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
iPad App Store Goes Live Internationally
As noted [Google translation] by German site Macerkopf.de and expanded upon by Engadget, Apple has begun activating international iPad App Stores ahead of the device's launch in those countries: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK. In fact, stores appear to be going live even in countries that are not included in this round of device launches. Engadg...
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Apple Axes 'No Cash' Policy for iPad Sales
Earlier this week, the spotlight was put on Apple for its policy prohibiting customers from purchasing iPads with cash by a report from KGO-TV in San Francisco noting the case of a woman on fixed income who had saved up cash over a period of weeks to purchase an iPad as her first computer. "It took quite a long time for me to just save up this small amount of money to go down and purchase one,"...
Apple Responds to Reports of Final Cut Pro Refocusing
CNET reports that Apple has issued a response to yesterday's report that the company is working to "rethink" its Final Cut Pro offerings as the balance of usage of the video production software has shifted towards "prosumers" from the high-end professionals it originally targeted. "Final Cut Pro is the first choice for professional video editors, and we've never been more excited about its...
Gartner Pegs Apple as World's Seventh Largest Mobile Phone Manufacturer
Gartner today published a report covering worldwide mobile phone sales to end users for the first quarter of 2010. The results show Apple placing seventh among all mobile phone manufacturers with 2.7% of the market, up from 1.5% in the year-ago quarter. The growth places Apple within striking range of Motorola, Sony Ericsson, and Research in Motion as it seeks to move up the list into the top...
Twitter for iPhone Now Available in App Store
As hinted at by yesterday's disappearance of Tweetie 2 from the App Store, the rebranded official Twitter iPhone application [App Store, Free] has now been released.
In addition to the rebranding, Twitter brings several enhancements over the previous version of Tweetie: - Tweetie is now Twitter! We didn't just do a name change, we've added a bunch of new stuff.
- Search has been...
Google Announces 'WebM' Open-Source Video Format, Plans for Android Television Integration
Google today is making a number of major announcements at its Google I/O conference in San Francisco, with several of them directly related to Apple's offerings and supported standards.
First, Google announced the launch of The WebM Project, a new open-source, royalty-free video file format that appears set to take on Apple-backed H.264 for the future of Web-based video. The WebM project is...
Verizon to Support Simultaneous Voice and Data Transmission?
Boy Genius Report briefly notes that it has received a tip that Verizon may be preparing to roll out network technology that would enable simultaneous transmission of voice and data, a feature that both Apple and AT&T have trumpeted on the iPhone. We have been told that when the mythical Verizon iPhone materializes, assuming it's not a LTE unit, it might launch with VoRA; Voice over Rev. A....
AT&T Executive Downplays Effect of Eventual Loss of iPhone Exclusivity on Business
AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega participated in a Q&A session this morning at a J.P. Morgan conference, and The Wall Street Journal blogged his comments, a number of which focused on the iPhone and iPad.
According to de la Vega, about 80% of AT&T's customers are on family talk or corporate discount plans, which serve as a significant barrier for customers to switch to a competing carrier....
Next-Generation iPhone to Offer Option of White Front Panel? [Updated]
fscklog points to a posting on Taiwanese site Apple.pro showing photos of the front and back of a purported white next-generation iPhone front panel.
While very similar to the traditional black panel seen in some previous parts leaks and in prototypes that have surfaced in recent weeks, it does carry an unknown physical feature directly above the earpiece slot. The feature appears similar...
Photos and Video of iPod Touch With Camera Surface in Vietnam
Vietnamese site Tinhte has scored another Apple prototype, this time posting photos and videos of an iPod touch carrying a rear-facing camera. The device is a 64 GB model and carries a "DVT-1" designation, which stands for "design verification test", a typically late-stage testing model.
The prototype does not, however, appear to be a particularly new creation, as its serial number...
Updated MacBook Supports Both Audio and Video Output via Mini DisplayPort
A new support document posted today outlining the ports and connectors included on Apple's updated MacBook confirms that the new model supports transmission of both audio and video via its Mini DisplayPort output. The feature allows users to run a single cable (when using a compatible Mini DisplayPort-to-HDMI adapter) from their computer to their home theater system or television. Mini...
Apple Releases Java Updates for Leopard and Snow Leopard
Apple today released a pair of Java updates targeting users of Mac OS X Leopard and Snow Leopard.
- Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 2 (78 MB, Requires Mac OS X 10.6.3) Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 2 delivers improved compatibility, security, and reliability by updating Java SE 6 to 1.6.0_20.Minor additional information is available in Apple's associated support document. Apple has also documente...
Apple Releases iPhone OS 4 Beta 4 and SDK to Developers
New iPhone OS 4 wallpaper option (Source: forum post by nistromo)
Apple is keeping its developers busy today: Alongside a new build of Mac OS X 10.6.4, Apple has also released the fourth beta version of iPhone OS 4 and the associated software development kit (SDK). The release is not much of a surprise given that Apple has taken to biweekly releases of its iPhone development tools and today...
Another New Build of Mac OS X 10.6.4 (10F54) Seeded to Developers
World of Apple reports that Apple has seeded yet another new version of Mac OS X 10.6.4, termed Build 10F54, to select developers. The release comes just days after the release of Build 10F50.
Little seems to have changed since the previous release according to the documentation, although the new build now carries no known issues. Developers are reportedly once again asked to focus their...
A Look Back at Steve Jobs' 2003 Stock Options Swap Reveals $10 Billion Opportunity Lost
MarketWatch takes a look at "what might have been", examining Apple CEO Steve Jobs' decision to accept a March 2003 offer from the company to exchange his existing stock options for new ones at a more attractive price in comparison to the company's languishing stock price at that time, a move that would appear to have cost Jobs $10 billion in net worth at today's prices. After the bursting of...
Nike+ Heart Rate Monitor Due for Launch June 1st
AppleInsider points to a thread in the official Nike+ forums announcing that a Nike + iPod heart rate monitor is due for launch on June 1st. Great news! I have a U.S. launch date for the Nike+ compatible heart rate monitor. It will officially launch on June 1, 2010, although it may reach some retail outlets slightly sooner. It will reach Canadian markets in June and will launch internationally in...
Visa and DeviceFidelity Rolling Out iPhone Case for Contactless Payments
A premature press release posting earlier this month has now been made official, with Visa announcing that its partnership with DeviceFidelity will see the launch of a specially-designed iPhone case that will integrate a microSD slot to facilitate contactless payment transactions. DeviceFidelity, Inc. today announced the availability of its In2Pay solution for iPhone, designed to enable iPhone...
Tweetie 2 Disappears, Official Twitter Application Imminent?
App Advice notes that Tweetie 2 has disappeared from the App Store, suggesting that a release of the official Twitter iPhone application may be right around the corner.
Twitter last month acquired Tweetie and has been planning to rebrand it as the company's official Twitter application. At the time of its acquisition, the application was updated with an easter egg announcing the forthcoming ...
British Bank Offers Employees Option of Switching From BlackBerry to iPhone
Reuters reports that British bank Standard Chartered is offering more communication options to its global team of bankers, moving away from BlackBerry as the sole smartphone approved for use by the company to allow bankers to adopt the iPhone as their platform for mobile business tasks. Standard Chartered bankers in Asia told Reuters that the London-based lender was giving its corporate Blackberry ...
NPD Data: Strong Mac Sales in April, Some iPod Cannibalization by iPad?
Fortune reports on a new research note from analyst Gene Munster at Piper Jaffray, who examined new April U.S. retail sales data for Apple from NPD and found very strong year-over-year Mac growth and a somewhat larger than predicted drop in iPod sales. The combination suggests that the iPad may be having more of a cannibalization effect on the iPod than on Macs, suggesting possible upside to...
