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
'iFlow Reader' iOS eBook Store Shutting Down
BeamItDown Software, the company behind the popular iFlow Reader eBook application and store for iPhone and iPad, has announced that it will be closing down as of May 31st, citing Apple's recent enforcement of policies forcing content providers to offer content via Apple's in app purchasing mechanism at the same prices offered elsewhere. With that mechanism resulting in Apple taking a 30% of...
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Music Labels Hoping Apple Can Force Amazon and Google Into Cloud Licensing
With Amazon and now Google having rolled out cloud-based music hosting services without the consent of music labels, CNET reports that the labels are reportedly now looking for Apple to become the driving force to bring those companies back to the negotiating table for broader licensing deals. Since neither company was either able or willing to obtain licenses from the four major labels, neither ...
Apple Pulls iAds From Kid-Focused Apps as Advertisers Target Efforts
MacStories reports on the experience of one App Store developer who recently saw the iAd fill rate for his Dex application for iOS drop to zero, discovering that Apple has essentially disabled iAds for kids-focused apps such as Dex in response to advertisers seeking to target their ads at other demographic segments. The developer reports: Last Thursday I had a particularly awful iAd fill rate...
Intel's Z68 Chipset and SSD Caching Reviewed
Last week, we noted that Apple's new iMac models utilize Intel's latest Z68 chipset, a component that Intel had yet to even publicly introduce at the time of the iMac's debut. The chipset has been highly anticipated for its ability to support SSD caching, a software technology that pairs a small solid state drive (SSD) with a conventional hard drive to significantly improve performance in a...
Apple Testifies on Mobile Privacy, Location Cache Encryption Coming to iOS
As noted last week, Apple vice president Bud Tribble today participated in a U.S. Senate panel discussion of mobile privacy, particularly as it relates to location tracking. Tribble's appearance alongside Google's Alan Davidson and other experts and privacy advocates was supplemented with a new formal letter (PDF) from Apple to concerned legislators reiterating and expanding upon comments made s...
Clipless Next-Generation iPod Nano With 1.3-Megapixel Rear Camera?
In early April, Taiwanese site Apple.pro posted a photo of what was claimed to be the rear case for the next-generation iPod nano, appearing to reveal that the device will add a rear-facing camera to its recently-reduced form factor.
Claimed next-generation iPod nano case (left) vs. current generation (right)
While the previous shot showed that rear case from the front, thus showing the...
Google Launches 'Music Beta' Cloud Service
As expected, Google today announced its new Music Beta service, offering users the ability to upload their music libraries to Google's servers for cloud-based hosting that allows users to access content from any device. The offering competes against Amazon's Cloud Drive and Cloud Player services, as well as Apple's expected MobileMe revamp.
Music Beta is currently available via invitation...
YouTube Takes on iTunes Store With Streaming Movie Rentals
YouTube yesterday announced the launch of streaming movie rentals, taking on Apple's iTunes Store offerings that have grown to include a variety of streaming and downloadable rental options as well as digital purchases. YouTube's new rental service, which comes at "industry standard pricing" typically in the range of $2.99-$3.99, builds upon free movie offerings the site has offered for...
Apple Finally Releases iOS 4.3 WebKit Source Code Under Pressure
Late last week, Daring Fireball's John Gruber helped draw some attention to that fact that Apple had yet to release the source code for components of its iOS 4.3 WebKit implementation as required under the Lesser GNU Public License (LGPL) due to Apple's use of LGPL code in the project. Apple initially released iOS 4.3 on March 10th, and LGPL licensing requires that the source code be released...
Apple's New Data Center Focus of Nuance Voice Recognition Partnership?
Late last week, we reported on claims that Apple is in discussions with voice recognition firm Nuance Communications regarding some sort of partnership presumably linked to rumors that Apple is integrating significant voice capabilities into iOS 5.
TechCrunch now follows up to report that the deal seems to revolve around Apple utilizing Nuance's technology in its new North Carolina data...
DoubleTwist Brings AirPlay Compatibility to Android
As noted by Engadget, doubleTwist has released a new version of its Android app offering support for Apple's AirPlay streaming standard. As of version 1.4 it will stream music, videos or pictures to the Apple TV or other compatible devices while also claiming beta support for Sonos hardware. The DoubleTwist player is free, but using AirPlay means purchasing the $4.99 AirSync add-on that also...
'The New Yorker' Subscriptions Go Live on iPad
As noted by All Things Digital reports, Conde Nast has followed through on last week's claims that the publisher would begin offering subscriptions to its stable of magazines via the iPad App Store using Apple's in app subscription mechanism. As previously reported, The New Yorker is the first title to debut with subscriptions, but another seven titles should be rolling out soon. An updated...
Amazon Cloud Player Gains iOS Compatibility
Late last week, iFans noted that Amazon quietly made some changes to its new Cloud Player for playing music stored by users in its new Cloud Drive service, making the player compatible with iOS devices for the first time. While it isn't quite as nice as an actual app, it provides nearly all of the functionality that you could ask for. Even the multitasking music controls work flawlessly. Sound...
Apple Named World's Most Valuable Brand at $153 Billion
As measured by marketing and advertising group WPP in its annual BrandZ study of global brands, Apple easily topped the list of most valuable brands for the first time. Apple checks in with a brand value of over $153 billion, up 84% over last year and well ahead of second-place Google, which had topped the survey for the previous four years, at $111 billion. The Apple brand, as calculated by...
Apple Negotiating Deal With Nuance for Speech Recognition in iOS 5?
TechCrunch reports that Apple is rumored to be negotiating some sort of deal with Nuance Communications, the speech recognition company behind the Dragon NaturallySpeaking engine that powers a number of popular applications for Mac OS X, iOS, and other platforms. Apple has been negotiating a deal with Nuance in recent months, we've heard from multiple sources. What does that mean? Well, it could ...
Conde Nast to Offer In App Subscriptions for iPad
The flood of news regarding companies rolling out support for in app subscriptions for their magazine content continues today with a report from the New York Post claiming that Conde Nast is set to launch the subscriptions for eight of its titles. The New Yorker is said to be the first to gain the feature, beginning next week. Conde is expected to make the New Yorker available next week to...
Security Vulnerability Discovered in Skype for Mac, Latest Update Includes Patch
Earlier today, security researcher Gordon Maddern of Pure Hacking reported on a security vulnerability he accidentally discovered in Skype's software for Mac OS X, a vulnerability that he said he disclosed to the company a month ago and had yet to be patched. I notified them on the security vulnerabilitity and I was given the standard:
"Thank you for showing an interest in skype security, we ...
New iMacs Offer 25% Performance Improvement Over Previous Generation
Earlier this week, we pointed to initial benchmarks from Macworld for the new 3.1 GHz 27-inch Mac, finding the new system to be about 16% faster than the high-end standard configuration of the previous generation overall.
Now that the machines have been out for a couple of days, Primate Labs has put together an early report collating the results from users submitting Geekbench 2 results....
Microsoft Pushing Bing Maps Integration for iOS Apps With New SDK
As noted by Business Insider, Microsoft earlier this week quietly introduced a new Bing Maps Control for iOS software development kit, making it easier for developers to integrate Bing maps directly into their applications. The Bing Maps iOS Control is an Objective-C control for embedding maps directly into native iOS apps. With a rich, gesture-based UI provided by Seadragon, the Bing Maps iOS...
Foxconn Seeking to Accelerate Start of iPad Production in Brazil to July
Last month, word surfaced that Apple's manufacturing partner Foxconn was seeking to invest as much as $12 billion in Brazil, setting up new manufacturing plants in that country to expand capacity and avoid hefty import taxes for electronics brought into the country for sale. At the time, it was noted that Foxconn was planning to manufacture iPads in Brazil, with a goal of beginning production...
