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 Targeted in New Patent Suit Over VPN on iOS
Patent holding firm VirnetX yesterday announced that it has filed suit against Apple, Cisco, NEC, and Aastra, alleging infringement of five patents held by the company. As noted by Computerworld, Apple is being targeted for claimed infringement by the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch of a pair of patents related to virtual private networking (VPN) connectivity.
VirnetX, which derives almost all...
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ITV Executives Reportedly 'Furious' Over Rumored Apple TV Name Change
Mirror.co.uk reports that executives of UK television network ITV are "furious" over rumors that Apple will be changing the name of its Apple TV set-top box product to "iTV" as part of a major revamp later this year. Despite the fact that claim is only a rumor and that Apple has refused to comment on the issue, ITV is gearing up for a fight. But ITV bosses are furious and meeting with lawyers...
Apple Releases QuickTime 7.6.7 for Windows
Apple today released QuickTime 7.6.7 for Windows, bringing a fix for a single security issue that could be exploited by a maliciously crafted movie file. A stack buffer overflow exists in QuickTime's error logging. Viewing a maliciously crafted movie file may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution. This issue is addressed by disabling debug logging. This issue...
id Shows Off 'Rage' Running on iPhone 4 at 60 Frames Per Second
Screenshot of Rage on iPhone 4
Kotaku reports that during his keynote address at QuakeCon 2010 today, John Carmack of id Software showed off the company's forthcoming Rage game running at 60 frames per second on an iPhone 4, claiming performance beyond that of Microsoft's Xbox and Sony's PlayStation 2. The report includes a video clip showing Rage in action on the iPhone. Carmack's...
Apple Releases Display Brightness Update for New 21.5-Inch iMac
Apple today released iMac (Mid 2010) Display Brightness Update 1.0, a new software update designed to address an issue with display brightness on the company's new 21.5-inch iMac released in late July.
Unfortunately, Apple does not specify the exact issue targeted with the update, although users of the company's last two generations of iMacs have been complaining of buzzing associated with...
Apple Patent Application Looks at Converting Video Game Play Into Comic Books
Flowchart of video game user data collected for creating eBook or comic book content
Patently Apple takes a look at an off-the-wall Apple patent application published today describing methods to convert a computer user's video game play into a "book, e-book, or comic book". In accordance with one disclosed embodiment, data may be recorded from a videogame executed on an electronic device. The...
Advertisers and App Developers Happy With Early Results of Apple's iAd Program
The Los Angeles Times takes a look at Apple's iAd mobile advertising platform that launched on July 1st, speaking to both advertisers and app developers who have been pleased with the program so far.
From the perspective of developers, the iAd program is offering premium ad space for their applications, allowing for increased revenue through the iAd pricing structure and the big-name...
Apple Sneaks Up on Motorola in Mobile Phone Sales, Android Surges Past iOS
Research firm Gartner today published a report covering worldwide mobile phone sales to end users for the second quarter of 2010. Gartner's data shows Apple again placing seventh among all mobile phone manufacturers with the same 2.7% market share it held last quarter and up from 1.9% in the year-ago quarter. Motorola's continuing decline in sales dropped it to 2.8% share for the quarter,...
Apple's New Rechargeable AA Batteries Actually Sanyo Eneloops?
Several tipsters previously pointed us to the similarities in the published promotional specs of Apple's new rechargeable AA batteries and Sanyo's Eneloop batteries, suggesting that Apple have essentially rebranded Sanyo's offerings for sale it its own packaging. New testing by SuperApple.cz [Google translation] published today seems to confirm the suspicion, despite the lack of any definitive ...
CDMA-Based iPhone 4 at 'Engineering Verification Test' Stage?
Daring Fireball's John Gruber has penned an interesting piece about Apple's CDMA-based iPhone 4 that has been rumored to be coming to Verizon as soon as this coming January. According to Gruber's sources, the device, which carries an internal code name of "N92", has reached the "engineering verification test" (EVT) stage of development, the point at which prototypes are moving through the...
Next-Generation Apple TV Renamed 'iTV', Utilizes Apps, Lacks 1080p?
Engadget mockup of iPhone 4-style "iTV" device serving App Store content
Engadget provides a follow-up to its late May report revealing Apple's plans for a revamped Apple TV product. The previous report had suggested an iOS-based device at a price point of $99 with limited onboard storage that would be capable of 1080p playback, but today's report claims that some things have changed in...
Apple Pushes Out New 'Snow Leopard Graphics Update' Build to Developers
One week ago, we reported that Apple had seeded to developers a "Snow Leopard Graphics Update". While it was unclear exactly what the update is designed to address, a number of users have been complaining of graphics-related issues, particularly with high-performance games.
We have received word that Apple has seeded a new build of Snow Leopard Graphics Update to developers today, and while...
Apple's iPod Media Event Rumored for Mid-September Date
All Things D reports that Apple's traditional iPod-focused media event may be scheduled for a mid-September date this year, slightly later than in recent years. Apple's iPod media events are traditionally held on either Tuesday or Wednesday, suggesting September 14th or 15th as possible dates. According to several sources and as has been widely expected, Apple will once again be holding its...
Apple and FutureTap Resolve Questions Over Travel Patent Application
Last week, we reported on a controversy sparked by Apple's inclusion of a screenshot of a third-party developer's app interface in a patent application published late last month. While we noted at the time that the screenshot was used by Apple as interface example for taking advantage of Apple's suggested travel information service and that the company was not trying to patent anything specific...
Apple Fixes iOS PDF Security Hole With iOS 4.0.2 and 3.2.2
Apple today released updated versions of its iOS operating system, addressing a significant security vulnerability in the way Safari handles PDF files on Apple's mobile devices. The new versions, which arrive as iOS 4.0.2 for the iPhone and iPod touch and iOS 3.2.2 for the iPad, should also disable the Web-based JailbreakMe service that first exploited the vulnerability.
Apple noted one...
UK Retailer Offering Deep Discounts on Current iPod Nano and Shuffle Models
TechnologMe.com reports that UK supermarket chain Morrisons has slashed prices on the current-generation iPod nano and iPod shuffle models, suggesting that the retailer is looking to clear stock ahead of the release of refreshed models as soon as next week or perhaps early next month. Morrisons, the UK supermarket chain, is slashing the price of 3rd generation iPod shuffles down to 20 and 4th...
UK Carrier Claims No White iPhone 4s Until 'End of the Year'
TiPb reports that UK wireless carrier Orange has been emailing customers to notify them that availability of white iPhone 4 models is not expected "until the end of the year", encouraging them to consider a black model instead while continuing to offer notification when the white models do arrive. We wanted to let you know that there won't be any white iPhone 4's in the UK until the end of the...
Apple Agrees to Replace Overheating First-Generation iPod Nanos in Japan
Bloomberg reports that Apple has agreed to entirely replace any first-generation iPod nanos for customers in Japan whose devices have exhibited symptoms of overheating. Apple Inc. said it will offer replacements of iPad Nano music players in Japan that overheat, following calls by the government to take measures to prevent the devices from catching fire.
Apple, based in Cupertino, California,...
Adobe Enables Mac Hardware-Accelerated Decoding in Updated Flash Player 10.1
As noted by project manager Thibault Imbert, Adobe's Flash Player 10.1 for Mac has been updated to enable hardware-accelerated decoding of video content, offering smoother playback, lower system resource usage, and longer battery life for portable devices. We just pushed a few minutes ago a new version of the Flash Player 10.1.82.76 containing a nice feature that was in beta until now called...
Apple Debuts App Store Volume Purchase Program for Educational Institutions
Yesterday, we noted a change to the App Store's developer terms and options allowing developers to offer their applications at a 50% discount for bulk purchases made by educational institutions. Apple has now posted information on the program disclosing how institutions can take advantage of the discounted pricing. The Volume Purchase Program makes it easy for educational institutions to purchase ...
