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
Jobs Health Concerns Related to Food Absorption, Not Cancer?
The New York Times reports that the health issues that have resulted in Steve Jobs taking a medical leave of absence from his role as Apple's CEO stem from a problem with food absorption and not from a recurrence of cancer. Two people who are familiar with Mr. Jobs's current medical treatment said he was not suffering from a recurrence of cancer, but a condition that was preventing his body from...
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Apple's US Market Share Growth Slows in 4Q 2008
Gartner has released a preliminary report on U.S. and worldwide PC shipments for the fourth quarter of 2008. The report places Apple in fourth place in U.S market share at 8.0%, up from 6.7% in the fourth quarter of 2007, but down from 9.5% in the third quarter of 2008. The sequential decline in Apple's market share was not entirely unexpected, as Apple's traditionally strong performance in the...
Slacker Radio for iPhone Released
Just days after the BlackBerry version was released at CES, the iPhone version of Slacker Radio [App Store] has been released in the US App Store. Similar in some respects to Pandora Radio, Slacker Radio provides both pre-programmed and personalized Internet radio stations. - Unlimited free access to millions of songs from thousands of artists
- Listen to over 100 stations created by leading...
Security Vulnerability Found in Safari RSS
Open source programmer Brian Mastenbrook has discovered a security flaw in the way that Safari handles RSS feeds. The vulnerability, which affects both Mac and Windows versions of Safari, could allow a malicious website to gain access to sensitive user data. I have discovered that Apple's Safari browser is vulnerable to an attack that allows a malicious web site to read files on a user's hard...
iPhone Nano Coming in June, But Not to United States?
DigiTimes highlights a report from Taiwan's Economic Daily News stating that two chip manufacturers, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and United Microelectronics Corporation, are expected to receive chip orders for Apple's rumored iPhone nano. The report states that orders would likely come in March, leading to a June release of the iPhone nano at the earliest.
Meanwhile, American...
Apple and LG Sign Five-Year Deal for Displays
According to a regulatory filing made today by LG, the display manufacturer has signed a five-year deal to provide LCD panels to Apple, a deal that includes an upfront payment by Apple of $500 million. Reuters cites analyst comments that LG currently supplies displays for 70% of Apple's computer products, so the new deal suggests a strengthening of the existing relationship that should bring...
Chipotle Mobile Ordering Comes to iPhone [Updated]
Burrito restaurant chain Chipotle has launched a new free iPhone application, Chipotle Mobile Ordering [App Store], which builds upon their online ordering system launched in December 2005 and revamped this past October. The application allows iPhone and iPod touch users to customize orders from Chipotle's full menu, pay for their food via credit card, and find directions to their nearest...
'Palm Pre' Smartphone Announced: WebOS, Wireless Charging, App Store
One of the major stories coming out of CES is the revival of Palm with the release of the Palm Pre, the first smartphone to be based on their new webOS platform. The Pre, currently planned for a US release on Sprint sometime in the first half of this year, contains a 3.1-inch, 320x480 touch screen, 8 GB of memory, a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, a 3-megapixel camera with flash, built-in GPS, an...
MWSF iPhone Tidbits: iToner 2, Beejive 2, Zephyr, Keynote Remote
A number of iPhone-related applications have been featured at Macworld Expo, and here are a few that have caught our interest:
iToner 2 from Ambrosia Software enables free, quick ringtone creation and transfer without the need for hacks. The new version adds the ability to easily crop selections, incorporates Cleartone technology for optimizing sound quality for the iPhone speaker, and...
HP MediaSmart Servers Gain Mac Compatibility
One of the more interesting products on display at the Macworld Expo is the HP MediaSmart Server EX485/EX487. The new server, which was the recipient of a Best of Show award, provides a home server solution for cross-platform environments.
The server contains an Intel Celeron 2.0 GHz processor, 2 GB of RAM and four hard drive bays, with additional expansion possible via one eSATA and four ...
Macworld Best of Show Awards 2009
Macworld Magazine presented their annual "Best of Show" awards this afternoon, highlighting a number of products showcased on the expo floor.
- WebEx for iPhone - free application allows iPhone users to participate in Cisco WebEx virtual meetings
- DayliteTouch - allows two-way syncing of appointments, calendars, tasks, notes, and projects
- Filemaker Pro 10 - industry-standard database...
MWSF Tidbits: Modbook Pro, Matte Screens, Tune Blocker, Gorilla Pod
We've collected a few items of interest from vendors here at Macworld San Francisco:
Axiotron, with advisor and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak on hand, announced the Modbook Pro, a new tablet Mac based on the MacBook Pro. Pre-orders are available starting at $4998 for a complete system, or $3049 for users providing their own MacBook Pro for conversion. Orders are expected to begin shipping ...
Pandora Radio 2.0 for iPhone Released
Pandora has released Pandora Radio 2.0 [App Store] for iPhone and iPod touch, bringing a number of new features to the free personalized Internet radio service. Pandora's music service automatically generates playlists based on a user's stated artist, song, or composer preferences, and user feedback on Pandora's selections continuously refines its future recommendations. New features include:
...
Macworld 2009 Keynote Stream Available
Apple has posted the QuickTime video stream of today's Macworld Expo keynote by Phil Schiller. Apple made a number of announcements at today's event:
- Apple Releases Aluminum Unibody 17" MacBook Pro
- Apple Announces Changes to iTunes Stores: DRM Free, Variable Pricing
- Apple Releases iWork '09
- Apple Announces iLife '09
All of these announcements had been the subject of pre-event...
Picasa for Mac and FileMaker Pro 10 Released
Google today released Picasa for Mac. As detailed in the Official Google Mac Blog entry on the release, the beta version of Google's free photo management application provides users with a number of tools for photo manipulation while also providing smooth integration with Picasa's free photo-sharing site. If you've never tried Picasa before, it's a program that helps you manage, edit, and share...
Mac Mini to Gain Support for Dual Displays?
AppleInsider reports that the rumored upcoming revision to the Mac mini will bring support for dual displays via one Mini DisplayPort connector and one Mini DVI connector. Apple's low-cost desktop computer has featured only a single DVI connector since its introduction in January 2005.
Evidence recently discovered in OS X configuration files points to the adoption of NVIDIA's MCP79 chipset in ...
Apple Researching Gloves for Use with Multi-Touch Devices
The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office today released a patent application from Apple describing research into gloves that allow the wearer to operate electronic devices. The patent application was filed on June 28th, 2007.
The invention, credited to Ashwin Sunder and Steven Hotelling at Apple, is a cold-weather glove consisting of two layers: a thin inner shell and a heavier outer shell. While...
iMovie to Receive Update and Move Online?
In a Computerworld blog entry, Seth Weintraub of 9to5Mac follows up on yesterday's rumor of iWork becoming a suite of web-based applications with a new report regarding a similar update to iMovie due at Macworld next week.
Weintraub specifically points to several benefits of integrating iMovie into MobileMe's "cloud": iMovie in the Cloud would also offer users the ability to easily view their...
Apple Releases Mail Update 1.0
Apple today released Mail Update 1.0, which resolves an issue in which some users experienced crashes of Apple's Mail application after upgrading to OS X 10.5.6. The update weighs in at 58 MB and requires OS X 10.5.6. This update addresses stability issues with Mail. After updating to Mac OS X 10.5.6, Mail may unexpectedly quit. This can be caused by using a copy of Mail that wasnt updated...
Apple Releases Multi-Touch Trackpad Update for Windows & Vista
Apple today released Multi-Touch Trackpad Update for Windows & Vista for Macs running Windows XP or Vista via Boot Camp. The update installs trackpad patch v 2.1.2.100 and weighs in at 3.7 MB. Full details on the update can be found on Apple's support page.
Apple notes that computers running 64-bit versions of Vista are not automatically offered this update, so these users should manually...
