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
BumpTop 3D Desktop Released for Mac
BumpTop, the popular physics-based 3D desktop environment for Windows, has now been made available for Mac OS X 10.5 and later, offering users new features for organizing their desktops. BumpTop offers users multiple surfaces on which to store files, allowing users to alter the sizes of individual items and take advantage of several organizational features such as piles.
BumpTop for Mac is...
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Vodafone Sells 100,000 iPhones in First Eight Days of UK Sales
TechRadar reports that in its first eight days of availability, 100,000 iPhones have been sold in the UK by Vodafone. "The demand from both consumer and business customers has been phenomenal. They want an outstanding phone on an outstanding network and we're delivering that," claimed Vodafone UKCEO Guy Laurence.Vodafone previously announced that it shipped 50,000 pre-ordered iPhones at launch...
Multi-Touch Trackpad Gaming Demonstrated on MacBook
Illusion Labs, developer of the popular iPhone game Touchgrind, has posted a video demonstrating a Mac version of the game utilizing the multi-touch capabilities of the MacBook's trackpad.
The developer describes it as tech demo and hasn't committed to releasing it. Illusion Labs is the same developer who
Potential MacBook Air Update Delayed Due to Chip Shortage?
Hardmac reports that new ultra-low voltage Intel chips, introduced earlier this month as part of a major roll-out in conjunction with CES and presumably destined for the next revision to Apple's MacBook Air, are not yet being produced in mass quantities. The delay in chip availability may result in Apple having to push back the introduction of updated MacBook Air models by several weeks or else ...
Apple and McGraw-Hill Reportedly Collaborating on e-Textbook Tablet Offerings
BusinessWeek reports that Apple has been in talks with the educational arm of publishing giant McGraw-Hill to bring e-textbook content to Apple's tablet device. The discussions also reportedly include portions of McGraw-Hill's Connect online learning system. Apple's talks with McGraw-Hill cover how the two companies can market textbooks for the tablet and ways their software development teams can ...
Apple Set to Release Q1 2010 Financial Results on January 25th
Apple today issued a media alert announcing details for the January 25th release of its financial results for the first fiscal quarter of 2010, corresponding to the fourth calendar quarter of 2009. The results will be released after the close of trading on Monday 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...
Apple Tablet Design Reportedly Akin to Flattened First-Generation iPhone
AppleInsider reports that it has received information from sources detailing the appearance of Apple's much-rumored tablet device, noting that it is reminiscent of a "first-generation iPhone that's met its match with a rolling pin."
Concept rendering said to closely resemble actual Apple tablet
According to the report, the device looks remarkably similar to a concept rendering published...
Apple Patent Applications: Input Device Gestures, Solar-Powered iPods and iPhones
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office today published several new patent applications from Apple, revealing research into several areas, including the use of gesture-based input devices and solar panel technology in the casings of iPods.
Detection of "contact" and "lift" mouse gestures
In the first application, entitled "Methods and Apparatus for Processing Combinations of Kinematical...
Amazon Releasing Software Development Kit to Bring Apps to Kindle
The New York Times reported late last night that Amazon is deploying a software development kit (SDK) to allow developers to bring applications to the company's Kindle e-book reader. The move follows a change in the Kindle Store's e-book royalty program, with the two events suggesting that Amazon is making a major push to tackle Apple's as-yet-unreleased tablet device head-on. Amazon says it has...
More Hints at Apple's Desire to Hold 'iPad' Trademark for Tablet Device
Yesterday, we uncovered evidence that Apple has been pursuing trademarks for the name "iPad", with some filings occurring as recently as late last week. The move has obviously led to speculation that Apple may be planning to use that name for its tablet device rumored for introduction next week.
At the time, we noted that Apple had not pursued an "iPad" trademark in the United States,...
More Claimed Images of Apple Tablet Bezel
Following up last week's report of a claimed image of Apple's tablet "glass" that appears to be more accurately described as the front bezel, The Mac Observer has received two additional images that provide a greater sense of scale for the part.
The Mac Observer again notes that it has been unable to corroborate the information presented in the images, and we remain skeptical of their...
Analysts Weigh In Ahead of Apple Media Event
With Apple's media event only a week away, research analysts are lining to offer up their predictions of what the company will introduce at the event and over the next few months. 9 to 5 Mac offers a summary of several of the reports hitting the news wires today.
The report points to analyst Ashok Kumar of Northeast Securities, who claims that Apple is preparing to launch its tablet at a...
Amazon Tweaks Kindle Store Royalty Program Ahead of Apple Tablet Launch
Amazon today announced a revised royalty program for its e-book Kindle Store, significantly increasing the potential return to authors and publishers in exchange for commitments to meet certain feature requirements. The move, which takes effect on June 30th, essentially bumps the royalty payments to 70% of an e-book's list price, up from the existing 35% rate that will remain in effect for...
Apple Releases Security Update 2010-001 for Snow Leopard and Leopard
Apple today released Security Update 2010-001 for users of Mac OS X Snow Leopard and Leopard. According to the associated support document, the update addresses security issues affecting a half-dozen system areas, including CoreAudio, Flash Player plug-in, and OpenSSL.
- Security Update 2010-001 (Snow Leopard) (21.90 MB, Requires Mac OS X 10.6.2)
- Security Update 2010-001 Client (Leopard)...
Apple Updates EFI Firmware for Mac Pro and Xserve, Unitor Family Driver for Logic
Apple yesterday released several software updates targeting both Mac Pro and Xserve users and users of its Logic Studio professional audio application package.
Mac Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.4, which weighs in at 1.96 MB and requires Mac OS X 10.5.8 or 10.6.2, addresses several issues related to Apple's Early 2009 Mac Pro models. This update addresses the following issues for Mac Pro (Early...
iPhone OS 4.0 Claimed to Include Multitasking, Revamped Interface
Boy Genius Report claims to have received information from a source regarding iPhone OS 4.0, which is rumored to be introduced at next week's media event in San Francisco. According to the source, iPhone OS 4.0 will be limited to the iPhone 3G and 3GS (presumably including at least more recent iPod touch models and omitting the original iPhone) and will incorporate solutions for multitasking by...
Gaming Industry Invited to Apple Media Event
Several media sources related to gaming, including IGN and Kotaku, have received invitations to Apple's media event scheduled for next week. According to IGN, representatives of several game makers have also been invited to the event. While the invitations suggest that gaming may be at least something of a focus at the event, it remains unclear it might be related to Apple's tablet device or...
Apple Tapping Lala Media Team for Cloud-Based iTunes?
With Apple's acquisition of streaming media firm Lala Media last month, speculation about Apple's plans for the company has suggested a number of possible opportunities, including a new iTunes streaming service or simply a "talent" acquisition of Lala's engineers.
In a guest post on TechCrunch today, digital music executive Michael Robertson claims that rather than a traditional...
HarperCollins Negotiating With Apple Over e-Books on New Tablet Device?
The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple is in talks with book publisher HarperCollins to bring electronic books to the company's new tablet device, expected to be introduced at next week's media event. The report notes that pricing for the e-books, which would offer enhanced content, would be established by HarperCollins with Apple receiving a portion of the sales. HarperCollins is expected to ...
January 27th Media Event: Tablet, iPhone OS 4.0, iLife 2010?
FOXNews.com reports that Apple's January 27th media event is expected to include the introduction of Apple's much-anticipated tablet device and iPhone OS 4.0, as well as iLife 2010. According to the report, no iPhone hardware is expected to be shown. I spoke to a source at Apple this morning, before the invite hit my inbox, who said the event would likely focus on three projects: The tablet...
