s previously been open about his inability to own an iPhone (which the Apple Watch needs in order to operate) due to security concerns, it’s no surprise he would opt for a Fitbit.

Still, it’s another compelling example of why the Apple Watch 2 needs to be more of a standalone device!

Obama shuns Apple Music to share vacation playlists

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Maybe the coolest, most tech savvy president ever.
Maybe the coolest, most tech savvy president ever.
Photo: The White House

“Welcome to Spotify, Mr. President,” tweeted the streaming music giant Friday morning. That’s right: The president of the United States just shared two vacation playlists — and he didn’t use Apple Music.

The two music lists, titled “The President’s Summer Playlist: Day” and “The President’s Summer Playlist: Night,” contain 20 songs each, showing an eclectic taste with a diverse artist representation, including the Isley Brothers, Bob Dylan, Otis Redding and (ugh) Coldplay.

Obama tweeting from an iPhone isn’t all that it seems

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Barry sending his first tweet from an iPhone.
Barry sending his first tweet from an iPhone.
Photo: White House

The Apple-watching world lost its shiz yesterday when Obama made his first tweet from his brand-new presidential Twitter account using an iPhone. But don’t get too excited, because the White House has revealed that the phone in question isn’t Obama’s regular handset after all.

Which prompts the question, “Who did it belong to?” Maybe Apple should commission JFK director Oliver Stone to shoot an advert/paranoid conspiracy thriller on the subject of the Obama iPhone.

Barack Obama writes his first tweet from an iPhone

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Barry sending his first tweet from an iPhone.
President Obama sending his first tweet.
Photo: White House

  President Barack Obama is finally ready to enter the age of social media. After sitting behind the Resolute desk for six years, the president finally opened his own Twitter account today, but rather than using his hacker-proof BlackBerry to send his first message, POTUS turned to an Apple product.

Here’s his first tweet, sent from an iPhone: