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
No Steve Ballmer Appearance at WWDC Keynote [Updated]
In a tweet from Microsoft's official Twitter account, the company has denied a claim that CEO Steve Ballmer would be speaking at the keynote for Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) on June 7th. Steve Ballmer not speaking at Apple Dev Conf. Nor appearing on Dancing with the Stars. Nor riding in the Belmont. Just FYI.Ballmer had been rumored by Wall Street analyst Trip Chowdhry to be...
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International iPad Orders Arriving Early in Droves
Image from forum member J R R
While the iPad's first batch of international launches in nine new countries is not scheduled until tomorrow, a significant number of customers are reporting that their pre-orders are arriving today. The United Kingdom in particular has seen a lot of activity, with customers' delivery progress being tracked in this extensive thread. Both UPS and TNT are handling...
International iBookstore Offerings to Be Limited to Free Project Gutenberg Titles at Launch? [Updated]
Last week, we noted that Apple's iBookstore had begun to live ahead of the iPad's launch in nine new countries scheduled for tomorrow. At the time, the stores contained only free content from Project Gutenberg, a limitation that remains in place today just hours before the iPad officially launches in the new markets.
A new report from The Bookseller indicates that the free Project Gutenberg...
NBC and Time Warner Continue to Back Flash Over HTML5
The New York Post reports that a number of media companies, including NBC and Time Warner, have informed Apple that they plan to continue offering their content in Flash formats, opting not to follow the lead of other companies like CBS that are rolling out iPad-friendly HTML5 versions of their Web content. Sources said several large media companies, including Time Warner and NBC Universal,...
Barnes & Noble Releases 'BN eReader' Application for iPad
Barnes & Noble today announced the release of its free BN eReader for iPad application, joining Apple's iBooks and Amazon's Kindle as prominent eReader platforms for Apple's tablet device. BN eReader for iPad is designed to offer an easy, yet sophisticated, customizable reading experience. Users can choose from multiple ways to view their library, including professionally designed themes with...
iTunes Store Reaches 28% Overall Share, 70% Download Share of U.S. Music Sales
Market research firm NPD today released data showing Apple continuing to hold a commanding lead in both overall and digital download music sales in the U.S. for the first quarter of 2010. According to NPD's data, Apple continues to dominate digital download distribution in the U.S. with 70% of the market, up from 69% in the year-ago quarter and well ahead of second-place Amazon's 12% share....
Apple Holding Second, 3GS-Like Next-Generation iPhone in Reserve?
DigiTimes offers an interesting Q&A with one of its research analysts reporting several previously undisclosed details about the development of the fourth-generation iPhone expected to be introduced early next month at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference. One of the most interesting tidbits included in the report is a claim that Apple had a second next-generation iPhone under development...
AT&T Reportedly Confirms June iPhone Launch to Employees
Boy Genius Report briefly claims that AT&T has confirmed to its employees that the next-generation iPhone will launch in June, with hints that availability could even come well before the end of that month. Title says it all, but you didn't really need a confirmation, did you? The phone will be available for purchase in June, not July, and from what we've heard, it won't even be late June.Boy...
Apple Passes Microsoft to Become Second-Largest U.S. Company by Market Capitalization
In the less-than-three months since Apple first passed Wal-Mart to hold the third highest market capitalization among U.S. companies, Apple's stock price has continued to increase while second-place Microsoft has seen its shares drift downward. The combination of events has quickly closed the gap between the two companies, and today Apple finally surpassed Microsoft in market capitalization...
Half-Life 2 Coming to Mac OS X Today [Updated: Now Available]
As noted by Kotaku, Valve Software is set to launch the Mac OS X version of Half-Life 2 today, with follow-up sequels Half-Life 2: Episode One and Half-Life 2: Episode Two also seeing their public release for the platform.
Valve announced in early March that it would be bringing its Steam game distribution platform and library of games to Mac OS X, with the public release going live earlier...
Apple 'Independently Evaluating' Foxconn's Response to Suicides at Manufacturing Plant
Bloomberg reports that Apple has made its first public statement since a series of suicides at manufacturing partner Foxconn's sprawling manufacturing facility in China began gaining public notice, expressing sadness at the events and promising that it is "independently evaluating" Foxconn's response while also continuing its facility inspections summarized in its annual supplier responsibility...
Apple Again Facing Antitrust Inquiry Over Digital Music
In an apparent replay of a 2006 investigation into possible price fixing in the digital music industry dominated by Apple's iTunes Store, The New York Times is reporting that the U.S. Department of Justice is in the early stages of another antitrust inquiry focused on digital music sales. The Justice Department is examining Apple's tactics in the market for digital music, and its staff members...
Apple Seeds Build 10F58 of Mac OS X 10.6.4 to Developers
Just a week after the last seed, Apple has delivered another new version of Mac OS X 10.6.4, designated Build 10F58, to developers. The build is the fifth to be seeded to developers since late April.
Like the last build, Apple lists no known issues with the new version and asks developers to focus their testing on Graphics Drivers, SMB, USB, Voice Over, and VPN. Those familiar with the new...
International iPad Launch Details: Apple Stores Opening Early, UK Third-Party Retailers, UK 3G Service From 3
With Friday's launch of the iPad in nine new countries right around the corner, Apple and others are making preparations for the big day. On Apple's front, the company has announced that its retail stores in the launch countries will be opening at 8:00 AM to accommodate the expected crowds looking to get their hands on the company's tablet device. Eight of the nine countries seeing iPad...
Apple Releases Boot Camp Updates for Latest 13-Inch MacBook Pro
Apple today released a pair of Boot Camp updates for users of the company's latest 13-inch "Mid-2010" MacBook Pro released last month. The update comes in versions for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows users, and addresses issues related to the brightness tab of Boot Camp Control Panel and a lack of headphone audio output. This update applies to the MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2010) running Windows...
iPad Competitors: Kindle to Remain Focused on Reading While Dell Announces Streak Mini-Tablet
Amazon Kindle
A pair of announcements from Apple's competitors are making the rounds today, headlined by comments from Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos revealing that the Kindle will remain focused on the e-reading market for now rather than branching out into multi-purpose devices like the iPad. "The Kindle will compete with these LCD devices like the iPad by being a very focused product," Bezos said at...
Possible Introduction of Safari Extensions at WWDC?
DaringFireball's John Gruber appears to have slyly hinted that Apple may be planning to open the door to browser extensions on Safari at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) early next month. Gruber's comments come in the form of an apparent random musing that appears as part of a post on Google Chrome for Mac and Linux advancing out of the beta channel carrying support for thousands of...
Google Releases First 'Stable' Version of Chrome for Mac
Google today announced that it has released its first "stable" version of its Chrome browser for the Mac platform, finally deeming the application complete enough and having undergone enough testing to promote a beta version to the top level of the company's three-tier development cycle. Chrome for Linux similarly made its first stable channel appearance today. Today, I'm happy to announce that...
AT&T Launches Major Wi-Fi Hotspot in New York City's Times Square
AT&T today announced that it is rolling out a large new Wi-Fi hotspot in New York City's busy Times Square, offering users of the company's congested cellular networks a new option for routing traffic in the area. AT&T today announced the launch of an AT&T Wi-Fi "hotzone" in New York City's bustling Times Square, providing coverage for many AT&T customers visiting and residing in New York who...
Google TV Utilizes Same SGX535 Graphics Processor Found in iPad and iPhone 3GS
Partial schematic of Intel's CE4100 Atom platform using PowerVR SGX535 graphics processor
Fortune notes that Intel's forthcoming Google TV hardware platform to be found in Sony TVs and Blu-ray players and in a standalone set-top box from Logitech utilizes the same PowerVR SGX535 graphics processor used in the iPad. GoogleTV is manufactured by Logitech and Sony and contains a System on Chip...
