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 'Evaluating' Solar Cell Vendors for Future Products?
DigiTimes reports that Apple and Samsung are both "evaluating" the use of solar cells in future consumer products, with the process having advanced as far as discussions with several Taiwanese solar firms about the technology. Any such products are said to be some time off, however, with projects still in the research stage as vendors work toward increasing efficiency of energy conversion.Samsung...
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HTC Looking to Strike Deal, Google and Apple Likely to Drive Up Price of Patent Acquisitions
Bloomberg reports that HTC has expressed willingness to strike a deal with Apple in the patent dispute between the two companies that has seen Apple score an initial victory in front of the U.S. International Trade Commission while HTC has increased its firepower by acquiring a company that had already won a decision against Apple.“We have to sit down and figure it out,” Winston Yung, chief ...
Apple Still Using SSDs With Varying Speeds on New MacBook Air
Several months ago, we noted that Apple appeared to be using two different suppliers, Samsung and Toshiba, for the solid-state drives (SSDs) on its MacBook Air models. Notably, the Samsung SSDs registered significantly faster read and write speeds than the Toshiba SSDs. User reports indicated that Apple was indeed using both suppliers simultaneously, rather making it a luck of the draw as to...
Apple Releases Revised Mac OS X 10.6.8 With Patch for Existing Users
Apple today released a series of Mac OS X 10.6.8 releases, apparently revising the original version as well as offering a "supplemental update" to patch systems that have already been upgraded to the latest version of Mac OS X Snow Leopard.The Mac OS X 10.6.8 Supplemental Update is recommended for all users running Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.8 and resolves issues with:
- Transferring personal...
Apple Releases iOS 4.3.5 to Address Security Issue With Certificate Validation
Only ten days after releasing iOS 4.3.4, Apple has just pushed out iOS 4.3.5 to address a security issue with certificate validation.iOS 4.3.5 Software Update
Fixes a security vulnerability with certificate validation.The new version checks in as Build 8L1, and is for the GSM iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, all iPads, and the third- and-fourth-generation iPod touch. A separate iOS 4.2.10 (Build...
Amazon's 'Kindle' App Updated to Remove Direct Kindle Store Links [Updated: Nook]
Following reports that The Wall Street Journal and eBook company Kobo have pulled direct content sales from their iOS apps in order to comply with Apple's new rules regarding in-app subscriptions and purchases, Amazon has followed suit with an update to its Kindle app for iOS.What's new
- This update removes the Kindle Store button from the app.While the Kindle app has always redirected users...
Chinese Authorities Close Two Fake Apple Stores Over Permit Issues
Last week, we covered the story of fake Apple retail stores popping up in China and noted a follow-up report from The Wall Street Journal in which employees of the stores shared their thoughts about simply wanting to provide the highest levels of service to their customers.
Fake Apple retail store in Kunming, China
Reuters now reports that officials in the city of Kunming where the fake Apple ...
Apple Signs Deal for 23,000 Square-Foot Grand Central Terminal Store [Update: Rendering]
The New York Post reports that Apple and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) have signed a deal to bring a 23,000 square-foot Apple retail store to Manhattan's historic Grand Central Terminal. The initial ten-year deal will reportedly see Apple paying $800,000 per year in rent, and potential extensions after the ten-year period would see the annual rent increase to over $1 million.Tec...
AT&T Reportedly Prepping for iPhone Launch in 'Early to Mid-September'
BGR reports that AT&T is beginning preparations for an expected "early to mid-September" launch of the next-generation iPhone, in line with launch rumors and expectations and other reports of Apple beefing up its retail store staffing over a similar timeframe.BGR has exclusively learned that AT&T has begun communicating launch plans internally for Apple’s next-generation iPhone 5 handset. We...
Wall Street Journal and Kobo Pull Direct Content Sales From iOS Apps [Updated]
The Wall Street Journal reports that it will be removing subscription links from its iPad application, deciding to satisfy Apple's new in-app purchasing and subscription rules by removing the purchase links rather than offering subscriptions through the app with Apple taking a 30% cut.People who download the app and want to subscribe will have to either call customer service or visit WSJ.com....
Nuance Debuts Dragon Dictate for Mac 2.5
Speech recognition firm Nuance today announced the launch of Dragon Dictate for Mac 2.5, bringing a number of new features including compatibility with the company's recently-released Dragon Remote Microphone app for iOS devices. Nuance is of course also apparently working closely with Apple on its "Assistant" function currently under development in iOS 5.
Among the other key additions in...
OS X Lion Raises Bar on Security, But Battery Firmware Vulnerability Surfaces
The Register reports on some of the new security improvements in OS X Lion, with researchers calling the changes a "major overhaul" that goes far beyond the minor security tweaks Apple made going from Mac OS X Leopard to Snow Leopard."It's a significant improvement, and the best way that I've described the level of security in Lion is that it's Windows 7, plus, plus," said Dino Dai Zovi,...
Apple Seeds iOS 5 Beta 4 to Developers, Over-The-Air Updating Going Live
Apple today seeded the fourth beta version of iOS 5 to developers, continuing progress on the next-generation mobile operating system for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch set for public release in the fall alongside iCloud. The new version is listed as Build 9A5274d.
We've yet to hear word of specific changes in the release, although it does appear that Apple has also issued it as an...
T-Mobile USA Begins Offering Micro-SIMs, Targets iPhone Owners
Last month, T-Mobile USA revealed that it had over one million iPhones running on its network, despite not being officially sanctioned by Apple and the handsets not being able to take advantage of 3G data speeds due to differences in the carrier's network standard compared to other GSM networks. T-Mobile customers had also needed to trim down their T-Mobile SIM cards to fit into the iPhone's...
Mac Mini Teardown Reveals Potential for User-Installable Second Hard Drive
Just like the MacBook Air yesterday, iFixit has also conducted a teardown of the new Mac mini. While the internals are very similar to the previous generation, the teardown does reveal that users may be able to install a second hard drive on their own if a proper cable can be found.
The possibility of adding a second hard drive is made possible by Apple's removal of the optical drive from...
'New' iPhone Reportedly Coming Soon to China Telecom and China Unicom
Bloomberg briefly reports on comments from Chinese media group Caixin sharing that Apple's "new iPhone model" will be coming to carriers China Telecom and China Unicom "as early as the third quarter of the year".China Telecom Corp. and China Unicom will sell Apple Inc's new iPhone model in the country as early as the third quarter of the year, Caixin reported today, citing an unidentified person.C...
Verizon Sees 2.3 Million iPhone Activations in 2Q 2011
Verizon today announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2011, and in a slideshow presentation (PDF) accompanying the release revealed that it activated 2.3 million iPhones during the quarter. The period marked the carrier's first full quarter of availability for the iPhone, and it compares to the 2.2 million iPhones activated during the launch quarter.
Verizon's 2.3 million...
Apple Updates Standalone Keyboards for OS X Lion
As noted by Italian site iSpazio [Google translation], Apple has quietly tweaked its standalone Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad for OS X Lion.
One minor change is a slight adjustment to the icon displayed on the F3 key to remove the frame around the collection of windows. The F3 key had been used to activate Exposé, but with that feature now being folded into the broader Mission Control ...
Apple Planning to Introduce White iPod Touch Later This Year?
Concord Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has in the past provided some accurate claims primarily regarding Apple's notebook lines, now reports to AppleInsider that Apple may be planning to introduce a white iPod touch later this year. The forthcoming fifth-generation iPod touch is said to otherwise be nearly identical to the current version.Looking into the current third calendar quarter,...
Lodsys Takes On Gaming Heavyweights Including Rovio, EA, and Atari in Patent Dispute
Patent holding firm Lodsys, which has received tremendous publicity for targeting iOS and Android app developers in a patent dispute over the developers' use of in-app purchasing and upgrade links within their apps, has amended the list of defendants in its lawsuit on the manner to include a number of high-profile gaming firms.
As detailed by FOSS Patents, Lodsys has now included Angry Birds ...
