Steve Jobs gave me an iPad2 early, boasts Obama (a man with friends in high places).

Ahead of the queue: President Obama got his iPad 2 'a

little early' directly from Steve Jobs.

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Six months ago it was the must-have gadget which some stores sold out of and many had to wait days or weeks to buy.

But Barack Obama managed to get his hands on Apple's tablet device before it even hit the shops - after being given one personally by Steve Jobs.

The U.S. president revealed his own friends in high places after saying in an interview he was given an iPad 2 'a little bit early' by the former Apple CEO.

In a recent interview with George Stephanopoulous of ABC News, Obama said: 'Steve Jobs actually gave it to me, a little bit early. Yeah, it was cool. I got it directly from him.'

The revelation by President Obama raises the issue as to whether one of the most powerful men in the world might also be lucky enough to be given a pre-release iPhone 4S.

It is no secret that the President is an avowed Blackberry user, but he could be tempted by an early look at Apple's latest handset, which has voice control and a faster chip.

The President is clearly a fan of new technology, after he invited the world's biggest internet entrepreneurs to a technology summit in California in February.

Among the guests at Obama's dinner were then Apple CEO Steve Jobs, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Google CEO Eric Schmidt.

The new iPhone is iPhone 4S, not iPhone 5, and the voice-controlled handset is set to launch on October 14.

Apple's share price plunged 3 per cent after it was revealed that the new phone would be the 4S, not an all-new iPhone 5.

By CHRIS PARSONS