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
Steve Jobs' Efforts to Support Ousted HP CEO Mark Hurd and Protect HP's Legacy
As part of an extensive look at HP and whether CEO Meg Whitman will be able to turn the legendary computer company around, Bloomberg Businessweek shares an anecdote revealing how Steve Jobs reached out to ousted HP CEO Mark Hurd in 2010 both to provide support and to offer assistance with repairing Hurd's relationship with HP in an unsuccessful effort to prevent the company from entering a...
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Amazon Launches 'AutoRip', Offering Free Digital Versions of Purchased CDs
Seeking to enhance its profile among music buyers, Amazon today announced the launch of AutoRip, a new service that offers customers who purchase physical CDs through Amazon free digital copies of their purchases through Amazon Cloud Player. The service is also retroactive, meaning that customers who bought any of the thousands of eligible CDs through Amazon since 1998 will automatically find...
Tim Cook Meets with China Mobile to Discuss 'Cooperation', Shares Thoughts on Chinese Markets
As speculated following his arrival in China earlier this week, Apple CEO Tim Cook has met with representatives of China Mobile, the world's largest carrier. Reuters notes that the two sides discussed "cooperation", but no additional information on the status of long-running negotiations over the iPhone have been revealed."In the morning, Apple's CEO Tim Cook visited China Mobile's headquarters. ...
Apple Revamps Thunderbolt Cable Lineup with Lower Pricing, Shorter Cable Option
As noted by 9to5Mac, Apple today revamped its Thunderbolt cable lineup, dropping the price of the existing 2-meter cable from $49 to $39 and adding a new 0.5-meter cable priced at $29.
Thunderbolt cables remain relatively expensive due to the electronics included inside the cables to manage the multiple protocols supported by the standard. The complexity and expense has both slowed deployment ...
Pebble Smart Watch to Begin Shipping January 23
Popular Kickstarter smart watch project Pebble, which broke records by raising over $10 million in its funding push, has announced at CES today that the device will begin shipping to Kickstarter backers on January 23. With over 85,000 orders placed, it will take approximately 6-8 weeks to fulfill the Kickstarter orders, after which the watch will be available for general sale.
Image from Eng ...
Former Anobit CEO Discusses Acquisition by Apple, Contrasts Cultures of Apple and Intel
Just over a year ago, Apple acquired Israeli flash memory firm Anobit, and now that Anobit founder and CEO Ariel Maislos has left the company to start his next venture he has been able to share some details on his experiences with Apple. ZDNet covers an interview with Maislos at a recent meeting of the Israel Semiconductor Club, an event where Maislos shared details about how the acquisition came ...
T-Mobile USA Planning to Offer iPhone and End Subsidies Within 3-4 Months
Following up on yesterday's report about T-Mobile USA already having 1.9 million iPhones operating on its network as it moves toward a launch of official sales later this year, Reuters reports that the carrier should begin selling the device within the next 3-4 months. T-Mobile is planning a similar timeframe for its move to end device subsidies in favor of installment plans and lower monthly...
T-Mobile USA Now Supporting 1.9 Million iPhones, Adding 100,000 Per Month
Ahead of its previously announced plans to begin officially offering Apple mobile devices such as the iPhone sometime this year, T-Mobile USA has have already seen its customers bring 1.9 million iPhones onto the carrier's network. The number, which was noted by TmoNews, is growing by 100,000 devices per month.With the numbers [T-Mobile CEO John] Legere mentioned, it’s easy to imagine that...
iPhone5mod Launches Translucent Mod Kit in Seven Colors for iPhone 5
iPhone5mod continues to launch both unofficial Lightning accessories and other interesting products for iPhone owners, and the company today has announced its Translucent Mod Kit for the iPhone 5.
The kit includes an entire set of parts to turn an iPhone 5 translucent on the rear and sides, offering users willing to disassemble their devices a rather unique look. Due to high cost and...
Apple Launching Larger, Low-Cost iPhone for Emerging Markets Late This Year?
Digitimes reports that Apple is planning to launch a new low-cost iPhone during the second half of this year, targeting emerging markets such as China with a new design and larger display.Apple will roll out a low-cost version of the iPhone for China and other emerging markets in the second half of 2013, according to supply-chain sources.
Some sources claimed that they have seen the sample of...
AT&T Pre-Announces 'Best-Ever' iPhone Sales in 4Q 2012
Ahead of its official earnings release for the fourth quarter of 2012 later this month, AT&T today announced that it sold over 10 million smartphones during the quarter, including "best-ever" sales of both iPhone and Android devices.“We had another incredible quarter of smartphone sales as the mobile Internet continues to drive strong growth in wireless,” said Ralph de la Vega, president and...
Tim Cook Heads Back to China as Retail Presence Nearly Doubles
Bloomberg reports that Apple CEO Tim Cook is in the midst of a return trip to China, some ten months after his last trip to meet with government and business leaders.Cook today met Miao Wei, head of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, to talk about the development of China’s information technology industry, global mobile communications and Apple’s business in China, according ...
CES 2013: Belkin Drops eSATA Support for Upcoming Thunderbolt Express Dock, Cuts Price Back to $299
Way back in September 2011, Belkin quietly showed off a prototype of its Thunderbolt Express Dock, a desktop docking station offering users a broad array of connectivity options through a single Thunderbolt cable. By CES 2012, the product had evolved in design and received a September 2012 launch date with a $299 price tag.
By June of last year, Belkin had decided to add USB 3.0 and eSATA...
CES 2013: Griffin PowerDock 5 Charges and Organizes Up to 5 iOS Devices
Griffin yesterday announced (via Engadget) the forthcoming launch of its PowerDock 5, a $99.99 charging station that organizes up to five iOS devices in the space otherwise taken up by one iPad laid flat.PowerDock 5 is the ultimate space-saving, countertop charging and storage solution for up to 5 iPads. Designed for convenience and efficiency, PowerDock 5 contains five charging bays large enough ...
A Look at Apple's Possible External and Internal Options for Next Retail Chief
With retail chief John Browett having departed Apple just months after his arrival, the company clearly acknowledged that he was not a good fit for the company. Browett's departure was preceded by staffing controversy within the company's retail division amid reports that Browett's focus on profits over customer satisfaction was having a negative impact on both employees and customers....
Apple Announces 40 Billion App Store Downloads, Nearly 20 Billion in 2012
Apple today announced that the App Store has reached another milestone, passing 40 billion downloads since its launch in 2008. The pace of downloads continues to accelerate, with nearly half of those downloads coming in 2012.
Apple now has 500 million user accounts for the App Store, and set a record with over two billion downloads during the month of December.“It has been an incredible...
Best Buy Complains About Walmart's iPhone 5 Holiday Sale, Claims $65,000 Profit Loss in One Day
The Wall Street Journal notes that several retailers including Best Buy and Toys "R" Us have complained to attorneys general in a handful of states about advertising practices of Walmart. Generally, the complaints stem from comparison ads by Walmart in which competitors assert that Walmart is using inaccurate pricing or non-equivalent items to claim that it offers the lowest pricing.
But...
Netbook Industry Shutting Down After Being Squeezed by iPad and MacBook Air
As noted by The Guardian earlier this week, the netbook industry will be winding down in the first quarter of 2013, as major players Asus and Acer will be shutting down production of the tiny notebooks.Actually, the number sold in 2013 will be very much closer to zero than to 139m. The Taiwanese tech site Digitimes points out that Asus, which kicked off the modern netbook category with its Eee PC ...
No Deal in Sight for Apple to Acquire Waze
Yesterday, TechCrunch reported that Apple was interested in purchasing Waze, the social turn-by-turn navigation company. According to the report, Apple was offering approximately $400 million plus an additional $100 million in incentives, but Waze was holding out for closer to $750 million.
TechCrunch's MG Siegler now reports that there is no deal in sight.And while Mike Butcher also claimed...
18.5% of U.S. Mobile Phone Subscribers Now Using iPhones
comScore today released the results of its monthly rolling survey of U.S. mobile phone users for the September-November period, finding that 18.5% of U.S. mobile phone subscribers are now using an iPhone, up 1.4 percentage points from the June-August period. Samsung continues to lead the market at 26.9% on 1.2 percentage point growth, while the remainder of the top five vendors all lost share.
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