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
Mexican Carrier Executive Claims iPhone 4 Hardware Revision Coming by End of September
CanalMX reports [Google translation] on comments from an executive at Mexican carrier Telcel claiming that Apple is set to release a revised version of the iPhone 4 by the end of September to address the highly-publicized antenna issue. Telcel began offering the iPhone 4 in Mexico last Friday as part of a quiet expansion that saw the device also come to the Czech Republic, Greece, Poland,...
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Rupert Murdoch and News Corp. to Be Swing Vote for 99-Cent iTunes TV Show Rentals?
The Los Angeles Times reports that Apple is still working to convince media companies to adopt its plan for 99-cent TV show rentals through its iTunes Store. According to those close to the negotiations, a number of media companies, including NBC, CBS, and Time Warner, are against the plan, but Disney is currently prepared to go along with it.
News Corp., the parent company of FOX, is still...
Apple Prepares to Open Its First Retail Stores in Spain
Apple is gearing up to open its first two Apple Stores in Spain, which will become the 11th country to host official Apple Store locations.
La Maquinista (Barcelona) Apple Store under wraps
First to open will be the La Maquinista store in Barcelona, set to open at 10:00 AM on this Saturday, September 4th. The Xanad store in Madrid will follow one week later. In late June, ifoAppleStore...
App Store Surpasses 250,000 Available Apps
Fortune noted over the weekend that Apple's App Store has surpassed 250,000 active applications, a little over two years after the store's debut.
Current App Store statistics from AppShopper
According to our sister site AppShopper, there are currently 254,916 apps in the App Store. Over 300,000 applications in total have been approved over the App Store's history, but nearly 50,000...
Claimed Next-Generation iPod Nano Cases Offer Hints at Device's Physical Features
With Apple's media event just two days away, iPod rumors are swinging into high gear. Rumors of a smaller iPod nano kicked off late last week and have been quickly followed by a flurry purported case leaks and additional claims supporting the belief. 9 to 5 Mac and AppleInsider share some additional cases and screen protectors that have popped up on Asian e-commerce sites with claims that they...
iPad Shipping Estimates Improve to 'Within 24 Hours'
Continuing the trend of decreasing shipping window estimates, all six models of Apple's iPad are now listed as shipping within 24 hours of ordering. The change, which appears to be taking effect in all of Apple's country-specific online stores, appears to be a milestone in Apple's efforts to ramp production to meet demand for the popular tablet device.
In less than two weeks, iPad shipping...
Intel to Acquire iPhone Supplier Infineon's Wireless Chip Unit
Intel today confirmed long-standing rumors by announcing that it will acquire the Wireless Solutions (WLS) unit of German firm Infineon for $1.4 billion. The move gives Intel a significant expansion into the market for smartphone chips as it continues to try to build interest in its own Atom platform for mobile and netbook devices. Through this effort, Intel will pair WLS' best-in-class...
More Claims of Smaller, Square iPod Nano Next Week, Along With Possible 3G iPod Touch and iLife
Mockup comparing possible next-generation iPod nano form factor to 2nd-generation model
AppleInsider offers new claims of a significant redesign of the iPod nano scheduled for release at next week's media event, lending additional weight to the square cases and earlier rumors associated with the device. People familiar with the matter indicated that the size and shape of the device, revealed...
Microsoft Co-Founder's Firm Sues Apple and Others in Patent Dispute
The Wall Street Journal reports that Interval Licensing, a patent licensing firm run by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and designed to protect the intellectual property of Allen's former technology incubator company Interval Research Corporation, has filed suit against Apple and ten other companies over several patents related to e-commerce and Web search technologies. Mr. Allen, 57, Friday...
Federal Trade Commission Settles Charges Over Fake App Store Reviews
According to The New York Times, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has settled a case it brought against California-based public relations firm Reverb Communications for writing paid reviews of App Store games from their clients. The firm's actions had been profiled by MobileCrunch last August after receiving a tip about its practices. The Federal Trade Commission said on Thursday that a...
Apple Parts Ways With Engineering Consulting Firm Over Tablet Prototype
The New York Times reports that Apple has parted ways with engineering design firm SurfaceInk, severing a nearly decade-long relationship that saw SurfaceInk assist with the development of several Apple products. The move comes as SurfaceInk has increased the availability of its "Turn-key" services that see it design and build entire products for sale to other companies. It was that latest part ...
MPEG LA Declares H.264 Standard Permanently Royalty-Free
MPEG LA, the group that oversees licensing for a number of Internet media standards, today announced that Internet broadcast content using the H.264 video coding standard will remain royalty-free for the entire life of the license, quashing fears that the standard could suddenly become subject to royalty payments in 2016 after the current licensing term expires and is required to be renewed. MPEG...
Firmware Update Addresses Freezes on Mid-2010 15-Inch and 17-Inch MacBook Pros
Apple today released MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.9, addressing an issue with system freezes and stalls on the company's latest 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pro models. This update is recommended for all 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pro mid 2010 models. The update resolves a rare issue that may cause the system to freeze during startup or intermittently stall during operation, and it improves...
Apple Brings ePub Export to Pages With iWork 9.0.4
Apple today released iWork 9.0.4, bringing a number of fixes to Apple's productivity suite but also deploying a new feature: the ability to export Pages documents in the ePub format for compatibility with the company's iBooks application for iOS. Keynote 5.0.4
- Addresses an issue when printing handouts with rule lines.
- Fixes an issue with the slide switcher.
- Resolves an issue when...
Mac OS X 10.6.5 Build 10H531 Seeded to Developers
As noted by AppleInsider, Apple has seeded a third version of 10.6.5, termed Build 10H531, to developers for testing. The new build comes one week after the previous one and suggest that Apple is continuing to make rapid progress on the update.
Whereas the previous version carried no documented known issues, Build 10H531 exhibits one known issue involving USB devices not operating properly...
Leaked Case Design Suggests iPod Nano May Gain Smaller Square Form Factor
Claimed next-generation iPod nano (top) and iPod touch (bottom) cases
iLounge points to a Chinese site showing cases purportedly for Apple's next-generation iPod nano and iPod touch models. The cases come from Chinese case manufacturer X-Doria.
Most interestingly, the iPod nano cases appear to be designed for a device roughly square in shape, suggesting that Apple's redesigned iPod nano...
Apple's Updated iPod Nano to Lose Click Wheel?
iPodNN reports on a new research note from Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu claiming that Apple may be preparing a significant redesign for its iPod nano that could see the device shrink in size and lose its physical click wheel. While Wu hedges his bets about whether the new design will actually be released, if true it would presumably be introduced at Apple's media event scheduled for next...
Apple's 'iAd for Developers' May Not Be Cost-Effective
Late last month, Apple enhanced its iAd mobile advertising platform to allow app developers to purchase ad space for simple banners that expand to display "in-app" App Store pages that allow users to read about and purchase applications without leaving the app they are currently in. Billed at $0.25 per click as opposed to the per-impression and $2-per-click fees for traditional advertisers using ...
iTunes Store to Move to Web, Gain Increased Social Features?
All Things Digital reports that any updates to Apple's iTunes Store set to debut at next Wednesday's media event may be likely to revolve more around creating a social, Web-based environment than a true cloud-based service. Apple plays its cards close to the vest even with the music labels it works with, so the people I've talked to are making informed guesses. That said, music sources tell me...
iPad Expected to Maintain Position as Tablet Market Leader
Research firm iSuppli today released a report detailing its predictions for how the nascent tablet market will shake out over the next several years, claiming that Apple will maintain its dominant share of the market.
According to iSuppli, Apple will command 74.1% of the tablet market for 2010, a market that includes long-standing "PC-style" tablets and slate styles similar to the iPad. And ...
