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
Verizon Viewing iPad as Opportunity to Push MiFi Service
Engadget reports on a leaked internal memo from Verizon to its staff members promoting Apple's iPad as an "opportunity" to sell its data plans, seeking to encourage customers to purchase a Wi-Fi iPad model and pair it with Verizon services such as MiFi to provide cellular data connectivity.
Verizon's proposal comes with a tradeoff for customers. The company cites the $130 premium carried by ...
Read Full Article • 143 comments
Apple Releases MainStage 2.1.1
Apple today released MainStage 2.1.1, an update to Apple's Logic Studio component for bringing virtual instruments and effects to live performances, via Software Update. According to the release notes, the update addresses a host of issues related to 64-Bit mode, stability, plug-ins, and other areas. This update delivers improved compatibility and numerous fixes.
Issues addressed in MainStage...
Apple Reportedly Disrupting iPhone Competitors With Legal Threats Backed Up by HTC Suit
Fortune reports on a new research note from Oppenhiemer & Co.'s Yair Reiner claiming that Apple in January began high-level talks with major phone manufacturers expressing its displeasure with what it considers to be infringement of its iPhone-related intellectual property. According to the report, Apple's recent lawsuit against HTC has served to back up the company's position in these talks and ...
iPhone Developer Agreement Revealed by Electronic Frontier Foundation
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) yesterday announced that it had obtained a copy of Apple's iPhone Developer Program License Agreement and published it for public consumption. While the contents of the license agreement, which governs the relationship between Apple and App Store developers, should obviously not be a surprise to the many developers already participating in the program,...
Apple Releases iPhone SDK 3.2 Beta 4 for iPad
Apple today released iPhone SDK 3.2 Beta 4 via the iPhone Dev Center, offering developers updated tools for building applications for the iPad. The last update to the SDK was issued two weeks ago, continuing a trend of biweekly revisions.
There is no word yet on changes in the new version, but users with access to the SDK are undoubtedly already looking through the software to document the...
Microsoft Releases Software Updates for Office 2008 and 2004
Microsoft today issued a handful of updates for users of the company's Office productivity suite, primarily addressing security issues.
- Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac 12.2.4 Update (221 MB): The update offers several fixes related to stability and performance, as well as patches for security vulnerabilities.
- Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.5.8 Update (9.7 MB): The update addresses...
Apple Reaches $200 Billion in Market Capitalization
Fueled by Friday's announcement of a shipping date for the iPad, Apple's stock price has jumped over 6% in recent trading, pushing the company beyond $200 billion in market value for the first time in its history. AAPL currently sits at over $223 per share.
Apple currently holds the fifth-largest market capitalization among U.S. public companies, behind Exxon Mobil, Microsoft, Wal-Mart, and ...
FileMaker Pro 11 Brings Streamlined Database Creation With New Reporting and Collaboration Features
Apple subsidiary FileMaker today announced the release of FileMaker Pro 11, the latest version of its popular database application. The updated version brings several new features, as well as streamlined productivity tools for simpler and faster database creation. "FileMaker Pro 11 is designed for solving real-world business problems, such as the need for interpreting business data," said Ryan...
Gruber: No 'Widget Mode' for Minor Applications on iPad
Last month, speculation that a number of minor iPhone applications such as Stocks, Weather, Voice Memo, Clock, and Calculator "missing" from the iPad could reappear in some sort of "widget mode" similar to Dashboard on Mac OS X received a bit of publicity.
According to Daring Fireball's John Gruber's sources, however, there is no secret "widget mode" and these applications were in fact...
Valve Officially Announces Steam and Game Library Coming to Mac in April
Valve Software today officially announced that it is bringing its Steam game distribution platform, as well as its own library of games, to Mac OS X next month. Steam and Valve's library of games including Left 4 Dead 2, Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike, Portal, and the Half-Life series will be available in April.
"As we transition from entertainment as a product to entertainment as a...
Apple Cracking Down on "Cookie Cutter" App Store Applications?
TechCrunch discusses a picture that is being pieced together from reports from App Store developers suggesting that Apple is looking to crack down on "cookie cutter" iPhone applications that offer little more than could be offered through a web app. Between the developers I spoke to, the consensus was this: Apple doesn't appear to be opposed to 'app generators' and templates per se, but in the...
iPad Poised to Grab Significant Portion of e-Reader Market
Last week, RBC Capital Markets analyst Mike Abramsky released the results of a survey showing pent-up demand for the iPad exceeding that of the original iPhone, highest customer demand for low-capacity Wi-Fi-only and high-capacity 3G-enabled iPads, and moderate cannibalization of other Apple products by the iPad.
ChangeWave today released additional data from the survey, showing Apple poised ...
Slight iPad Shipping Delay Due to Software, Not Hardware?
Daring Fireball's John Gruber claims to have heard from his sources that the slight shipping delay (about a week in the U.S. and on the order of a month in the first batch of international markets) for the Wi-Fi iPad is due not to hardware production issues but to Apple putting the final touches on the software for the device. It was the software, not the hardware, that took a week or two longer ...
Apple Releases Mac OS X 10.6.3 Build 10D567 to Developers
Apple today seeded yet another version of Mac OS X 10.6.3, termed Build 10D567, to developers. iPhone in Canada offers some details on the new version, which has seen only minor refinements as development appears to be wrapping up. Developers are reportedly asked to focus their testing on Graphics Drivers, iChat, QuickTime, Printing and Rosetta.
The last developer build of 10.6.3 was...
Apple Patent Application Reveals Flexible Integration of Advertising Viewing in Video Files
Patently Apple points to an interesting Apple patent application published yesterday describing methods of incorporating commercials into video content such that viewing of the commercials interspersed throughout the video presentation would be required in order to "unlock" portions of the content. The methods would allow users to freely navigate within a video presentation such as a...
Apple Announces April 3rd Launch Date for Wi-Fi iPad in the U.S.
Apple today announced that Wi-Fi models of the iPad will go on sale in the United States on Saturday, April 3rd. 3G-capable models in the U.S., as well as both Wi-Fi and 3G models for a number of other countries, will be available in late April. U.S. preorders for all iPad models begin on March 12th. Apple today announced that its magical and revolutionary iPad will be available in the US on...
Sony Preparing New Handheld Devices to Take On Apple
The Wall Street Journal reports (subscription required) on Sony's plans to develop a new lineup of handheld devices to compete against Apple's iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Threatened by Apple Inc.'s growing stable of portable devices, Sony Corp. is developing a new lineup of handheld products, including a smart phone capable of downloading and playing PlayStation games, according to people...
Fortune Again Names Apple World's Most Admired Company
In the 2010 edition of its annual ranking of "World's Most Admired Companies", Fortune placed Apple at the top of the list for the third year in a row and by the highest margin ever in the survey's ten-year history. Apple was followed in the rankings by Google, Berkshire Hathaway, Johnson & Johnson, and Amazon. What makes Apple so admired? Product, product, product. This is the company that...
Apple-Nokia Patent Trial On Hold Pending Trade Agency Review
The Associated Press reports that a federal court judge in Delaware has placed a hold on the patent dispute between Apple and Nokia pending review of similar, separate cases by the U.S International Trade Commission (ITC). The judge signed an order Wednesday staying litigation in a lawsuit in which Nokia claims that Apple is infringing on seven Nokia patents in products ranging from the iPhone to...
More Analyst Claims of iPad Production Delays Surface
The Wall Street Journal reports on a new note from research firm ThinkEquity claiming that the Apple's manufacturing partners in Taiwan are in fact experiencing delays in ramping up iPad production ahead of the device's launch announced for later this month. According to the report: Our checks in Taiwan indicate some minor delays on the iPad. The manufacturing of the iPads was supposed to pick up ...
