Eric Slivka
Eric is the Editor-in-Chief of MacRumors and has been writing for the site since 2008.
An avid swimmer and former biophysicist, Eric has been using Apple products for over 35 years and has been interviewed for pieces by The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Reuters, BBC, CNBC, and other publications.
Eric's current primary role involves day-to-day oversight of the editorial operations at MacRumors, but he also contributes occasional news and review articles while handling various other duties related to the site's operation.
An avid swimmer and former biophysicist, Eric has been using Apple products for over 35 years and has been interviewed for pieces by The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Reuters, BBC, CNBC, and other publications.
Eric's current primary role involves day-to-day oversight of the editorial operations at MacRumors, but he also contributes occasional news and review articles while handling various other duties related to the site's operation.
Eric Slivka's Articles
Qualcomm Supply Issues Providing Further Fuel for Speculation of Fall iPhone Release
Qualcomm yesterday warned analysts that it is experiencing supply issues with some of its advanced mobile phone chips, particularly its new 28-nm modem chips set to power the next wave of LTE devices."At this stage we cannot secure enough supply to meet the increasing demand we are experiencing," Chief Executive Paul Jacobs told analysts on a conference call, adding that the issue would limit...
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Blogger Victorious over Apple in Small Claims Case on NVIDIA GPU Failures
Back in January, blogger Seattle Rex announced that he would be suing Apple over issues related to his 2008 MacBook Pro that appears to have suffered from an NVIDIA graphics card failure. According to Rex, the graphics chip on his top-of-the-line 17-inch MacBook Pro began to flake out late last year, two months after his AppleCare extended warranty expired, and a month later the machine died...
iPhone Again Represents Over Half of Verizon's Smartphone Sales in 1Q 2012
Marking the first significant piece of data to help build a picture of Apple's quarterly iPhone sales numbers ahead of next week's earnings release, Verizon today announced its own earnings results for the first quarter of 2012, revealing during the associated conference call that it activated 3.2 million iPhones during the quarter.
The number is down from 4.3 million iPhones in the previous ...
Apple Driving iCloud Conversions with Free Copies of Snow Leopard for MobileMe Users
As noted by Macgasm, Apple has begun notifying at least some MobileMe users of a new upgrade program offering a free copy of Mac OS X Snow Leopard. The offer is being made to provide users of machines running older versions of Mac OS X with a reduced-cost pathway to upgrade to OS X Lion, which is required to take full advantage of the features of iCloud.
With OS X Lion being distributed via ...
Apple Working on Local Backup Servers for iOS Devices Needing Genius Bar Replacement?
9to5Mac reports that Apple is working on a new hardware solution for its retail store Genius Bars that would allow staff to quickly back up devices requiring replacement and move that data back onto the the replacement devices. While users are always encouraged to back up their devices before bringing them to a Genius Bar appointment, users who fail to do so and then learn that their devices...
Extended iCloud Mail Outage Generating User Complaints
MacRumors has received a number of reports today from users who have been unable to access their iCloud mail accounts, and a growing thread in Apple's discussion forums is documenting the growing complaints.
According to user reports, iCloud mail went down around 9:30 AM Eastern Time this morning, and it remains out some seven hours later. Apple updated its iCloud System Status page at 10:08...
Apple Releases OS X Mountain Lion Developer Preview 3
Just over a month after the arrival of the previous build, Apple today seeded registered members of the Mac Developer Program with the third developer preview version of OS X Mountain Lion.
The new version arrives as Build 12A178q, up from the earlier 12A154q version. Changes included in the new version have yet to be discovered, but those with access to the build will undoubtedly be...
Tim Cook and Walter Isaacson Named to TIME's List of 100 Most Influential People
TIME magazine today released its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, and two of the selections have close ties to Apple: CEO Tim Cook and Steve Jobs biographer Walter Isaacson.
Each selection is accompanied by an essay by another prominent personality or close associate outlining why the person qualifies for inclusion in the list. The essay on Cook is written by...
Liquidmetal-Based iPhone 5 to Launch at WWDC in June?
Korean site ETNews.com claims that Apple is planning to use new "liquid metal" alloys in the iPhone 5 to yield a thinner and lighter device that is resistant to impact damage. Apple acquired the rights to Liquidmetal Technologies' "amorphous metal alloys" in August 2010 and soon after was spotted hiring engineers to work on the materials, but little concrete news on Liquidmetal's contributions...
Greenpeace Activists Protest at Apple's Irish Offices over Data Center Energy Use
As documented by Corkipedia, four Greenpeace activists climbed to the roof of Apple's offices in Cork, Ireland today, posting signage and distributing leaflets in an attempt to push Apple to adopt cleaner energy sources for its data centers. The protest, which lasted approximately an hour, came a day after Greenpeace blasted Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft for relying heavily on dirty coal power...
Flashback Malware Still Affecting over 100,000 Macs
While Apple has pushed out several software updates to detect the Flashback malware and remove it from infected systems, Symantec noted late yesterday that over 100,000 machines remain afflicted by the issue as detected by their sinkhole operation to redirect server traffic.
Symantec pegged the number at approximately 142,000 as of Monday, listing a rough estimate of "over 99,000" as...
Autodesk Releases Preview of Inventor Fusion for Mac
Back in January at Macworld, we noted that Autodesk was planning to bring its Inventor Fusion mechanical design software to the Mac. At the time, the company promised the a free technology preview of Inventor Fusion for Mac would be available in the coming weeks, with an official release to follow later.
Autodesk today announced that the free software preview is now available for download...
Apple and Samsung CEOs to Meet for Court-Moderated Settlement Talks over Patent Issues
FOSS Patents reports that the chief executives of Apple and Samsung, along with their respective general counsels, will meet within the next 90 days at a San Francisco courthouse for a court-moderated discussion aimed at settling the long-standing patent dispute between the two companies. As outlined in a joint statement before the court:As directed by the Court, Apple and Samsung are both...
Verizon's LTE Network to Reach Two-Thirds of U.S. Population This Week
Marking yet another milestone in its rollout of 4G LTE connectivity, Verizon today announced that with another major expansion coming later this week, the carrier's LTE network will now cover two-thirds of the United States population. This week's expansion, officially going live on Thursday, will see coverage in 27 new markets and expansion of coverage in 44 existing markets.Verizon Wireless,...
Greenpeace Takes on Apple and Other Tech Companies over Coal-Powered Data Centers
Activist group Greenpeace today issued a new report entitled How Clean is Your Cloud?, targeting major Internet companies including Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft over their heavy use of coal-derived power for their massive data centers.Given the energy-intensive nature of maintaining the cloud, access to significant amounts of electricity is a key factor in decisions about where to build these...
Apple's Second Retail Store in Rome Opening April 21
The first half of each year is a slow time for Apple retail store openings, but the company does continue to schedule sporadic additions to its network of stores as new locations come online. For its latest addition, Apple will be holding a grand opening for its second store in Rome, Italy this Saturday, April 21 at 10:00 AM. The new Porta di Roma store is located in the shopping center of the...
Apple Discontinues Free Trials of Aperture and iWork
As noted by MacStories, Apple has discontinued its free trials of Aperture and iWork, directing users to the Mac App Store where the apps are available for purchase.
The discontinuation of the Aperture trial is not particularly recent, as discussion forum reports indicate that it has been missing for at least a month, but the removal has gone mostly unnoticed. It is not entirely clear when...
New Dedicated Apple Product Displays Showing Up at Walmart
ifoAppleStore shares some photos of a newly-revamped Apple product display section in an Arkansas Walmart store near the retail chain's headquarters. Coming with dedicated wood display surfaces and lighted signage, the new displays mark a distinct improvement over the previous Apple product displays that had simply been integrated into existing display shelving.
The displays feature tall,...
Apple Partners with Chinese Environmental Group for Supplier Audit
While Apple has received much publicity for its partnership with the Fair Labor Association to audit working conditions at several of its manufacturing partners' facilities in China, Financial Times reports that the company has now also partnered with the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPE) for an environmental audit of a supplier's facilities.Apple has agreed to a jointly...
Apple Reportedly Looking to Launch ‘iPad Mini’ Priced at $249-$299 in Q3
Kotaku reports on claims [Google translation] from Chinese web portal NetEase regarding Apple's plans for the launch of a smaller "iPad mini" in the third quarter of this year. According to the report, Apple is planning to launch with six million units of the device at a price of either $249 or $299 in order to combat forthcoming Windows 8 products, although smaller Android tablets such as...
