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
New Apple TV Reviewed, Revamped 'Remote' App for iOS Coming?
With the first wave of orders for the new Apple TV on their way to customers, initial reviews of the device are beginning to appear. The first one comes from FoxNews.com's Clayton Morris, who calls the revamped device "very promising" with the potential to be a "quiet hit", but only if Apple puts some of its marketing effort behind it. I've been testing the new Apple TV, and I think Apple may...
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Research in Motion's 7-Inch 'PlayBook' Tablet to Target Business Users
Research in Motion today announced a new 7-inch tablet device known as the BlackBerry PlayBook. The business-focused tablet, set for launch early next year, will offer a dual-core 1GHz, Cortex A9 processor, 1 GB of RAM, 1024 x 600 display with capacitive multi-touch capabilities, front (3-megapixel) and rear (5-megapixel) cameras, and support for 1080p video output over HDMI. Perfect for either ...
Apple Most-Covered Tech Company in Mainstream Media
The New York Times points to a new research report from the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism which finds that Apple was the most-discussed technology company in mainstream media between June 2009 and June 2010, serving as the focus of over 15% of the technology articles and stories appearing in the surveyed media outlets during that time. In the battle among the tech...
European Union Ends Antitrust Investigations Into Apple's iPhone Repair and iOS Development Policies
Over the weekend, the European Commission announced that it has dropped pair of antitrust investigations it had been conducting related to Apple's policies on international iPhone repairs and third-party development tools for iOS applications.
The first issue related to Apple's policies that made it difficult for consumers who purchased an iPhone in one European Union member country to have...
U.S. Digital Music Sales Plateau in First Half of 2010 [Updated: Single Tracks Only]
Reuters reports on data from research firm Nielsen showing that U.S. digital music sales plateaued in the first half of 2010, marking a dramatic decrease from the 28% growth enjoyed just two years ago. According to research group Nielsen, digital sales were flat in the U.S. market after a 13 percent increase from 2008 to 2009 and 28 percent growth from 2007 to 2008.Nielsen points to a variety of ...
iAd Predicted to Match Google's Share of Mobile Ad Market by Year's End
Chart from Fortune
Bloomberg Businessweek reports on data from research firm IDC showing that Apple's iAd mobile advertising platform, launched on July 1st, appears set to grab 21% of the mobile advertising market by the end of the year, tying Google for the top spot in the industry. Apple will end the year with 21 percent of the market, according to estimates provided to Businessweek.com by...
Initial Orders for New Apple TV Being Prepared for Shipment [Updated: Shipped]
Following confirmation from Apple CEO Steve Jobs late last week that the first batch of orders for the new Apple TV remain on schedule for availability by the end of the month, a number of MacRumors readers are reporting today that their orders are now showing as "prepared for shipment", the final processing step before moving into the hands of delivery companies.
Despite many customers...
Apple Releases iTunes 10.0.1 With Ping Sidebar and Bug Fixes
Following changes to the iTunes Store terms and conditions yesterday that referred to a "Ping Sidebar" for Apple's music-focused social networking platform, Apple has now released iTunes 10.0.1 to enable the new feature and distribute a number of bug fixes. iTunes 10.0.1 makes it easier to share your favorite music with your friends on Ping. You can now Like or Post about music right from your...
Steve Jobs Confirms New Apple TV Orders On Schedule for September Delivery
A significant amount of attention has been focused on orders for the new Apple TV today after it was revealed that Apple had contacted some customers to notify them that their expedited shipping fees were being refunded due to an unspecified "delay". While some sites took the information to mean that those who ordered the new Apple TV and have been expecting on-time shipping previously...
U.S. Department of Justice Orders Apple and Others to Stop Engaging in Anti-Poaching Agreements
The U.S. Department of Justice today announced that it has ordered Apple, Google, and four other companies to refrain from entering into "no solicitation" agreements in which companies agree not to actively seek to hire each other's employees. The Department of Justice announced today that it has reached a settlement with six high technology companies - Adobe Systems Inc., Apple Inc., Google...
Ping Updates: 'Ping Sidebar' Coming Soon? Record Labels Miffed at Secrecy
Aside from the occasional discussion of the Apple-Facebook negotiations prior to the launch of Apple's social networking service for music earlier this month, things have been fairly quiet when it comes to Ping. A change to Apple's iTunes Store terms and conditions today hints, however, that some changes may be afoot.
The new terms and conditions, which customers must agree to before...
More TV Executives Weigh In on 99-Cent TV Show Rentals: Viacom Out, CBS on the Fence
The Wall Street Journal reports (subscription required) on additional comments about Apple's 99-cent TV show rental program made by executives at this week's Goldman Sachs conference. Over the past week, executives from Time Warner and NBC have weighed in with their opinions that the pricing model is not right for them, and executives from Viacom and CBS have now offered public statements...
Safari AutoFill Security Issue Rears Its Head Once Again
Back in July, security researcher Jeremiah Grossman revealed a security issue that could allow malicious parties to take advantage of Safari's AutoFill feature to extract personal information from users' Address Book entries. At the time, Grossman reported that his report to Apple had gone essentially unacknowledged for nearly a month, but just six days later Apple released Safari 5.0.1 and 4.1.1...
Apple Refunds Expedited Shipping Charges for New Apple TV Orders, Cites Inability to Meet 'Delivery Commitment'
AppleInsider reports that Apple has sent emails to some customers who ordered the new Apple TV with expedited shipping, informing them that it is refunding the extra shipping charges due to a "delay" in meeting their delivery commitments. "Our records indicate that when you placed your order you paid for upgraded shipping," Apple wrote in the emails. "Due to a delay, we may have not been able to ...
A Graphical Look at Apple's Share of Mobile Phone Industry Profits
Earlier this week, we noted that Apple's share of mobile phone industry profits had risen to 39%, topping that of the top three handset manufacturers (Nokia, Samsung, and LG) combined. Asymco expands on that topic of discussion to offer an interesting graphical look at how Apple's share of profits has grown over time, primarily at the expense of the previously-dominant Nokia. Note that profit...
Target Officially Confirms iPad Launch for October 3rd [Updated]
Screenshot from Target's inventory system
The Associated Press reports that Target has officially confirmed that it will begin offering availability of the iPad on October 3rd. The nation's second-largest discount chain says it will start selling touchscreen tablet computer Oct. 3. The iPad will be covered under the retailer's 5 percent discount for store credit-card holders, which rolls out...
7-Inch iPad Resembling iPhone 4 Now a 'Finished Product'?
Previous mockup of 7-inch iPad based on current design
Chinese rumor site Shanzai.com claims (via 9 to 5 Mac) that Apple's rumored 7-inch iPad is a "finished product" and that its design much more closely resembles that of the iPhone 4 than the current iPad. The report also claims that Apple has been floating around at least five different designs in order to throw off those attempting to...
11.6-Inch 'MacBook' Headed to Manufacturing?
In a brief tidbit posted today, DigiTimes claims that Apple manufacturing partner Quanta is scheduled to ship 400,000-500,000 "MacBooks" carrying an 11.6-inch screen size before the end of this year, suggesting that a release may be near. Meanwhile, Quanta has reportedly landed orders for 11.6-inch MacBooks from Apple. Shipments of 11.6-inch MacBooks are expected to top 400,000-500,000 units in...
'White Space' Airwaves Opened for Future Cellular and Wi-Fi Enhancements
Bloomberg reports that the U.S. Federal Communications Commission has voted to open up unused portions of the television broadcast frequency spectrum, known as white spaces, for unlicensed uses, paving the way for the development of technologies such as cellular communications and broad-range Wi-Fi networks to take advantage of the frequencies. The radio waves travel in the spectrum between...
Apple Proposes Using Pogo Pins to Shrink Headphone Jacks
A newly-published patent application from Apple is generating some interest today for its description of a means to reduce the size of headphone jacks by using pogo pins instead of the traditional cantilevered metal strips for mediating electrical contacts with headphone plugs.
The invention disclosure comes as Apple continues to shrink the general overall size of its portable devices, with...
