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
Apple Rejects 'Readability' iOS App, 'Software as a Service' Offerings Jeopardized
As noted by TechCrunch, popular software service Readability published an open letter to Apple today addressing its concerns over Apple's rejection of the service's new iOS application developed in collaboration with Instapaper creator Marco Arment. Readability offers a subscription service priced at $5 per month which offers the users to view clutter- and ad-free versions of online content...
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UK Carriers Slash iPad Prices Ahead of Expected Refresh
TechRadar reports that a pair of UK wireless carriers have slashed their pricing on 3G-capable iPad models, presumably looking to clear stock ahead of an anticipated update to the popular tablet device. The two carriers, Orange and T-Mobile, are offering the price drops to those customers signing up for 24-month data contracts. Orange is now selling the iPad for £99 on its 24-month contracts...
Apple Delays Shipments of New Orders for Existing MacBook Pros Until Week's End
While we've already reported that new MacBook Pros are expected to launch on Thursday and reports have even surfaced claiming that sealed shipments are already on their way to retailers, it's worth noting that Apple's top-priority U.S. online store has now gotten in on the act by pushing shipment estimates for all new MacBook Pro orders out to 3-5 business days.
Apple's brick-and-mortar...
6-Inch iPad Planned for Mid-Year Launch?
Mockup of 7-inch iPad compared to current model
Czech site SuperApple.cz reports [Google translation] that it has heard from a pair of sources that Apple is developing a new, smaller iPad with a display measuring slightly under 6 inches. According to the report, the smaller iPad would carry the same resolution as the current iPad, although it is unclear how users would be expected to deal...
Job Posting Sparks Speculation Regarding Apple Television Set
9 to 5 Mac points to a new job listing from Apple that makes mention of the company's involvement in a variety of product lines, notably including "TV". The job listing, which interestingly contains a number of grammatical errors suggesting that it may not have been written by a native English speaker, is for an engineer to work on power supplies for Apple products. In this position, you will...
Apple to Open Its Largest Chinese Retail Store in Shanghai
Following closely on the heels of rumors of Apple pursuing a new retail store location in Manhattan's Grand Central Terminal, The Wall Street Journal reports that the company is continuing its focus on the Chinese market with plans to open a new store in Shanghai that will stand as Apple's largest in that country. The company is planning to open a new store - it's biggest in China - on Shanghai's...
Photo of Steve Jobs at Tech Dinner With Barack Obama
The past few days have been filled with tabloid speculation about Steve Jobs' health, with reports pegging him as having visited Stanford Cancer Center in recent weeks, presumably to receive treatment. The tabloid speculation was somewhat countered by word that Jobs would join other Silicon Valley tech executives for a dinner with President Barack Obama to discuss technology and innovation in...
More Claims of Imminent MacBook Pro Refresh as Supply Crunch Hits Apple's Stores
MacBook Pro shipping estimates lengthening in Malaysia
A new series of claims are continuing to point to tightening supplies and an upcoming refresh of Apple's MacBook Pro line, possibly as early as late next week.
The first report [Google translation] from Italian site iSpazio claims that it has received word from an Apple employee that Apple is preparing to launch five new MacBook Pro...
U.S. and European Regulators 'Looking At' Apple's App Store Subscriptions Program
Earlier this week, we noted that some observers were expressing concern over potential antitrust issues related to Apple's new App Store subscription program that forces content providers to at least offer users the option of subscribing through Apple's in-app subscriptions, which sees the company taking a 30% cut of revenue. The program also comes with restrictions preventing developers from...
Apple Seeds Mac OS X 10.6.7 Build 10J858 to Developers
Apple today seeded a new version of Mac OS X 10.6.7, termed Build 10J858, to developers for testing. The update comes one week after the company pushed Build 10J855 to developers and has grown in size by a little over 20 MB to bring the delta update to 434.4 MB.
According to those familiar with the new build, Apple has added Safari to the list of areas in which developers are asked to...
Apple Retail Store Employee on Product Launches, Store Culture, and Customers
There are obviously quite a few Apple retail store employees and ex-employees around, many of whom are happy to share details of what it's like to work for the company, but a new "confessions" report published by Popular Mechanics summarizes some of the more interesting points and dispels a few rumors about what employees do and do not know and how their performance is judged. Among the...
Apple's Grand Central Terminal Retail Store to Be Largest Yet?
Grand Central Terminal's Main Concourse
Last week, a pair of reports surfaced indicating that Apple is hoping to build a new retail store inside Manhattan's busy and historic Grand Central Terminal. Located less than a mile from the company's flagship Fifth Avenue store, the Grand Central Terminal location is reportedly being viewed as a means to ease the massive customer load on the...
Apple Releases Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update 3.6
Apple yesterday released Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update 3.6, adding RAW image support for a number of cameras as well as addressing issues with processing for several cameras added in earlier updates. This update adds RAW image compatibility for the following cameras to Aperture 3 and iPhoto '11:
- Canon EOS Rebel T3 / 1100D / Kiss X50
- Canon EOS Rebel T3i / 600D / Kiss X5
- Olympus ...
CDMA iPhone Unlocked to Run on China Telecom Network, Deal Coming?
The Wall Street Journal reports that employees of Chinese carrier China Telecom have successfully jailbroken and unlocked the CDMA iPhone 4, getting the device to run on the company's network. Employees of the Guangdong branch of China Telecom teased users this week with a post on its microblog saying they were working on a way to crack Verizon Wireless' CDMA iPhone, suggesting users might be...
Apple Tech Watch: OLED Displays, MagSafe Power-Data Connector, Live Device Configuration
A number of reports today are highlighting possible technical improvements for future Apple products, and while much of the information is based on patent applications that may or may not ever see the light of day, it does provide an interesting glimpse into some of Apple's areas of research.
First, 9 to 5 Mac reports on a recent job posting from Apple looking for a host of new engineers...
Sony Rolls Out 'Music Unlimited' in New Countries, Executive Denies Plans to Abandon iTunes
As reported by Bloomberg, Sony today announced that it has launched its "Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity" streaming service in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand, building on debuts in a series of European countries over the past few months. The new service takes aim at Apple's iTunes Store with two tiers of service: a basic tier priced at $3.99 per month that offers music...
Apple to Focus on Streaming, Social and Geolocation Services With MobileMe Overhaul?
Cult of Mac reports that it has received information from a source regarding Apple's efforts to revamp its MobileMe service, suggesting that the company is going well beyond simple cloud-based media streaming to include social and location-based services. Among the many services Apple is working on are:
- A live video-streaming service like Ustream
- A location-based check-in system like...
Intel Ad Sparks Speculation of Next-Generation MacBook Pro Leak
A new ad for Intel's latest second-generation Core processors has been sparking rampant speculation across the Internet that the notebook pictured is Apple's next-generation MacBook Pro. Demonstrating the thin profile of and minor resemblance to the MacBook Air, the machine's desktop and application windows also have a Mac OS X-like feel.
The machine depicted in the ad is, however, pretty...
Apple Lobbying for International Tax Amnesty to Bring Home Profits
Over the past few years, much has been made of Apple's reserves of cash and securities, which are now up to approximately $60 billion and growing rapidly. Some observers have suggested the company initiate a stock buyback or issue dividends to reward investors with some of the profits, while others have preferred that the cash remain in Apple's hands to enable the company to reinvest it into...
Warner Brothers Debuts App-Based Movie Purchases
Warner Brothers today announced the launch of "App Editions" of its feature films, providing the titles as App Store apps that offer downloadable and streaming versions of the films along with an array of expanded content. The program, which launches today with the release of Inception [App Store] and The Dark Knight [App Store], offers the apps as free downloads with full access to the films...
