US President Barack Obama walks from the Oval Office carrying an iPad as he departs the White House in May 2011. Obama revealed Monday that he received his iPad directly from Apple founder Steve Jobs ahead of the release of the hot-selling tablet computer.

US President Barack Obama revealed Monday that he received his iPad directly from Apple founder Steve Jobs ahead of the release of the hot-selling tablet computer.

"I've got an ," Obama said in an interview with and Yahoo!.

"Steve Jobs actually gave it to me a little bit early," he said. "It was cool. I got it directly from him."

Obama has acknowledged owning an iPad previously and has been photographed with what appears to be an iPad 2, the model which went on sale in March.

The president also told ABC News and Yahoo! that he spends time surfing blogs and newspapers on the Web.

"I'm pretty eclectic," he said. "A lot of the newspapers that I used to read in print I now read on the Web."

Asked if he ever leaves comments on the sites, Obama said: "I don't. I figure if I get started I wouldn't stop and I've got other things to do."