Barack Obama writes his first tweet from an iPhone.

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:

Before he was elected to the Oval Office, Obama was known for being a BlackBerry addict. Shortly after he took office, his allegiance switched to Apple — and he’s been claiming he’s been an iPhone lover ever since.

Steve Jobs even gave Obama an iPad before the device was publicly released, which he’s been spotted using throughout his two terms. Obama still keeps a BlackBerry by his side, and for good reason: Last month it was discovered that Russian hackers had penetrated the president’s unclassified emails, but his BlackBerry remained secure.

Obama will probably keep the BlackBerry until he leaves office next year, but you can follow all his tweets sent from an iPhone over on Twitter @POTUS.

Sports fans with iPads score with in-stadium Wi-Fi.

A lot of sports fans are going to be, in the words of Duck Dynasty‘s Phil Robertson, “Happy, happy, happy” this fall. That’s because a number of stadiums are installing WiFi networks that make toting the iPad to a football game a great way to access the second screen that fans enjoy at home.

ZDNet’s Jason O’Grady attended the Philadelphia Eagles home opener at Lincoln Financial Field last weekend and was delighted to find a free WiFi network that can fulfill the bandwidth requirements of 45,000 simultaneous users (the stadium holds 69,000 fans). A dozen NFL stadiums are currently outfitted with WiFi, although NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell wants all stadiums to be equipped so that fans can use their smartphones and tablets for fantasy football and social networking.

According to a press release sent out by the Eagles last week, here’s what fans can do with their iPads and the free Eagles iPad app:

• Fans will have the ability to stream the popular NFL Red Zone Channel live through the app, allowing them to watch action from around the league.
• Live camera view of the player tunnel prior to the game, which will give fans a unique glimpse of the players pumping each other up right before they run onto the field.
• Live stream of the video board, allowing the user to get a better view of the replays that are displayed on the big screen.
• A dynamic stats channel that provides fans with updates from the Eagles game, as well as information and statistics from around the NFL.
• Social media hub, which will make it easy to log on to various popular social platforms including Facebook, Twitter and others without having to leave the Eagles app.
• Many of the original features remain, including news, game previews, video clips, photo galleries, fantasy stats, rosters, depth charts, bios, stadium information and much more.

Some Major League Baseball parks have also made free WiFi available for fans, including four of the five teams in the NL West — San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego and Arizona. My favorite ballpark, Denver’s Coors Field, doesn’t provide WiFi — between that and the Rockies’ season record, it’s been a lousy year for baseball.

Twitter #music updated with better, more personalized music discovery.

Twitter’s #music app has been updated, adding new ways of discovering music, including options that help personalize the app for you. You can now listen to your favorite artist’s songs, and find artists that they follow. The app has also made it easier to find music similar to what you already listen to. Additionally, #music now scans your iPhone’s music library in order to make relevant recommendations to you. It also shows you the musicians you’ve tweeted about for easier access to their music.

Finally, #music now supports several new countries. Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland have all received support. The update to #music is live on the App Store now for you to grab.

• Free – Download Now

The Full Letter Apple, Google, And Others Sent To U.S. Government Over NSA Transparency.

In response to the public’s outcry that tech companies are working with the NSA to pilfer personal info on targets of interest, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter and others announced an alliance with civil liberties groups today demanding for more transparency by the U.S. government concerning wiretapping.

The coalition sent a letter today to President Obama and other leaders in Congress, urging for greater transparency around national security-related requests. Portions of the letter were published last night,

Source: Cult of Mac.

10 Awesome iOS 7 Features That Apple Didn’t Mention.

I’ve given iOS 7 a lot of hate — just because I hate its icons — so I thought it was about time I showed it some love. It may not look the best, but the next-generation of iOS is packed full of awesome new features that should greatly improve the user experience.

A lot of those were detailed during Apple’s keynote at WWDCy, but some got left out. So here’s ten awesome features in iOS 7 that didn’t get a mention at the event.

Notification Sync

Finally! This is a great addition to iOS 7. With Notification Sync, you’ll no longer have to trawl through the same notifications on several iOS devices, because once you’ve read them on your iPhone, they’ll automatically be marked as read on your iPad — and vice versa.

Turn-by-Turn Walking Directions

Maps doesn’t just provide you with voice-guided turn-by-turn navigation in the car now, but also when you’re on foot. Just select the walking directions icon when planning a route.

Night Mode for Maps

Turn-by-turn walking directions aren’t the only improvement in Maps, either. Apple has also added a new Night Mode, which will mean Maps is easier on your eyes when you’re driving in the dark. What’s more, it’s automatic, so when your iPhone recognizes it’s night time, it’ll load the darker theme all by itself.

Scan To Acquire Passbook Passes

You can now scan QR codes to quickly add digital cards, passes, and coupons to Passbook.

FaceTime Audio Calls

FaceTime doesn’t just support video calling anymore, but also good old voice calls, too. This is great if you’re out of the country and you want to make free calls over Wi-Fi, but you don’t want anyone to see your ugly, sunburnt face.

Flickr & Vimeo Integration

Facebook and Twitter integration has been joined by Flickr and Vimeo in iOS 7. You can sign into your Flickr and Vimeo account inside the Settings app, and then it’s super quick and easy to upload photos and videos from from your camera roll and albums.

Customizable Subtitles

You can now customize the subtitles shown in supported movies and TV shows within the accessibility settings. Apple provides three default options, but if you want to, you can create your own, picking your own font, its size, and its color.

Spotlight From Any Home Screen

Spotlight no longer has its own page on your home screen. Instead, you simply swipe down on any home screen to access the search box. Don’t swipe down from the top or you’ll just get Notification Center — try swiping down from the center of the display instead.

Inclinometer

In iOS 7, your device can use its built-in sensors to provide you with an inclinometer, which is why the new Compass app has a level built in.

‘Activity’ Stream In Photos & Shared Photo Streams

Inside your Photos app, there’s a new “Activity” stream under the “Shared” section that provides you with updates on all your photos. You can see how many images you’ve taken today, who’s added photos to your shared Photo Streams, and who’s left comments or likes.

In addition to this, you can now upload images and videos to shared Photo Streams that you’ve been invited to.

Source: Cult of Mac.

Twitter #music for iPhone, iPod touch is now playing.

Twitter launched its new music discovery app Twitter #music for iPhone today.

Twitter #music takes a step toward filling the void created when everyone migrated from MySpace, which was one of the most effective music discovery tools for me until it was largely vacated.

Twitter promises to “change the way people find music, based on Twitter,” per the social network’s blog, which I believe will be widely appreciated.

While Facebook has integrated services like Spotify and Rdio into the News Feed, Twitter’s dedicated iPhone app creates a much more personal experience using the same services.

You can log in to Twitter #music choosing from the accounts already connected to iOS, which I find to be very convenient, or you can log in manually if you prefer.

Twitter #music for iPhone icon

Once your account is connected, Twitter #music presents you accounts you follow that it believes to be musicians. You can also view and listen to artists promoted by Twitter, up and coming artists, or artists suggested based on those you already follow.

Tapping on an artist plays a brief sample of their music provided by iTunes, and logging in with Spotify or Rdio will unlock the full song. If you like what you hear, tapping the iTunes button prompts the song’s product page right in the app, allowing you to purchase the song in what is a very fluid experience.

Sharing is built right into Twitter #music. If you like a song you hear, you can easily share the track on Twitter with #NowPlaying and a link to the song on iTunes. You can even add a comment with the Tweet if you prefer.

If you discover an artist within Twitter #music, you can follow the artist’s account right inside the the app.

Twitter #music includes a search feature allowing you to build the catalog of artists you follow on Twitter. When you view an artist’s profile in Twitter #music, you can easily view other bands or groups that the artist follows.

Twitter #music mini player

Assuming the artist has a URL in their profile, you can even view their website right in the Twitter #music app.

While Twitter #music currently only supports iTunes Previews, Spotify, and Rdio, Twitter suggests on its blog that it may integrate more services in the future.

Personally, I’d love to connect the music collection from the native Music app into Twitter #music, and share my Now Playing song from to Twitter. Currently, you can play a song from the native Music app, but Twitter #music will not recognize it. Assuming Twitter could pull this off, it would be a much more developed and useful version of Apple’s now defunct Ping.

Overall, Twitter #music demonstrates a great degree of polish and swiftness. Unlike its Twitter apps, Twitter #music isn’t shy about having a little design personality while still maintaining more than enough branding presence. For example, Twitter’s iconic hashtag is seen throughout the app. The app’s name on your homescreen simply reads “#music”.

Perhaps we will see some of its influence spill over to Twitter for iPhone someday, but maybe with fewer hashtags.

Twitter #music is available now for iPhone on the App Store.

Source: 9to5Mac.

See All the Tweets in Real Time.

There’s a lot of Twitter action happening all the time. So much, in fact, that it’s hard to visualize exactly how many people are talking — unless you load up Tweetping in your favorite Web browser. Real time data from around the world showing who’s tweeting, what hash tags are being used, and more, all with a slick interface. It’s beautiful, it’s cool, and it’s all the tweets.

Check It Out: See All the Tweets in Real Time

Source: The Mac Observer.

Twitter Releases Video Sharing App On The App Store.

Rumors have been circulating for months that Twitter was planning to release a video sharing application for mobile devices. After all, if something’s good enough for Facebook it’s clearly good enough for Twitter. Vine, the application in question, is now available for free on the App Store.

Bizarrely, the application isn’t released under the Twitter moniker, instead its developer is listed as Vine Labs, Inc. The idea behind Vine is to capture short, looped videos and then sharing it online with friends, family, and your social networks. It’s a neat concept, and it’s a lot like Instagram, but for short snippets of video.

We’re going to spend some time with it and let you know our thoughts once we’ve actually come up with something articulate.

Source: Macgasm.

Thread, The Minimal Contacts App Replacement For iOS.

Thread is a contacts app for the iPhone and iPad which follows the current trend in flat, minimalist interface design. If you’re a fan of the latest Twitterific, or Letterpress, then you’re going to love the look of Thread.

Apple’s own Contacts app is probably one of the worst apps on my iDevices. It’s bad enough on the iPhone, but on the iPad it is a joke, with a fake-book design that only uses half the screen.

Thread is the opposite, with super-clean design which shows little more than a list of names, or the contact info for one of those names. The app also syncs with Twitter and Facebook to pull in contacts and details from there, and there’s a built-in dialer for making calls. You can also create groups.

Best of all, it costs just $2. I’d pay a lot more than that if it meant I could ditch the Apple contacts app entirely. As it is, Contacts will have to stay hidden inside the folder marked “Crap,” which is the first folder I create on all my iOS devices.

Source:Cult of Mac.

Twitterrific 5 offers an incredibly retro-geeky easter egg.

Quick, fire up Twitterrific 5 on your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad, and then follow these directions from @twitterrific:

Easter Egg: Tweet “OMG Pixels!” w/ Twitterrific v5 for iOS to unlock a special retro theme font, Pixel Lover. #8-bit 🙂

If you grew up using computers in the 70s or 80s, or just love the nostalgia of that era, you’ll be very, very happy you did.

Thanks and kudos to the Iconfactory for being this cool.

Source: iMore.