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
Skype for iPhone Updated to Support Multitasking [Updated]
Skype's iPhone application has received a much-anticipated update today, bringing support for multitasking in iOS 4. - Run Skype in the background with multitasking in iOS4. Receive Skype calls and IM while other apps are running or when your iPhone is locked. You can also continue your call while you switch to another application. Multitasking is available only with iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS.Skype's...
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Verizon Set to Switch to Tiered Data Pricing?
For all those people who have been waiting for a Verizon iPhone to make an appearance and hoping to get in on an unlimited data plan when it does launch on that carrier, it looks like that option may not be a possibility. Engadget is reporting that Verizon next week will follow in AT&T's footsteps and switch to tiered pricing for its cellular data packages. AT&T and Verizon tend to follow each...
Thief Temporarily Makes Off With iPhone During GPS Tracking Demo
The San Francisco Chronicle relates the story of a thief who earlier this week briefly made off with an iPhone snatched right from a woman's hand in the city's South of Market neighborhood, not knowing that the phone was being used in a demonstration of real-time GPS tracking. The thief was apprehended about ten minutes later with the help of the location tracking. Kahn said he had asked an...
Apple Targets Nokia With New Signal Attenuation Video
Even though Nokia handsets weren't initially included on Apple's smartphone antenna performance page, Apple CEO Steve Jobs did mention the company by name at last Friday's press conference as one of those warning of the possibility of signal attenuation on its phones much like that experienced by the iPhone 4. The mention sparked a response from Nokia, as it did with several other companies...
Apple, Google, and Others Hit With Patent Lawsuit Over Spam Email Identification
Apple and nearly three dozen other companies were slapped with a patent infringement lawsuit yesterday over technology used to differentiate between legitimate and spam email messages. The suit, being pursued by apparent patent troll InNova Patent Licensing, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in Marshall, which is considered to one of the most friendly courts...
iSuppli Boosts iPad Sales Estimates Through 2012 to Nearly 100 Million
Research firm iSuppli today announced a significant boost to its iPad estimates through the end of 2012, pushing its total estimates for the first three years of product availability to nearly 100 million units.
iSuppli pegs 2010 sales at 12.9 million units, up significantly from an initial "conservative" estimate of 7.1 million issued at the device's initial launch in early April and on...
Apple Reports Profit of $3.25 Billion in Q3 2010 on Record $15.7 Billion Revenue
Apple today announced financial results for the second calendar quarter and third fiscal quarter of 2010. For the quarter, Apple posted revenue of $15.7 billion and net quarterly profit of $3.25 billion, or $3.51 per diluted share, compared to revenue of $9.73 billion and net quarterly profit of $1.83 billion, or $2.01 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 39.1 percent,...
Apple Responds to Questions About Location Tracking and Privacy
Nearly a month ago, federal lawmakers Edward Markey and Joe Barton wrote a letter to Apple CEO Steve Jobs expressing concern over and seeking clarification on recent changes to the company's privacy policy as it relates to collection of real-time location data for users of its mobile devices.
As noted by the Los Angeles Times yesterday, the congressmen have published Apple's 13-page response (f...
Apple Set to Open New Retail Stores in Columbus, OH and Lexington, KY
Fayette Mall store in Lexington, Kentucky under wraps (Source: ifoAppleStore)
Apple has announced grand openings for two new retail stores set for this Saturday, July 24th, bringing new locations to Columbus, Ohio and Lexington, Kentucky. Both locations will see media previews taking place at 9:00 AM with the stores opening to the public at 10:00 AM.
The new Polaris Fashion Place store in...
Apple Adds Audio and Video Capabilities to 'iBooks'
Responding to Amazon's addition of support for embedded audio and video in Kindle eBooks late last month, Apple yesterday updated its iBooks application for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch yesterday to add similar functionality, as well as several other enhancements. - Double-tap an image within a book to view it in greater detail.
- Experience books that include audio and video.
- Enjoy...
Apple Developing New High-End Video Codec?
Hardmac reports that Apple may be preparing to roll-out a new high-end video codec to compete against the existing H.264 standard of which it has been a staunch proponent. First, a transition towards better codec, dropping the efficient but CPU-consuming encoding codec H.264 for adopting Wavelet transform-type of codec which will allow even better compression rate while offering better...
Apple's 'Magic Trackpad' Apparently Approved by FCC
Diagram showing location of FCC label on presumed "Magic Touchpad"
Engadget reports that a new Apple product has appeared in the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's online database, and while it is not possible to positively identify the product from the filings published on the FCC's site, it does in fact appear to be the "Magic Trackpad" or "Magic Slate" device that has been the subject ...
Behind the Scenes of the Apple-AT&T Relationship [Updated]
ZDNet reports on a new feature article in the August 2010 issue of Wired discussing the relationship between Apple and AT&T and how the success of the iPhone has enabled the partnership to continue despite each company's faults. While the full article is not yet available online, ZDNet's summary provides some interesting details. Apple and AT&T fell in love and quickly got hitched. Then after...
White iPhone 4 Delays Due to Glass Painting Issues?
Engadget summarizes reports in the Chinese-language media claiming that the delays experienced by the white iPhone 4 are due to issues with the paint application process for the device's glass front and back panels. In particular, the company behind the production process, Lens Technology, is working out kinks in its screen printing process to achieve proper paint thickness and color...
Apple Q3 2010 Financial Results Set for July 20th
Apple today issued a media alert announcing details for tomorrow's release of its financial results for the third fiscal quarter and second calendar quarter of 2010. The results will be released after the close of tomorrow's trading at approximately 4:30 PM Eastern / 1:30 PM Pacific. Apple's conference call discussing the results will follow at 2:00 PM Pacific and will be available via a live...
Next Round of International iPad Launches Set for July 23rd
Apple today announced that the next round of international iPad launches will take place this Friday, July 23rd. All iPad models will be available at launch, with pricing information available through Apple's country-specific sites and stores. Apple today announced that iPad will be available in Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand and Singapore this...
'The iPhone Antenna Song' Writer Profiled
Hours before Apple's iPhone 4 press conference, we pointed to a YouTube video of "The iPhone Antenna Song", a humorous two-minute song written by Jonathan Mann, who has been writing and performing a new song every day for the past year and a half.
Mann's effort received new prominence when Apple opened the press conference by playing the clip, with Steve Jobs noting, "We saw that on YouTube...
A Look Inside Apple's Wireless Testing Facilities
Earlier today, Apple posted a video of today's press conference addressing antenna issues with the iPhone 4, also adding to its website a section dedicated to antenna design and testing as highlighted during the press conference.
While the new section of Apple's site provides an interesting glimpse into the company's $100 million investment in antenna design and testing labs, Apple went one...
Consumer Reports Still Not Recommending iPhone 4
Consumer Reports, the prominent ratings and reviews magazine, is still declining to recommend the iPhone 4 following Apple's offer of free cases for all iPhone 4 customers through September 30th. Consumer Reports believes Apple's offer of free cases is a good first step. However, Apple has indicated that this is not a long-term solution, it has guaranteed the offer only through September 30th,...
Verizon Cell Towers on Apple's Campus Likely Mean Little
Screenshot from Macworld's coverage quoting Jobs on Verizon cell site
Multiple sites have noted that during today's iPhone 4 press conference, Apple CEO Steve Jobs mentioned that the company has cell towers for both AT&T and Verizon on its campus, unsurprisingly sparking speculation that the existence of a Verizon cell site supports hopes of future support for the carrier on Apple's portable...
