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 to Begin International Roll Out of iBooks and iBookstore Alongside iPad Launch
Earlier today, Apple announced the launch of the iPad in nine new countries later this month: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK. As noted by iLounge, Apple is also rolling out its iBooks iPad application and associated iBookstore in many of these countries at launch.
Apple's country-specific press releases for Australia, Canada, Italy, Japan, Spa...
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Apple Maintains Third-Place Ranking Among Smartphone Vendors
Research firm IDC today released data on global smartphone ("converged mobile device") sales for the first quarter of 2010, showing Apple maintaining its third-place ranking behind Nokia and Research in Motion on very strong year-over-year growth. The overall picture remains nearly identical to last quarter, with most metrics moving only a tiny amount.
Worldwide Smartphone Shipments in 1Q10 ...
Apple Announces International iPad Availability for May 28th
Apple today announced that it will begin taking pre-orders for all iPad models in nine new countries on Monday, May 10th. The devices will launch on Friday, May 28th. Apple today announced that iPad will be available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK on Friday, May 28. Customers can pre-order all iPad models from Apple's online store in all nine...
Apple Seeds Mac OS X 10.6.4 Build 10F46 to Developers
World of Apple reports that Apple has seeded a new version of Mac OS X 10.6.4, termed Build 10F46, to developers. The report notes that the update currently weighs in at 573.1 MB and asks developers to focus on GraphicsDrivers, SMB, USB, VoiceOver, and VPN. Apple also highlights nearly a dozen issues addressed in the update and lists one known issue in the current build involving an error...
Yahoo Examines iPad User Demographics and Trends, Finds 10% International Usage
Yahoo today published the results of some number crunching it performed on iPad users accessing its Web content. According to the data, males currently outnumber females 2:1 among iPad users on Yahoo's network, significantly about the nearly 50-50 split seen for overall usage. The survey also shows relative overrepresentation among the 30-54 age range (peaking in the 35-44 age group), as well ...
Scribd Abandoning Flash for HTML5
TechCrunch reports that social document sharing and publishing site Scribd has announced that it is scrapping its current Flash-based system for one based on HTML5. Scribd co-founder and chief technology officer Jared Friedman tells me: "We are scrapping three years of Flash development and betting the company on HTML5 because we believe HTML5 is a dramatically better reading experience than...
Opera Software Offers Thoughts on Future of Flash
TechRadar reports that a representative of Opera Software, the company behind the Opera browser for a number of platforms including the iPhone OS, has stepped into the discussion of Adobe's Flash and its role in Web content at the present and going forward. According to Opera product analyst Phillip Grnvold, Opera will continue to support Flash in its products due to it being an integral part of ...
Widespread Availability of Hexacore Xeon Processors for Mac Pro Not Slated Until Late June?
Hardmac reports that Intel has yet to begin shipping significant quantities of its six-core Xeon processors that many expect to appear in a refreshed Mac Pro. According to the report, distributors will have to wait until "the end of the second quarter" to receive mass quantities of the chips. Intel informed its distribution networks that the 6 core Xeon will only be available in limited quantity...
Apple's iPad Seen Cannibalizing Netbook Sales
For the last several years, netbooks have been a booming business for a number of computer manufacturers as consumers look for low-cost, portable machines to browse the Internet and perform other light tasks. Apple resisted entering the netbook market, repeatedly pointing to numerous shortcoming of such devices as it wrapped up development on its iPad tablet device, its own take on how consumers ...
Apple Patent Applications: Heartbeat Biometrics, Multidimensional Dashboard Widgets
A pair of interesting patent applications from Apple were published today by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office revealing concepts Apple engineers have been tossing around as they work to develop features for future products.
iPhone with various cardiac activity monitor leads (322, 324, 326)
Unwired View points to an application entitled "Seamlessly Embedded Heart Rate Monitor", and while ...
Analyst Suggests AT&T May Have Gained iPhone Exclusivity Through 2010 With iPad Data Deal
Computerworld reports on comments from Broadpoint AmTech research analyst Brian Marshall suggesting that AT&T may have gained an extra six months of iPhone exclusivity in the United States with its bid to provide data service for the iPad, extending its window through the end of 2010. "AT&T had to do something dramatic to get the iPad," said Brian Marshall, a Wall Street analyst at BroadPoint...
Android-Based Tablet Spotted Running Flash
In his "Thoughts on Flash" letter last week, Apple CEO Steve Jobs noted his company's frustration with Adobe's slow pace at getting Flash working well on mobile devices, citing missed timelines and a sense of relief that Apple didn't wait for Adobe to deliver the technology. We have routinely asked Adobe to show us Flash performing well on a mobile device, any mobile device, for a few years now....
Intel Demonstrates Light Peak Connectivity Standard Running on Laptop
Notebook computer sending simultaneous video streams to external display via Light Peak
PC Pro reports that Intel this week is showing off a laptop running the company's "Light Peak" connectivity standard initially offering transfer speeds of up to 10 Gbps in both directions. The company previously demonstrated the technology using a prototype Mac Pro motherboard last year, but has now...
Former U.S. Labor Secretary Defends Apple on Antitrust Issues
In a widely-publicized blog post today, Robert Reich, who served as U.S. Secretary of Labor under Bill Clinton, offers his thoughts on the rumored antitrust inquiry being considered by federal regulators over Apple's exclusion of cross-compilers for creation of applications running on its iPhone OS devices. Reich argues that the Federal Trade Commission's efforts targeting Apple could be better...
Google Posts Video of 'Speed Tests' for Chrome 5
Yesterday, as part of its announcement regarding the release of the Google Chrome 5 beta, Google teased a series of "speed tests" it had conducted using high-speed cameras synchronized to show various events alongside Chrome loading a webpage.
Well, Google today announced that it has posted a new video showing the speed tests in action.
The video highlights three speed tests:
- A...
Steve Jobs Promises Full HTML5 Support for Safari 'Soon'
MacStories reports on a new email response to a customer from Apple CEO Steve Jobs, this time promising that full support for HTML5 is coming "soon" to the company's Safari browser. HTML5 has been a popular topic recently, given Jobs' continued support of the next-generation Web standard as a key component of future technologies that he believes will leave Adobe's Flash Player in the past. But...
AT&T Customers Continuing to Experience Excessive Dropped Calls
A new survey from ChangeWave Research reveals that the firm's business-focused survey base is seeing the highest percentage of dropped calls (4.5%) on AT&T, easily exceeding performance leader Verizon (1.5%), as well as Sprint (2.4%) and T-Mobile (2.8%).
Not only is AT&T trailing the other major U.S. carriers, but the poor performance is part of a trend of increasing drop calls against the...
More New iPhone OS 4 Features: File Sharing, App Closing
The third beta of iPhone OS 4, released and then pulled yesterday after an installation issue with the development tools was discovered, is now back in Apple's iPhone Dev Center. Following on yesterday's discovery of new iPod controls and a screen orientation lock available through the iPhone OS 4 multitasking interface, Boy Genius Report covered several additional new highlights for the updated ...
Latest iPhone OS 4 Beta Gains Orientation Lock and iPod Controls in Multitasking Interface
Image from MacStories
9 to 5 Mac reports that the latest iPhone OS 4 beta, released earlier today, includes several new features as part of its multitasking capabilities, including quick access to iPod controls, as well as an option for locking the screen orientation in either portrait or landscape mode.
The new features are accessed via a left-swipe from the multitasking "dock" manager in...
New Google Chrome Beta Gains Integrated Flash Plug-In, Speed Increases
Google today announced the release of the official beta versions of Google Chrome 5.0 for Mac, Windows, and Linux. The release brings several new enhancements to the stable testing version of the browser, including an integrated Flash Player plug-in and speed increases. Today's new beta release incorporates one of Chrome's most significant speed and performance increases to date, with 30% and...
