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
iPhone 3G and iPod Touch Gain Video Trimming Capabilities in iPhone OS 3.1
Gioga23 notes [Google translation] that the iPhone 3G and iPod touch, despite not having built-in video cameras, are able to utilizing the iPhone 3GS video trimming feature when running iPhone OS 3.1.
E-mailed videos can be saved to the user's Photos application, where they can then be opened, trimmed, and saved as edited copies. While the feature's utility is somewhat limited due to the...
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Accounting Rule Change May Affect Apple's Future Earnings Reports
Silicon Alley Insider reports that a change to accounting standards that received preliminary approval last week may alter the way Apple treats revenue from the iPhone and Apple TV. The issue relates to Apple's policy of recognizing revenue from the iPhone and Apple TV over a two-year period from the date of purchase, a policy developed to satisfy accounting regulations as Apple provides free...
New iPod Touch Models and Chinese iPhone Launch Constrain Worldwide Flash Memory Supplies
DigiTimes reports that the flash memory market is currently experiencing shortages, as manufacturers have been dedicating increased amounts of their capacity to Apple. The company has been purchasing considerable amounts of NAND flash for its new iPod touch models with capacities up to 64 GB and to prepare for the launch of the iPhone in China later this year. Samsung Electronics has informed...
Apple Officially Adds Support for Up to 16 GB of RAM on Quad-Core Mac Pro
Apple has quietly added additional build-to-order RAM options to its Quad-Core Mac Pro, now allowing users to configure new systems with either 12 GB (3 x 4 GB) or 16 GB (4 x 4 GB) of RAM. The new options using 4 GB RAM DIMMs carry significant price tags, with the 12 GB option resulting in a $1350 up charge over the base 3 GB configuration and the 16 GB option carrying an $1850 premium.
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Apple Offers Clarification on Mobile Safari Anti-Phishing Feature
Last week, some questions were raised about apparent inconsistencies in the way that Safari on the iPhone and iPod touch was employing a new anti-phishing feature added in iPhone OS 3.1.
The Loop spoke with Apple about the issue, and learned that the anti-phishing database is updated on a user's iPhone via the charging/syncing process in order to preserve battery performance and prevent hidden ...
Apple Releases Updated Brother and Canon Printer Drivers for Snow Leopard
On the heels of updated HP printer drivers for Snow Leopard, Apple has now released similar updates for both Brother and Canon printers and multifunction devices.
- Brother Printer Drivers for Mac OS X v10.6, Version 2.1 weighs in at 95.52 MB and requires Mac OS X 10.6.1. The download offers updates for many of Brother printers that had already been supported, and adds support for a number of ...
Third-Generation iPod Touch Teardown Reveals 802.11n-Capable Wi-Fi Chip, Empty Space for Camera
iFixit has managed to get its hands on a 32 GB third-generation iPod touch and is in the process of tearing apart the device to get a look at the internals. While the new iPod touch is similar in many respects to the second-generation model, especially given the absence of a camera module, there are some hardware differences.
One of the more intriguing differences uncovered so far is the...
Portions of Apple's Grand Central Dispatch Go Open Source
Daring Fireball's John Gruber noted yesterday that Apple has released libdispatch, the source code for the user space implementation of Grand Central Dispatch, taking a significant portion of the company's technology for more efficiently utilizing multicore processors open source. While some may consider the move a surprise due to the technology's key role in the core of Mac OS X Snow Leopard, Ma...
Apple Details MobileMe Enhancements Delivered by Latest Software Updates
Apple has posted a support article detailing a number of enhancements to its MobileMe service made possible by the launch of iPhone OS 3.1, Mac OS X Snow Leopard, and MobileMe Control Panel for Windows 1.5.
iPhone OS 3.1 brings enhancements to Find My iPhone, which now allows users to remotely set a passcode lock to prevent others from accessing the device, plays device alerts at the loudest...
Apple Releases Updated HP Printer Drivers for Snow Leopard
Apple yesterday released Version 2.1 of HP Printer Drivers for Mac OS X v10.6, adding Snow Leopard-compatible drivers for a number of HP printers and multifunction devices.
Complete information on Snow Leopard-compatible drivers can be found in Apple's support document on the issue, which has been updated to include the newly-added HP drivers, which are marked with an asterisk.
The download ...
Apple Releases New 'Get a Mac', iPod Touch, and iPod Nano Ads
Apple this week has launched three new television commercials, including one new "Get a Mac" ad featuring Justin Long and John Hodgman in their usual roles, one highlighting the gaming focus of the iPod touch, and a third showing off the video capabilities of the new iPod nano.
The newest "Get a Mac" commercial, entitled PC Innovation Lab and posted yesterday to Apple's ad gallery, highlights...
Apple Releases iMac and RAID Card Firmware Updates
Apple today released a pair of firmware updates for iMac users and users of Apple's RAID card for the Mac Pro and Xserve.
- iMac Graphics FW Update 1.0.2 improves system stability for iMacs using ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro or ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT graphics cards. This update is for iMac computers with an ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro or ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT graphics card installed, running Mac OS X...
Apple Releases Mac OS X 10.6.1 and Security Update 2009-005
Apple today released Mac OS X 10.6.1, the first maintenance update for Snow Leopard, via Software Update and Apple's software downloads page. The most recent developer build of OS X 10.6.1, Build 10B504, was seeded just two days ago. The update brings several bug fixes, as well as an update to Flash Player to incorporate the most recent release from Adobe. The 10.6.1 Update is recommended for...
iPhone OS 3.1 Blocking Encrypted Microsoft Exchange Connections on Non-3GS Devices
TUAW reports that a number of iPhone users who have updated to iPhone OS 3.1 are finding themselves unable to access their Microsoft Exchange accounts due to device incompatibility with Exchange's server-side encryption.
While the iPhone 3GS supports this device-level encryption, other iPhone and iPod touch models do not. Non-3GS devices had been able to access Exchange systems utilizing the...
Fifth-Generation iPod Nano Teardown Posted
iFixit has posted a teardown of the new fifth-generation iPod nano launched yesterday at Apple's "It's Only Rock and Roll" media event. While the teardown reveals very similar construction to the previous-generation model with the obvious exception of the camera module, the images provide an interesting glimpse at the internals of one of Apple's new devices.
Changes from the...
Nike+ Heart Rate Monitor Coming for Fifth-Generation iPod Nano?
AppleInsider notes that a newly-posted Nike + iPod User Guide (PDF) contains a reference to an as-yet unavailable heart rate monitor that will apparently only be compatible with the new fifth-generation iPod nano launched yesterday at Apple's "It's Only Rock and Roll" media event. The reference, found on Page 20 of the user guide, is part of a section entitled "Linking a Nike + iPod Compatible ...
iTunes 9 Breaks Palm Pre Syncing Once Again
PreCentral notes that iTunes 9, launched yesterday at Apple's "It's Only Rock and Roll" media event, once again breaks media syncing for the Palm Pre. The big question on everybody's mind: does it break Palm Pre Sync? Pre users in this thread are downloading now and the verdict is yes, Palm Pre Sync appears to be busted.The Palm Pre was initially designed to allow users to sync media directly from ...
Apple Releases iPhone Configuration Utility 2.1 for Mac and Windows and Mobile Me Control Panel for Windows
In addition to today's release of iTunes 9 and QuickTime 7.6.4, Apple also released two other software updates for enterprise iPhone users and MobileMe customers users running Windows.
- iPhone Configuration Utility 2.1 allows system administrators in enterprise settings to perform a variety of tasks related to administering iPhones. iPhone Configuration Utility lets you easily create,...
Apple Releases QuickTime 7.6.4
Apple today released QuickTime 7.6.4 for Mac OS X Leopard and Tiger via Software Update and the QuickTime download page. A Windows version for XP and Vista is also available. QuickTime 7.6.4 includes changes that increase reliability, improve compatibility and enhance security. This release is recommended for all QuickTime 7 users.
For detailed information on this update, please visit this...
Live Coverage of 'It's Only Rock and Roll' Media Event
Apple's "It's Only Rock and Roll" media event is scheduled to start in just about 45 minutes, and a number of sites will be covering the event live with text and photo updates. We provide here a collection of links to a number of those sources, and we will update this story to summarize today's announcements. We'll also be providing Twitter updates @macrumors. Follow
