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
App Store Hits Ten Billion Downloads [Updated]
Apple's App Store today reached 10 billion downloads since its inception in 2008, and along with the milestone comes the end of the company's "10 Billion App Countdown" promotion. The winner of the promotion, who is yet to be announced, will be awarded a $10,000 iTunes Store gift card.
App Store download growth since launch
The App Store took only a little over two and a half years to...
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Next-Generation iPad With 1-Megapixel Rear Camera and Case Cover Proximity Sensor?
9 to 5 Mac reports that it has discovered evidence within the latest iOS SDK revealing that the next-generation iPad will in fact offer both front- and rear-facing cameras. Unfortunately for camera fans, however, the rear-facing camera's resolution will apparently check in at only about 1-megapixel, significantly lower than the iPhone 4's 5-megapixel camera and more in line with the camera...
Apple Preps for Verizon iPhone Launch With New Bumpers, Vacation Blackouts
A YouTube video posted yesterday reveals that Apple has released new bumper models that are compatible with both the existing iPhone 4 and the CDMA iPhone 4 set for release on Verizon next month. With the primary difference in physical features between the two models being the location of the mute switch, Apple has widened the cutout in the bumper to accommodate either switch position....
Apple Releases iMovie 9.0.2 and Brother Printer Driver Updates
Apple today released iMovie 9.0.2, a minor update to the iMovie component of the company's iLife '11 suite. This update improves overall stability and fixes an issue that could cause audio playback to be out of sync.
This update is recommended for all users of iMovie '11.The update weighs in at 27.52 MB and requires Mac OS X 10.6.3 or later.
Apple also issued a new update to Mac OS X Snow...
Management Shakeup at Google: Larry Page to Replace Eric Schmidt as CEO
As part of its quarterly earnings release issued today, Google announced changes to its top-level management structure, with the most high-profile change seeing co-founder Larry Page replacing Eric Schmidt as CEO as of April 4th. Page will take charge of day-to-day operations at the company, while Schmidt will become Executive Chairman and focus on business deals, partnerships and outreach....
Apple Seeds Mac OS X 10.6.7 Build 10J842 to Developers
Apple today seeded the first the version of Mac OS X 10.6.7, termed Build 10J842, to developers. Coming just two weeks after the public release of Mac OS X 10.6.6 to support the Mac App Store, Mac OS X 10.6.7 will be yet another free maintenance release for Snow Leopard users.
We've yet to hear word of changes included in 10.6.7, but we will update this post as more information comes in.
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Apple Taking Heat for Switching to Custom Screws on iPhone 4 and Portables
Kyle Wiens of repair site iFixit published a blog post today outlining Apple's increasing usage of custom "pentalobular" screws on the iPhone and other devices, with the company presumably making the shift in order to make it more difficult for users to open up their devices for repair or modification purposes. Apple is switching to a new type of tamper-resistant screw. This is not a standard...
iOS 4.3 Beta Multi-Touch Gestures Demoed on iPhone, Apple Testing Internally?
Much has been made of the new four- and five-finger multi-touch gestures for the iPad introduced in the first beta version of iOS 4.3 released last week, and many users were disappointed to learn that Apple had clarified in the second beta released yesterday that the new gestures are being included only for developer testing at this time and will not be present in the public release of iOS 4.3.
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Apple Investigating Multi-Touch Display for Magic Mouse, Haptic Feedback for Virtual Keyboards?
A pair of reports today from Patently Apple reveal newly-published patent applications from Apple describing the company's work on advancing input systems for its Macs, showing off concepts for a multi-touch display embedded on the Magic Mouse and virtual keyboards with tactile feedback.
According to the first report, Apple's patent application entitled "Computer Input Device Including a...
Apple Releases Second Beta of iOS 4.3 to Developers
Apple today issued a second beta version of iOS 4.3 to registered developers, marking a quick turnaround since the initial beta version was seeded one week ago.
The new seed carries build number 8F5153d, up from the previous 8F5148b, and is similarly available in versions for the iPad, iPhone 4 and 3GS, and third- and fourth-generation iPod touch, as well as in a separate version for the...
AT&T Simplifying Texting Plans, Enlisting Best Buy in Battle Against Verizon iPhone
In a pair of reports today, Gear Live shares some information reportedly leaked from Best Buy's internal systems showing how the retailer and AT&T are gearing up to downplay the impact of the Verizon iPhone set for launch next month.
The first report indicates that AT&T will be simplifying its text messaging plans as of January 23rd, doing away with the existing plans offering 200 messages...
Starbucks Mobile Payments for iPhone and iPod Touch Now Available Nationwide
Starbucks today announced that its mobile payments solution for the iPhone, iPod touch, and select BlackBerry devices is now available nationwide, allowing customers to pay for their purchases using the company's mobile app at nearly 6,800 traditional Starbucks locations and over 1,000 Starbucks locations in Target stores across the United States. To experience mobile payment at Starbucks,...
Highlights of Apple's 1Q 2011 Conference Call
While full details of Apple's conference call yesterday covering the company's blowout earnings for the first fiscal quarter of 2011 are available in our coverage post, we've compiled a few of the more interesting items that merit some additional attention:
- Record-breaking quarter: Apple set new quarterly records for Mac, iPhone, and iPad sales, as well as revenue and profit.
- iOS device ...
Apple Addresses Sleep Issues With New MacBook Air Software Update
Apple today released MacBook Air (Late 2010) Software Update 2.0, a minor software update designed to address sleep issues on the company's new 11.6-inch and 13.3-inch MacBook Air models released last October. This update resolves an issue with some MacBook Air (Late 2010) systems that prevents the system from sleeping.The update weighs in at 342 KB and requires Mac OS X 10.6.5.
Apple has...
Apple Releases iDVD 7.1.1
Apple today released iDVD 7.1.1, bringing a minor update to the component of Apple's iLife suite dedicated to burning DVDs. This update improves overall stability and ensures compatibility when sending slideshows from iPhoto '11 to iDVD.
This update is recommended for all users of iDVD 7.The update weighs in at 34.53 MB and requires Mac OS X 10.6.6 or later.
iDVD has not seen a substantial...
Apple Reports Record 1Q 2011: $6 Billion Profit on $26.74 Billion in Revenue
Apple today announced financial results for its first fiscal quarter of 2011, corresponding to the fourth calendar quarter of 2010. For the quarter, Apple posted revenue of $26.74 billion and net quarterly profit of $6 billion, or $6.43 per diluted share, compared to revenue of $15.68 billion and net quarterly profit of $3.38 billion, or $3.67 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross...
Steve Jobs Reassured Customer Concerned for Mac OS X Server's Future
Yesterday, a report surfaced claiming that Apple is considering discontinuing some of its server-related offerings beyond the Xserve slated to disappear at the end of the month and suggesting that Mac OS X Server could eventually be cut from Apple's lineup. The rumors certainly generated significant interest and concern from those who are fans of Apple's server- and storage-related products.
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Recent Verizon Phone Purchasers Offered Returns or $200 Credits to Switch to iPhone
As noted by BGR, an entry in Verizon's iPhone 4 FAQ reveals that the company is offering a couple of minor breaks to existing customers who recently purchased a Verizon phone but are looking to switch to the iPhone 4 when it launches on the carrier on February 10th.
According to the FAQ entry, customers who purchased a Verizon phone between November 26th and January 10th can return the...
Microsoft's Office Team Steps Onto iOS With 'OneNote'
While Microsoft has released a small handful of apps for iOS devices, mostly notably with Bing and Windows Live Messenger, the company's Office team has been slow to bring iOS offerings to the App Store. Microsoft had indicated soon after the iPad's introduction that it was "looking at" the possibility of bringing a version of Office to the iPad, but clarified a few months later that it had "no...
White iPhone 4 Appears in Best Buy Inventory System With February 27th Launch Date
We've received information today from a source sharing the above screenshot claimed to be from a Best Buy inventory database showing both 16 GB and 32 GB white iPhone 4 models listed with expected in-stock dates of February 27th. The SKU and model numbers associated with the entries are identical to those previously used by Best Buy when it was taking pre-orders for the white iPhone 4 prior to ...
