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
Microsoft Releases Office for Mac 2011 Service Pack 1
As expected, Microsoft has just released Office for Mac 2011 Service Pack 1. The update, which weighs in at 246.2 MB, addresses a number of bugs and security issues while also bringing several new features including a number of enhancements to Outlook.
Security updates with bug fixes also appear to be on the way for Office 2008 (12.2.9) and Office 2004 (11.6.3).
Availability of the...
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Foxconn to Invest $12 Billion in Brazil With iPad Production to Begin by November?
There have been some rumblings in recent weeks about Apple and manufacturing partner Foxconn making investments in Brazil to manufacture devices there in an effort at least in part designed to boost sales there by circumventing high import taxes currently assessed on the devices coming in from overseas, but according to a new report from Reuters, things seem to be firming up with Foxconn...
Websites Offering New Remote iPhone Unlocking Services
A number of websites have begun offering customers the ability to have their iPhones unlocked remotely for use on any network without requiring that the devices be jailbroken. As noted by prominent iPhone hacker MuscleNerd, the procedure seems to involve accessing Apple's database to directly add IMEI device identifiers for unlocking. they're not using a hack. They're using actual access to the ...
Analyst Speculates Apple Prepping Video Subscription Service to Challenge Netflix
Speculation about Apple's plans for its massive new data center in North Carolina has been running rampant for quite some time, and we're always hesitant to place too much emphasis on claims of research analysts, but one report from Jefferies analyst Peter Misek is gaining some attention today for its claim that Apple may be preparing to take on Netflix in the streaming video subscription...
iPhone 5 Introduction Planned for Apple's September Media Event?
With increasing rumblings that Apple is planning to release its fifth-generation iPhone sometime later than its usual June-July timeframe, including fresh analyst comments claiming that the device won't even begin production until September, All Things Digital's John Paczkowski now reports that he is hearing that Apple may use its traditional September media event to stage the introduction. As...
Motorola Xoom Tablet Sales: Approximately 100,000 Units So Far?
Business Insider reports on a research note from Deutsche Bank estimating sales of Motorola's Android-based Xoom tablet at only about 100,000 units since its late February launch, based on Android developer statistics showing that only 0.2% of Android devices accessing the Android Market during the second half of March had the Android 3.0 "Honeycomb" operating system installed. The Xoom is...
Apple Locks in 12 Petabytes of iTunes Video Content Storage?
StorageNewsletter.com reports (via AppleInsider) that Apple has placed a massive order with Isilon Systems for up to 12 petabytes of storage to support iTunes video offerings. Apple ordered as much as 12PB of capacity from Isilon Systems, notably to manage the video download of its customers using iTunes, according to an inside source of the new division of EMC.According to the report, the order...
Office for Mac 2011 SP1 Coming Next Week With Outlook Sync Support
The Loop reports that Microsoft is preparing to release Office for Mac 2011 Service Pack 1 sometime next week, bringing a number of fixes, enhancements and new features to the company's flagship productivity suite. The most significant new features are said to come in Outlook, including support for syncing calendars to iOS devices via Sync Services. The update will enable calendar syncing...
Apple's Suppliers Ship Roughly 2.5 Million iPad 2s in March?
According to DigiTimes, Apple's manufacturing partners provided the company with approximately 2.4-2.6 million iPad 2 units during the month of March, with most of those presumably having made it through to customer's hands given the tight supplies seen at Apple and other retailers.
The company also appears to be ramping production for the second quarter, with the report claiming a...
iPad 2 Shipping Estimates for Online Orders Improve to 2-3 Weeks
Shipping estimates for new online orders of all iPad 2 models have improved to 2-3 weeks today, down from earlier 3-4 weeks. The new shipping estimates appear to apply in all countries where the iPad 2 is currently shipping.
With Apple releasing its first television commercial for the iPad 2 over the weekend and shipping estimates now improving, it appears that the company is confident...
Attempted Apple Store Holdup Goes Bad: Suspect Killed
Apple's Otay Ranch retail store
San Diego 6 reports that an attempted holdup at Apple's Otay Ranch retail store in Chula Vista, California went sour this morning, with one of the robbers reportedly having been shot and killed by a mall security guard. A security guard caught the suspects smashing the glass front doors of the Apple Store at the mall before the mall opened for the day.
The...
'Financial Times' Holding Out From iPad Subscriptions
With Apple's new in app subscription mechanism for iOS devices now deployed and publications such as The New York Times already moving to take advantage of it, some publications are still holding back over Apple's insistence that customer information only be provided to the publications on an opt-in basis. According to Reuters, influential business newspaper Financial Times is one of those...
AT&T Boosts 'Early Upgrade' iPhone Pricing by $50
Last Friday, Android Central posted a screenshot appearing to show changes to AT&T's smartphone pricing structure set to go into effect yesterday, increasing "early upgrade" pricing for all iPhone models that is applied when an on-contract customer is not yet eligible for full subsidy by $50.
According to the AT&T bulletin, early upgrade pricing for the 8 GB iPhone 3GS has moved from $249 to ...
Verizon iPhone Leads U.S. Mobile Phone Sales in February as Android Surge Continues
comScore late last week released the results of its latest monthly survey of U.S. mobile phone users, revealing that Apple's new CDMA iPhone released on Verizon that month ranked as the best-selling phone during the month. That performance helped boost Apple's share of the mobile phone market in the U.S. to 7.5% for the three-month period ending in February, up from 6.6% in the prior period.
...
Apple Releases 'We Believe' Commercial for iPad 2
Apple today released its first television commercial for the iPad 2, taking a philosophical approach to focus on the experience of using the device rather highlighting its technical capabilities or specific features. This is what we believe. Technology alone is not enough. Faster, thinner, lighter...those are all good things. But when technology gets out of the way, everything becomes more...
Cablevision One-Ups Time Warner Cable With New TV iPad App
While Time Warner Cable has been working to add channels to its live TV app for the iPad in the face of opposition from several content providers including Viacom, Discovery, and Fox, Cablevision has gone all in with the release of its new Optimum for iPad application offering the cable company's subscribers full access to their television packages. In addition to approximately 300 live channels ...
Next-Generation iPod Nano to Add Rear-Facing Camera?
With the shift in form factor for the iPod nano at its latest update, a number of users were disappointed to see the camera that had been added in the fifth-generation model disappear. But if a new report from Taiwanese site Apple.pro [Google translation] is correct, the seventh-generation iPod nano presumably set for introduction later this year may retain its current smaller form factor but...
Sony CEO Confirms Camera Module Production for Apple? 8-Megapixel Camera on iPhone 5?
According to 9 to 5 Mac, Walt Mossberg tonight conducted an interview with Sony CEO Howard Stringer at Carnegie Hall in New York City as part of the JapanNYC festival, and Stringer interestingly revealed that its shipments of camera sensors to Apple have been delayed by the effects of the earthquake in Japan last month. Sony is not currently known to be a camera supplier for Apple, as...
Apple Lowers iPod Prices Up to 10% in Australia
Apple yesterday lowered prices on its iPod lines in its Australian online store, dropping prices as much as 10% on some models.
The Australian dollar gained strength on the U.S. dollar in the latter half of 2010, moving from a low of 81 cents in June to near parity by October. The exchange rate for the two currencies has remained near that level since that time, with the Australian actually ...
Apple Patent Watch: 'Spaces' for Tablets, Multiple Cameras for 3D iPhone Photos
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office yesterday published a remarkable volume of new Apple patent applications, offering another look at technologies the company has at least been thinking about, even if they may never see the light of day. Here are a couple of the interesting ones that made their appearances yesterday.
One patent application detailed by Patently Apple describes a concept for...
