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
Subsidized iPad Sales Off to Slow Start in UK?
Early last month, UK carriers Orange, T-Mobile, and Three debuted subsidized iPads, knocking the price of the entry-level Wi-Fi + 3G iPad model from £529 down to £199 for those customers willing to sign up for two-year data contracts in the range of £25 per month.
While the offerings obviously result in a substantial outlay for customers, it was thought that they would be enticing for...
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Apple Bumps UK Prices as VAT Rises
Apple's new entry-level UK pricing
Apple today took down its online store in the UK for a few hours, moving to raise prices to account for an increase in the national value-added tax (VAT) going into effect today that is seeing the rate rise from 17.5% to 20%.
The price increases have resulted in Apple straying from its usual price point targets, as an entry-level 13" MacBook Pro or 21.5" ...
iPhone Alarm Bug Still Causing Issues for Some Users
Reuters has been keeping on top of the iOS alarm clock bug that has seen users experiencing problems with alarms activating properly in the new year. Despite reassurances from Apple over the weekend that alarms would begin functioning properly today, a number of users have reportedly continued to experience problems today, the first day of work in 2011 for many people. Some iPhone users across...
Movie Studios Harnessing iTunes Extras For Advanced Features
Introduced in late 2009 with iTunes 9, iTunes Extras have been billed as a way for movie studios to release additional features and functionalities with their iTunes Store video content, offering a way to compete with and even exceed bonus features found on DVD releases. But while widespread usage of iTunes Extras has yet to take off, paidContent.org notes that Sony Pictures has started to...
Apple Surpasses $300 Billion in Market Capitalization
On the first trading day of 2011, Apple's stock has jumped to a new high and broken through yet another psychological milestone by pushing past $300 billion in market capitalization. AAPL stock currently sits at nearly $330 per share with a market cap of over $302 billion.
Apple set a series of market cap milestones last year, passing $200 billion in early March, leapfrogging Wal-Mart just...
Final Cut Updates in March or April? Xserve Controversy and Jobs on Blu-ray
French site Hardmac has been keeping its ear to the ground when it comes to Apple's Final Cut video processing suites, noting today that it has heard that revised versions of the company's Final Cut offerings are likely to debut in March or early April. The report reiterates previous claims that the company may not be able to deliver all of the improvements hoped for by professional-level...
Apple Targeting Social Networking and Product Sales Predictions in Shopping Environments
A pair of Apple patent applications published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office today reveal that the company is continuing to look into ways of harnessing the knowledge of groups of consumers to assist in the shopping process both online and in brick-and-mortar stores. With these methods, the company hopes to assist consumers with social networking tools in the shopping environment, as...
European Commission Moves Forward on Micro-USB Smartphone Charging Standard
Over the past year and a half, we've been following the efforts of the European Commission to make micro-USB a universal charging standard for smartphones as of January 2011. Follwing the European Commission's adoption of the standard in August of this year, two European standards bodies have now weighed in with their approval on the technical specifications for the standard to be used. Followin...
'Quick Snap' Pulled From App Store
Earlier this week, we noted that a new App Store application, Quick Snap - Camera Plus, had appeared on December 15th, allowing users to activate the camera shutter on their iPhone using the hardware volume buttons on the side of the device. The approval of the application was clearly an error by Apple's review staff, as the remapping of hardware buttons from their original purposes is clearly ...
iPhone 4 Antenna Issues and Ping Rank Among Top 'Tech Fails' for 2010
CNN has put together its list of the ten biggest tech "fails" of 2010, highlighting the technology and Internet products and features that failed most spectacularly during the year.
In what may be a bit of a surprise considering how little we've heard about it over the last several months, CNN ranked the iPhone 4's antenna issues, known informally as "Antennagate", as the top tech fail of...
App Store Updates Now Propagating as Holiday Shutdown Ends
Following the holiday shutdown that saw updates to the App Store and developer access to iTunes Connect temporarily halted in order to provide Apple employees with some time off, things are up and running again, with access to iTunes Connect now available for developers. This means that official App Store sales numbers are now available for the lucrative Christmas weekend.
In addition,...
Apple and App Developers Sued Over Sharing User Information With Advertisers
Bloomberg reports that Apple and a number of App Store developers have been sued over the sharing of personal information with advertisers working through apps installed on the iPhone and iPad. The complaint, which seeks class action, or group, status, was filed on Dec. 23 in federal court in San Jose, California. The suit claims Cupertino, California-based Apple's iPhones and iPads are encoded...
First Steps Toward Hacking the New iPod Nano
With the release of an all-new iPod nano in early September that saw the device gain a tiny, iOS-like interface, many have wondered how easy it might be to expand the device's capabilities through some sort of hacking or jailbreaking process. But while the iPod nano's interface appears very much like a scaled-down iOS, Apple has noted that it is not in fact based on iOS and is merely designed to ...
'Quick Snap' Maps iPhone Volume Buttons to Camera Shutter (For Now)
Just last week, we noted that popular camera app Camera+ had reappeared in the App Store after a four-month hiatus. The temporary disappearance of Camera+ came after an update to the application earlier this year had been rejected after the developers added a feature that remapped the iPhone's hardware volume buttons to activate the camera shutter, a violation of Apple's terms due to the...
Next-Generation iPad With Tapered Sides and iPod Touch-Like Form Factor?
Last week, Japanese blog Mac Otakara offered information about the next-generation iPad, claiming that the device will be slightly smaller in all dimensions while offering a flat back and modified speaker compared to the current model.
In a new post, Mac Otakara reveals that it has been able to get its hands on a pair of the cases claimed to be for the next-generation iPad that have surfaced ...
iOS Developers See Christmas Surge in Downloads and Activity
It's no surprise that Apple's iOS devices are popular holiday gifts, and as one gauge of the popularity of those devices, many turn to information from App Store developers. Business Insider has done just that, checking in with Facebook and Disney-owned Tapulous to discover that both firms have seen significant spikes in user activity coinciding with the holidays.
Facebook, which offers an...
Apple Confirms One Million Apple TVs Sold
According to All Things Digital, Apple has confirmed that it has surpassed sales of one million units for the new Apple TV, which debuted in late September. The company had put out a press release last week stating that it expected to reach the milestone later that week. Last Tuesday Apple said it expected sales of its next generation Apple TV to top one million units before Christmas. Today...
Apple's First Quarter Earnings Release Set for January 18th
As noted by setteB.IT, Apple has updated its investor relations page to announce that it will publish its earnings for the first fiscal quarter of 2011 (fourth calendar quarter of 2010) and host a conference call regarding the release on Tuesday, January 18th. Apple plans to conduct a conference call to discuss financial results of its first fiscal quarter on Tuesday, January 18, 2011 at 2:00 p.m. ...
Softbank to Release NFC Mobile Payments Stickers for iPhone 4
While Apple has expressed interest in near field communications (NFC), the short-range wireless technology used for such applications as "tap and go" credit and debit card payments and public transportation fare payments, the company has obviously yet to deploy the technology in its iPhone line.
But as picked up by Engadget, Japanese carrier Softbank is taking steps to bring limited NFC...
Refurbished MacBook Airs Hit Apple's Online Store
As noted by MacNN, Apple has added the revamped MacBook Air to the section of its online store devoted to refurbished products, offering significant savings for those willing to go the slightly-used-but-thoroughly-tested route.
Prices start at $849 for the entry-level 11.6-inch model, a savings of $150 off of the price of a brand-new machine. Bumping up from 64 GB of storage to 128 GB...
