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
AT&T Launches Major Wi-Fi Hotspot in New York City's Times Square
AT&T today announced that it is rolling out a large new Wi-Fi hotspot in New York City's busy Times Square, offering users of the company's congested cellular networks a new option for routing traffic in the area. AT&T today announced the launch of an AT&T Wi-Fi "hotzone" in New York City's bustling Times Square, providing coverage for many AT&T customers visiting and residing in New York who...
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Google TV Utilizes Same SGX535 Graphics Processor Found in iPad and iPhone 3GS
Partial schematic of Intel's CE4100 Atom platform using PowerVR SGX535 graphics processor
Fortune notes that Intel's forthcoming Google TV hardware platform to be found in Sony TVs and Blu-ray players and in a standalone set-top box from Logitech utilizes the same PowerVR SGX535 graphics processor used in the iPad. GoogleTV is manufactured by Logitech and Sony and contains a System on Chip...
Third Office for Mac 2011 Beta Reveals New Icons, Splash Screens, and More
Microsoft is continuing to push forward with work on Office for Mac 2011, issuing a third beta release of the productivity suite in advance of a final release scheduled for launch around the end of the year. With Office 2011's features and functionality becoming firmed up, Microsoft has begun putting more effort into some of the finishing touches that offer some obvious visual changes.
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Apple Launches 'Back to School' Promo: Free iPod With Mac Purchase for Students
As predicted in a brief note yesterday, Apple has launched its annual "Back to School" promotion targeted at college and university students in the U.S. and Canada. The promotion offers customers qualifying to purchase through the company's education channel in those countries rebates of up to US$199 or C$219 for the purchase of a qualifying Mac and iPod on the same sales receipt.
New...
iPhone 3G Supplies Begin to Run Dry Ahead of WWDC
iPhone 3G in Australian online Apple Store
With just two weeks to go until Apple is expected to unveil new iPhone hardware, it appears that supplies of the low-end 8 GB iPhone 3G are beginning to run dry. According to Boy Genius Report, Apple has stopped supplying AT&T stores with the device, suggesting that the model is being phased out of production. We've heard that Apple has stopped...
Web Browsing Performance on Android 2.2 Hampered by Flash Compatibility [Updated]
PocketNow offers a comparison of Web browsing speeds between Apple's iPhone 3GS and Google's new Android 2.2 "Froyo" announced earlier this week. Froyo is notable for Google's claims regarding browsing speed, but also for its support of Adobe's Flash Player 10.1 Beta, which will allow Android devices running the updated operating system to handle Flash content on the Web, unlike the iPhone.
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Elgato's EyeTV HD Brings High-Definition TV to Mac, Streams to iPhone and iPad
Elgato today announced the launch of its new EyeTV HD for Mac, offering users the ability to bring high-definition TV content to their Mac and stream it to iPhone OS devices using the dedicated App Store app. Today, Elgato debuted the world's only DVR solution which provides full access to premium cable or satellite TV content on a Mac - EyeTV HD. Customers can now watch record, edit and enjoy...
Analyst: 17% of Verizon Customers Waiting for iPhone
Fortune reports on a new research note from Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty incorporating survey data suggesting significant upside for the next iPhone upgrade cycle. One of the most interesting pieces of data to come from the survey shows 16.8% of Verizon customers saying that they are "very likely" to purchase an iPhone once it breaks free of AT&T's exclusivity to land on their carrier. ...
Steve Jobs to Give June 7th Keynote at WWDC
Apple today officially announced that CEO Steve Jobs will present an opening keynote address on June 7th to kick off the company's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco. Apple will kick off its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) with a keynote address by CEO Steve Jobs on Monday, June 7 at 10:00 a.m. This year's WWDC sold out in a record eight days to over 5,000...
AT&T to Raise Early Termination Fee for iPhone and Other Smartphones from $175 to $325
The Wall Street Journal reports (subscription required) that as of June 1st, AT&T will nearly double the early termination fee for customers on smartphone contracts such as for the iPhone, going from $175 to $325. The change, which would apply only to new contracts, appears set to come just prior to the launch of a new iPhone. The iPhone is AT&T's biggest wireless growth driver; however, the...
More White Next-Generation iPhone Parts Surface as Renderings Gain Publicity
iPhone repair site uBreakiFix earlier this week claimed to have received next-generation iPhone front panels in both white and black. The parts appear similar if not identical to the ones that surfaced at about the same time on a Chinese e-commerce site.
Interestingly, the white front panels from both sources show a physical feature located above the earpiece. uBreakiFix suggests that...
FTC Won't Block Google-AdMob Merger, Cites Apple's iAd as Competitive Factor
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) today announced that it has closed its investigation of the proposed acquisition of mobile advertising firm AdMob by Google. The FTC had been seen as likely to oppose the move over antitrust issues, but cited Apple's recent announcement of its own iAd mobile ad service as a significant factor in the decision to not take action against the Google-AdMob...
U.S. Apple Retail Stores Continue to Experience iPad Shortages [Updated]
Two weeks ago, several reports indicated a complete lack of availability of 3G-capable iPad models in partial surveys of Apple retail stores in the United States, with Wi-Fi models also seeing significant supply constraints.
Digital Daily today reports on a new research note from Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster indicating that the shortages are continuing, with none of the 50 stores...
Jobs Responds to Google's WebM Video Standard Announcement as Patent Questions Begin to Surface
With Google's announcement earlier this week that it is releasing a new open source, royalty-free video format known as "WebM" to compete with the Apple-backed H.264 standard, observers have wondered what Apple's response will be. Google's inclusion of several other prominent industry players including Mozilla and Opera has suggested that Apple may find itself under pressure to adopt the...
Apple Officially Ends 'Get a Mac' Campaign, Revamps 'Why You'll Love a Mac' Feature
Last month, actor Justin Long revealed that Apple's long-running "Get a Mac" ad campaign, in which he appeared as the "Mac" character, appeared to have been discontinued. The last set of "Get a Mac" commercials had been released in October 2009.
It now appears that Apple has finally pulled the "Get a Mac" campaign from its site, redirecting the page to an expanded "Why You'll Love a Mac"...
International iBookstores Begin to Go Live With Free Project Gutenberg Books
German site Macerkopf.de [Google translation] and Italian site iPadevice [Google translation] report that Apple's iBookstore has begun to go live in a number of international countries. The news comes after iPad versions of those and other countries' App Stores went live earlier today.
For the time being, international iBookstore offerings appear limited to free Project Gutenberg titles,...
Apple's Lead in U.S. Music Sales Continues to Increase as iTunes Gains and Wal-Mart Falls
Image courtesy of Fortune
Billboard reports on data for the full-year 2009 showing Apple's iTunes Store as the largest distributor of music in the United States with 26.7% of the market, up from 21.4% in 2008 and 12.7% in 2007. Apple's lead was further extended by second-place Wal-Mart's drop from 15% to 12.5%. Last year's share gain was helped by Apple's embrace of variable pricing on digital ...
Google Announces Google TV for Fall 2010 Launch
As suggested in a report yesterday, Google has announced Google TV, a new offering set to roll out in the fall of this year designed to integrate the television and Web experience. Google TV is a new experience for television that combines the TV that you already know with the freedom and power of the Internet. With Google Chrome built in, you can access all of your favorite websites and easily...
Google Developing Web-Based iTunes Competitor, Acquires Simplify Media for Android Media and App Auto Syncing
Google's major announcements at its Google I/O conference continue today, with the company announcing that it has acquired Simplify Media to assist it with rolling out a new syncing service that will allows users to push apps and music directly to their Android-based mobile devices over the air.
According to TechCrunch, Google's demo of its next-generation Android operating system codenamed...
Apple Adds 'Rotten Tomatoes' Movie Ratings and Reviews to iTunes Store
TUAW notes that Apple has added a new section to its iTunes Store pages for movies, offering ratings and reviews from popular review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. iTunes' integrated Rotten Tomatoes ratings presents the movie's prospective buyers and renters with the Tomatometer chart featuring the total count of reviews along with a fresh/rotten breakdown and the average rating. Viewers are also...
