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 Says iMessage Interception Would Require Re-Engineering Systems, Has No Interest in Doing So
Yesterday, researchers made a presentation at the Hack in the Box conference arguing that Apple's iMessage system could theoretically allow Apple or another party to intercept the encrypted messages. The concern stems in part from Apple's use of a private server for storing users' public keys used to encrypt messages, meaning that senders have no way of knowing whether a potentially false key has ...
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Apple E-Commerce Chief RJ Pittman Heads to eBay
eBay today announced that it has hired Apple's RJ Pittman into a newly created role of Chief Product Officer for the online marketplace company. Pittman had been at Apple since early 2010, when he left Google to become Apple's head of e-commerce, and he shared some thoughts with AllThingsD about his new career move.“I think it’s pretty clear today eBay dominates the marketplace category,”...
Apple's Massive 'Steve Jobs Patent' for the iPhone Reconfirmed in its Entirety
Last December, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in response to a challenge preliminarily invalidated the so-called "Steve Jobs patent", a massive 364-page patent with 293 pages of drawings dating back to September 2006 and covering many details of the original iPhone. Steve Jobs is listed as the first of over two dozen inventors on the patent, and it is considered perhaps the most...
New iPhones Score Well with 'Consumer Reports', but Display and Battery 'No Match' for Android Competitors
Influential ratings and review magazine Consumer Reports has reviewed Apple's new iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c models, giving them high scores but calling the 4-inch Retina display and 8-10 hour battery life "no match" for Motorola's latest Droid smartphones. The full mobile phone ratings are behind the magazine's paywall, but the summary blog post outlines the magazine's thinking on the issue.The...
Cupertino City Council Gives Unanimous Approval for Apple's New Campus [Updated]
Following approval of Apple's plans for its new "spaceship campus" by the City of Cupertino's Planning Commission earlier this month, the full Cupertino City Council has just given its unanimous approval to the project at its October meeting. The approval came after more than six hours of discussion this evening, with many statements of support and some expressions of concern from members of the...
Apple Sends Out Invitations for October 22 Media Event: 'We Still Have a Lot to Cover'
In line with its usual timing, Apple has just issued media invitations for its October 22 media event where the company is expected to introduce its next-generation iPad and iPad mini models and offer a number of Mac-related announcements, reports AllThingsD. The event will be held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco and will begin at 10:00 AM Pacific Time. The invitation...
Tim Cook's Email to Employees on Hiring Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts as New Retail Chief
Following Apple's announcement that it is hiring Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts to head up its retail and online store effort, CEO Tim Cook has sent an email to employees announcing the hire and giving some additional thoughts on Ahrendts and the hiring process. The full email has been posted by 9to5Mac.Team,
I am thrilled to announce that Angela Ahrendts will be joining Apple as a senior vice...
Rovio Teases December 11 Launch for 'Angry Birds Go!' Racing Game with New Gameplay Video
Rovio today released an official gameplay video for its upcoming kart racing game Angry Birds Go!, revealing that the title will be launching on December 11. Angry Birds Go! was first teased back in June, with additional information having been released in August.
Angry Birds Go! includes many of the usual bird and pig characters from the Angry Birds series participating in a downhill kart...
Flextronics Hiring 1,700 Workers in Austin for 'Next Generation Desktop Computer', Likely New Mac Pro
The Austin American-Statesman reports that Flextronics America is currently in the middle of a hiring effort that will see the company employing as many as 1,700 workers to build a "next generation desktop computer" at the company's facilities in Austin, Texas. While Flextronics will not reveal the identity of the computer or the company behind it, speculation naturally points toward Apple's...
iPhone 5s Supplies Tightening in Apple's U.S. Retail Stores Ahead of Upcoming International Launches
While gold and silver models of the iPhone 5s have seen very tight supplies since the device's launch last month, a number of potential customers have noted that availability of even the more plentiful space gray models has been declining. Using Apple's in-store pickup availability system, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster has been tracking supplies of the various models and has quantified a...
Apple Reportedly Cutting iPhone 5c Production as Chinese Gray Market Prices Drop
Apple is reportedly cutting iPhone 5c production in half from 300,000 units to 150,000 units per day, according to claims by C Technology [Google Translate], which leaked a number of photos of the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c ahead of their launches last month. As highlighted by Unwired View, gray market pricing for iPhone 5c units has also been falling as availability has remained solid.The official...
Apple Again Trails U.S. PC Market in Key Back-to-School Quarter as Tablets Continue to Eat Into PC Sales
Research firms Gartner and IDC today released their preliminary calculations of PC shipments for the third quarter of 2013, finding that worldwide shipments fell by roughly 8% over the year-ago quarter, extending the current sales slide to 18 months. Top worldwide vendors Lenovo, HP, and Dell held up reasonably well, but smaller vendors such Acer and Asus experienced dramatic year-over-year...
Apple Announces Two New Rounds of International iPhone 5s and 5c Launches Starting on October 25
Apple today announced plans for its next two rounds of launches for the new iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c, with the devices coming to 35 new countries including Italy, Russia, and Spain on Friday, October 25. Another round will follow on Friday, November 1, bringing the devices to an additional 16 countries, including India and Mexico.
- October 25: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech...
Microsoft Office for iPad Awaiting Completion of 'Touch First' Interface for Windows Version
Dating back to the launch of the original iPad in early 2010, Microsoft has been considering the possibility of releasing a version of its Office productivity suite for the tablet platform. But despite repeated claims of an imminent launch, the only iOS release so far has been an Office Mobile app for iPhone available for subscribers to the company's Office 365 service.
The most recent word...
Samsung Fails to Win Presidential Veto of Potential U.S. Import Ban in Apple Patent Case
Samsung has failed to win a presidential veto overturning a looming import ban on several of its older mobile devices, reports Bloomberg. The ban is based on a verdict in a U.S. International Trade Commission case in which the company was ruled to have infringed upon patents held by Apple.“After carefully weighing policy considerations, including the impact on consumers and competition, advice...
Nest Introduces $129 'Protect' Connected Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detector
In line with a report from last month, iPod creator Tony Fadell's company Nest today announced the launch of Nest Protect, a $129 connected smoke and carbon monoxide detector for the home. The detector wirelessly connects with other units and with the Nest Learning Thermostat to enhance the functionality of each product while also offering a more informative and flexible experience for users.These...
Walmart Drops iPhone 5c Pricing to $45 On Contract Through the Holidays
Following announcements from Best Buy and RadioShack that they will be offering $50 gift cards to iPhone 5c customers that will bring the prices down to $50 for a 16 GB model with a two-year contract, Walmart will be undercutting even those offers starting today by dropping its pricing to $45, reports MarketWatch.
While Best Buy's current offer is good only through next Monday and RadioShack's ...
Best Buy Knocks $50 Off iPhone 5c Pricing Just Two Weeks After Launch [Update: RadioShack Too]
As noted by ABC News, Best Buy yesterday began a brief promotion offering $50 off of the price of the iPhone 5c. With the 16 GB model normally priced at $99.99 on a two-year contract in the U.S., the discount cuts pricing on the device to just $49.99. The offer brings the cost of the higher-capacity 32 GB model down to $149.99 with a contract.
The discount, which comes in the form of a gift...
Tim Cook Sends Email to Apple Employees Reflecting on Second Anniversary of Steve Jobs' Death
With the second anniversary of Steve Jobs' death coming tomorrow, Apple CEO Tim Cook has sent a brief email to company employees reflecting on Jobs and the impact he continues to have on Cook and the company. The full email has been posted by 9to5Mac.Team-
Tomorrow marks the second anniversary of Steve’s death. I hope everyone will reflect on what he meant to all of us and to the world....
OS X Mavericks Released for All Mac Developers as Golden Master Seed
Following today's release of OS X Mavericks Build 13A598 for members of the company's AppleSeed testing program, Apple has now posted the build for all registered Mac developers, referring to it as the "GM" (Golden Master) version that will be released to the public.
Apple has also seeded the GM build of Xcode 5.0.1 for building applications for Mavericks.
Apple is reportedly targeting a l...
