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
Concerns of iPhone 3GS Overheating and Discoloration Gaining Publicity
Last week, Nowhere Else began receiving reports [Google translation] from owners of the white iPhone 3GS that had experience significant overheating, leading in some cases to distinct pink or brown discoloration on the iPhone's back case. A later report from Wired suggested that faulty battery cells may be the cause of the overheating and could lead to a significant recall of the affected...
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AT&T: iPhone 3GS Launch Broke Numerous Company Records
MacDailyNews has obtained an internal AT&T memo promoting the record-breaking nature of the iPhone 3GS launch on Friday, June 19th. iLaunch day 2009 was one for the record books, as AT&T customers scrambled to get their hands on the fastest, most powerful iPhone yet.
Here's a look at some of the milestones we achieved:
* Best-ever sales day in our retail stores
* Second-largest traffic day...
Psystar Exits Bankruptcy, Launches New Xeon-Based Systems Running OS X
Psystar, manufacturer of unauthorized Mac clones currently involved in a legal battle with Apple, reports that it has exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy and is again prepared to take on Apple. Psystar filed for bankruptcy just over one month ago. As you all may already be aware in late May, Psystar filed for Chapter 11 protection. Although this was critical to our continued daily operations, we now are ...
New iPhone 3GS Ad: 'Skateboard'
Following close on the heels of the two new iPhone 3GS commercials released yesterday, Apple has posted another new ad, entitled 'Skateboard', to its ad gallery. The new commercial focuses on several of the video features of the iPhone 3GS, demonstrating shooting, editing, and sharing via...
Apple Details Recent MobileMe Enhancements
Apple has posted a support document outlining a number of recent changes made to its MobileMe subscription service. Among the more significant changes are the ability to maintain rich text formatting when replying to or forwarding messages, the ability for iPhone and iPod touch users to search all messages (including those stored in the MobileMe "cloud"), and the ability to merge contacts and...
iPhone OS 3.1 Features: Non-Destructive Video Editing, Voice Control Over Bluetooth and More
Apple yesterday seeded iPhone OS 3.1 and iPhone SDK 3.1 betas to developers for testing, and users have been digging through the new releases to document new features. Among the changes found so far by readers in our forums, at Redmond Pie, and at MobileCrunch:
- Trimming video clips on the iPhone 3GS now offers the ability to save the edited version as a copy rather than simply overwriting...
Two New iPhone 3GS Ads: 'Voice Control' and 'Copy and Paste'
Apple has released two new television commercials for the iPhone 3GS and posted them to its ad gallery.
Voice Control: Demonstrates the new Voice Control feature available on the iPhone 3GS, showing both the calling and music voice functions.
Copy and Paste: Demonstrates the copy and paste functions available on the iPhone 3GS and in iPhone OS 3.0 for other devices. The ad shows copy and ...
Skype for iPhone Updated: SMS and Voicemail, But No Push
Skype [App Store, Free] has been updated to Version 1.1, bringing SMS and voicemail support to the iPhone application, as well as additional language support. Unfortunately, support for Push Notifications is not included in the new version. What's new in this version:
- Support for the following languages:
English, German, Dutch, Brazilian Portuguese, Portuguese, Spanish, Norwegian, Russian,...
Apple Releases iPhoto 8.0.4 Update
Apple today released iPhoto 8.0.4 Update, addressing an issue with crashing after upgrading from an older version and making minor corrections to items in the "Places" functionality of iPhoto. This update addresses a rarely encountered issue involving photos imported into a previous version that could affect overall stability, and corrects references to a few points of interest and location names...
OS X Snow Leopard Tidbits: On Demand QuickTime 7 Installation
Since the release of the OS X Snow Leopard Build 10A394 developer seed late last week, users have been digging through the new version looking for and documenting changes and additions.
The introduction of QuickTime X in Snow Leopard brings a streamlined interface lacking some of the functionality found in QuickTime 7. It has been reported that earlier Snow Leopard builds would prompt the...
Mozilla Releases Firefox 3.5
Mozilla today released Firefox 3.5, a significant upgrade to the world's second-most popular Internet browser. Webmonkey summarizes some of the more important advances in the latest version, including speed enhancements, support for HTML 5, geolocation services, search improvements, and the addition of a private browsing mode. Originally envisioned as a quick follow-up to 2008's release of...
Dell Developing Android-Based Mobile Internet Device?
The Wall Street Journal reports that Dell has been developing a Mobile Internet Device (MID) based on Google's Android operating system. The device is reportedly slightly larger than Apple's iPod touch, with which Dell's offering would presumably compete in many respects should it eventually be released. Another person who was briefed on the company's plans said Dell may begin selling the device...
Apple Releases MacBook Air SMC Firmware Update 1.2
Apple today released MacBook Air SMC Firmware Update 1.2, adding support for new replacement batteries for the Late 2008 MacBook Air. Apple does not provide any additional details on these batteries. This SMC firmware update adds compatibility for the latest service replacement batteries.
For more information, please visit
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2368Users should follow the installation ...
Apple Confirms: Steve Jobs Back at Work
Bloomberg has received confirmation from Apple that Steve Jobs has returned to work at Apple following his liver transplant, currently working part-time at the company's headquarters in Cupertino and part-time from home. Jobs reportedly returned to work last Monday, but today's report is the first confirmation directly from Apple. Steve Jobs is back at work at Apple Inc., returning to his job as...
U.S. Apple Retail Store iPhone 3GS Supplies Begin to Tighten
Late last week, we reported that Apple had posted an online availability database showing iPhone 3GS stock levels at each of its over 200 U.S. retail stores. At the time, the database showed solid availability of the new iPhone, with nearly 90% of stores showing availability of all four iPhone 3GS models and only five stores being completely sold out.
Apple's retail store stock levels declined ...
Counterfeit iPhone 3Gs Becoming More Convincing at First Glance
Apple service provider MacMedics recently had the opportunity to examine a counterfeit iPhone 3G purchased by a customer off of eBay. The packaging and external appearance of the device appear convincingly genuine at first glance, demonstrating increasing sophistication from such counterfeiters.
The software, however, is the difficult part to imitate, and this is where the counterfeit iPhone...
Apple to Adopt Micro-USB Connectors for iPhone Charging in Europe
Reuters reports that ten top mobile phone manufacturers, including Apple, have agreed to adopt the Micro-USB connector standard for smartphone chargers in the European Union. The shift, planned to begin next year, will allow smartphones from the companies, which control 90% of the market, to use the same charging cables. Apple currently uses a proprietary dock connector compatible with both the...
Apple Seeds OS X Snow Leopard Build 10A394 to Developers
Apple today seeded a new version of OS X Snow Leopard, Build 10A394, to developers. The new build was distributed via Software Update and weighs in at 655.3 MB. The update's description simply states that the new build contains fixes for stability, compatibility, and security.
Early reports say that the Dock Expos feature demonstrated at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference earlier this ...
Apple Posts Online iPhone 3GS Availability Database
Apple has posted an online database to allow potential iPhone 3GS customers in the U.S. to check stock levels for the various models at Apple Retail Stores. Availability is updated at least hourly. Apple deployed similar tools for both the original iPhone and the iPhone 3G, although these previous versions only updated nightly with stock levels for opening the following day.
Apple's...
Next-Generation iMacs to See Price Cuts?
AppleInsider reports that Apple is considering dropping the price points for its iMac line alongside the introduction of next-generation models later this year. The cuts, which Apple is rumored to be considering in the 7-10% range, would be in line with the significant price cuts seen in Apple's latest notebook offerings introduced earlier this month at its Worldwide Developers Conference. iMacs...
