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 Preparing to Seed Developer Builds of Mac OS X 10.6.5
MacRumors has received word that Apple is gearing up to begin seeding certain developers with builds of Mac OS X 10.6.5, the fifth maintenance release for Mac OS X Snow Leopard. While the release has undoubtedly been under development for some time, only now is it approaching a state where it is ready for testing by third-party developers. Through the testing program, Apple will gain feedback...
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TiVo Stock Rises on Rumors of Apple TV Deal
Barron's briefly notes that TiVo's shares have jumped today (currently up over 6%) on rumors that the company's technology could make an appearance in revamped Apple TV hardware.
It is unclear, however, what aspect of TiVo technology would be brought to the Apple TV. Rumors have pointed to a dramatic overhaul of Apple's set-top box, bringing a new design based on that of the iPhone 4 with...
27-Inch LED Cinema Display Coming Tomorrow Alongside iMacs and Mac Pros?
Mockup of existing 24" LED display (left) next to 27" model (right)
In announcing the return of his podcast talk show, the plugged-in John Gruber slyly hints, as he is wont to do, that Apple may be set to release a new 27-inch 16:9 widescreen display alongside updated Mac Pros and iMacs tomorrow. We'll have much to talk about, what with the new Mac Pros (finally, right?), speed-bump iMacs, and...
AT&T Expanding Wi-Fi Hotspot Zones to Charlotte and Chicago
AT&T today announced the launch of a new hotspot zone located in downtown Charlotte, North Carolina, providing an extra layer of coverage enabling higher data speeds while moving traffic off of the carrier's cellular network. The large outdoor Wi-Fi hotzone provides coverage along South Brevard Street from the area around the NASCAR Hall of Fame Plaza to East Trade Street, and for AT&T customers ...
'Citi Mobile' Updated to Address Security Flaw
The Wall Street Journal reports that financial behemoth Citigroup today revealed that a security flaw had been discovered in its Citi Mobile application for the iOS platform, a flaw that was patched in an update to the application released last week. In an incident that highlights the growing security challenges around wireless apps, Citi said its iPhone app accidentally saved personal account...
AT&T to Fix iPhone 4 Upload Speed Issues Over Next 2-3 Weeks
Reuters reports that AT&T is planning to roll out fixes for a software defect that has hampered upload speeds for iPhone 4 and other users in a number of markets over the next two to three weeks. Users began noticing the problem over the 4th of July weekend, and AT&T subsequently blamed the issue on a software problem with some of its network equipment made by Alcatel-Lucent. The No. 2 U.S....
U.S. Government to Explicitly Allow iPhone Jailbreaking [Updated x2]
The Associated Press briefly reports that the U.S. government has defined new rules that will permit users to "jailbreak" their iPhone and skirt Apple's App Store ecosystem to add unapproved third-party applications. Owners of the iPhone will be able to break electronic locks on their devices in order to download applications that have not been approved by Apple. The government is making that...
Apple Facing Possible Fine Over Taiwanese Mac Mini Pricing Errors
Proper pricing for base Mac mini model in Taiwanese Apple Store
AFP reports that Apple may be facing a minor fine in Taiwan after the company briefly offered erroneous pricing for several configurations of its Mac mini in that country late last week. The threat of fine comes after Apple quietly raised prices to their proper levels for the 200,000 orders placed at the incorrect prices without...
Apple Preparing to Offer iPad Engraving?
Mockup of engraved iPad
Erictric reports that Apple may be preparing to allow iPad customers to have their devices engraved with a message of their choosing, with the new option possibly set to launch for the holiday shopping season. The tip comes from an anonymous Apple employee, although it is unclear in what capacity the source works at the company. "From what I understand, Apple's going to ...
Apple Officially Announces July 30th International iPhone 4 Launches
Apple today issued a press release officially announcing the release of the iPhone 4 in 17 new countries for this Friday, July 30th. The news is not necessarily considered a surprise, as Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced the launches at the company's iPhone 4 press conference earlier this month. Apple's iPhone 4 will be available in 17 more countries this Friday, July 30. iPhone 4 features...
iMac Joins Mac Pro in Running Low for In-Store Reservations
iMac reservations at Crabtree Valley Mall Apple Store, Raleigh, NC
As noted by AppleInsider, various models of Apple's iMac line are beginning to become "Unavailable" through Apple's in-store Reserve and Pick Up system, joining the company's Mac Pro line that saw similar shortages appear late last week.
The iMac shortages are not quite as pronounced as they are for the Mac Pro, however,...
Apple Begins Shipping Free iPhone 4 Bumpers to UK Customers
Based on several reports sent to us and posted in our forums, it appears that Apple has begun shipping out free bumpers to a number of iPhone 4 customers. At this time, however, the shipments appear to be limited to UK customers who ordered Apple bumpers, as opposed to third-party case options.
The shipments come despite initial quotes from Apple on the order of 3-5 weeks for bumper...
Apple Takes on Droid X With Latest Smartphone Antenna Video
After its iPhone 4 press conference last week, Apple posted a new smartphone antenna performance page on its site highlighting how several other smartphones experience similar decreases of signal bars to that of the iPhone 4. The page initially featured phones from Research in Motion, HTC, and Samsung, as well as the iPhone 3GS. Earlier this week, Apple added the Nokia N97 mini to the page...
'iBooks' Bug Squashed With New Update
Earlier this week, Apple released version 1.1.1 of its iBooks application, bringing several enhancements including support for embedded audio and video.
The update clearly contained a bug, however, as Apple today released version 1.1.2 with an additional bullet point in its "What's New" section: Addresses a minor issue when updating iBooks.Apple has not disclosed any additional information on ...
Mac Pro Unavailable for In-Store Reservations at Many Locations
Mac Pro reservations at Fifth Avenue Apple Store
One MacRumors reader has pointed out to us that Apple's somewhat-hidden Reserve and Pick Up program is currently showing the company's Mac Pro models as "Unavailable" for reservation at his local retail store in Canada, possibly hinting at an imminent update. According to the tipster, the Mac Pro was seeing full availability for reservations at ...
Survey Finds U.S. iPhone Users Generally Pleased With AT&T
CNNMoney.com reports on a recent survey from market research firm Yankee Group showing 73% of surveyed U.S. iPhone customers being "very satisfied" with AT&T as their carrier provider. The high figure appears rather surprising given AT&T's much-maligned performance as it has struggled to keep up with surging demand on its network since the iPhone debuted three years ago. Despite a very vocal...
iOS 4 Adoption on iPhones Hits 50%
The research arm of mobile advertising and analytics firm Chitika yesterday announced that according to data pulled from the broad range of iPhone devices accessing its network, 50% of the ad impressions on the iPhone are now coming from devices running iOS 4. Apple's latest mobile operating system, iOS 4, is already accounting for one-half of all iPhone web traffic, according to online...
Apple Releases Second Developer Preview of Xcode 4
Apple yesterday released a second developer preview version of Xcode 4 via its developer site, also posting a significant amount of new information about the release on its site. Xcode 4 brings a significant overhaul to Apple's tools for building Mac OS X and iOS applications, including a transition to a single-window application with Interface Builder integrated directly into Xcode. Xcode is...
Apple Updates Wiki Services for Snow Leopard Server
Apple yesterday released a several update for Mac OS X Server Snow Leopard, bringing enhancements to the operating system's built-in wiki service support.
Users who are already running Mac OS X Server 10.6.4 can update using Wiki Server Update 1.0 (26.34 MB). For those users still running earlier versions of Mac OS X Server Snow Leopard, Apple has folded the update into a "Version 1.1" of Mac ...
AT&T Offers Details on iPad 3G Activations and Usage
As part of its quarterly earnings conference call yesterday, AT&T offered some insight into the iPad's performance on the its network, with Silicon Alley Insider providing a summary of the data.
- AT&T reported that it activated service on 400,000-500,000 iPad "Wi-Fi + 3G" devices during the quarter, which actually consists of only the last two months of the quarter as the 3G-capable models...
