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
'Dramatic' Growth in Digital Music Sales Due to The Beatles on iTunes?
Media research firm Nielsen yesterday revealed that overall music sales in the United States are up 1.6% year-over-year so far in 2011, driven in large part by a 12.4% surge in digital music sales that appears to coincide with the debut of The Beatles on iTunes last November.While physical albums saw a decline in year-over-year sales from the same period in 2010, digital album and track...
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Apple Restricts Hard Drive Replacements on New iMacs
Hard drive from Early 2011 iMac (Source: iFixit)
As noted by Other World Computing, Apple has implemented a new temperature sensor system on its latest iMac models that significantly hampers the ability of users to replace their original hard drives in the case of failure or a desire to upgrade. Without the custom 7-pin hard drive cable and proprietary firmware included on stock hard drives in...
Apple's iAd Program Reaches 100 Campaigns
As reported by The Loop, Apple has reached a milestone in its iAd mobile advertising push, with its 100th ad campaign having rolled out with content from real estate company Coldwell Banker.The campaign began in late March and so far, the results are glowing. [Coldwell Banker chief marketing office Michael] Fischer said the iAd garnered and average of 11 pages viewed per visit; average user...
Apple Releases iPhoto 9.1.3
Apple yesterday released iPhoto 9.1.3, a minor update addressing an issue with merged events transferred to iOS devices.This update fixes a problem that could cause some events merged in iPhoto to be split back into multiple events on iOS devices after being synced.
This update is recommended for all users of iPhoto '11.The update weighs in at 106.29 MB and requires Mac OS X 10.6.6. The...
Shortages of Components and Labor Affecting iPhone and iPad Production?
In a pair of reports today, DigiTimes claims that Apple's manufacturing partner Foxconn is experiencing shortages of both labor and component supplies required for iPhone and iPad production, with Apple also being among the companies still scrambling to secure component supplies in the face of increasing supply chain tightness resulting from the Japanese earthquake that has seen suppliers...
Apple Issues New 4.2.2 (iOS 4.3) Update for Apple TV
Apple today issued a new software update for the second-generation Apple TV, moving the software version to 4.2.2 as reported by the device. Apple's servers, however, register the update as a new build of iOS 4.3 carrying a build number of 8F305.
There is no word yet on changes included in the update, as Apple has yet to publish documentation on the new version.
Update: Apple's notes on...
Google Announces 'Chromebook' Laptops, No Word on Chrome-Based Tablets
On the second day of its I/O conference, Google has announced the June 15th launch of Chromebooks, small web-only notebooks running the company's browser-based Chrome OS. These are not typical notebooks. With a Chromebook you won't wait minutes for your computer to boot and browser to start. You'll be reading your email in seconds. Thanks to automatic updates the software on your Chromebook will ...
'iFlow Reader' iOS eBook Store Shutting Down
BeamItDown Software, the company behind the popular iFlow Reader eBook application and store for iPhone and iPad, has announced that it will be closing down as of May 31st, citing Apple's recent enforcement of policies forcing content providers to offer content via Apple's in app purchasing mechanism at the same prices offered elsewhere. With that mechanism resulting in Apple taking a 30% of...
Music Labels Hoping Apple Can Force Amazon and Google Into Cloud Licensing
With Amazon and now Google having rolled out cloud-based music hosting services without the consent of music labels, CNET reports that the labels are reportedly now looking for Apple to become the driving force to bring those companies back to the negotiating table for broader licensing deals. Since neither company was either able or willing to obtain licenses from the four major labels, neither ...
Apple Pulls iAds From Kid-Focused Apps as Advertisers Target Efforts
MacStories reports on the experience of one App Store developer who recently saw the iAd fill rate for his Dex application for iOS drop to zero, discovering that Apple has essentially disabled iAds for kids-focused apps such as Dex in response to advertisers seeking to target their ads at other demographic segments. The developer reports: Last Thursday I had a particularly awful iAd fill rate...
Intel's Z68 Chipset and SSD Caching Reviewed
Last week, we noted that Apple's new iMac models utilize Intel's latest Z68 chipset, a component that Intel had yet to even publicly introduce at the time of the iMac's debut. The chipset has been highly anticipated for its ability to support SSD caching, a software technology that pairs a small solid state drive (SSD) with a conventional hard drive to significantly improve performance in a...
Apple Testifies on Mobile Privacy, Location Cache Encryption Coming to iOS
As noted last week, Apple vice president Bud Tribble today participated in a U.S. Senate panel discussion of mobile privacy, particularly as it relates to location tracking. Tribble's appearance alongside Google's Alan Davidson and other experts and privacy advocates was supplemented with a new formal letter (PDF) from Apple to concerned legislators reiterating and expanding upon comments made s...
Clipless Next-Generation iPod Nano With 1.3-Megapixel Rear Camera?
In early April, Taiwanese site Apple.pro posted a photo of what was claimed to be the rear case for the next-generation iPod nano, appearing to reveal that the device will add a rear-facing camera to its recently-reduced form factor.
Claimed next-generation iPod nano case (left) vs. current generation (right)
While the previous shot showed that rear case from the front, thus showing the...
Google Launches 'Music Beta' Cloud Service
As expected, Google today announced its new Music Beta service, offering users the ability to upload their music libraries to Google's servers for cloud-based hosting that allows users to access content from any device. The offering competes against Amazon's Cloud Drive and Cloud Player services, as well as Apple's expected MobileMe revamp.
Music Beta is currently available via invitation...
YouTube Takes on iTunes Store With Streaming Movie Rentals
YouTube yesterday announced the launch of streaming movie rentals, taking on Apple's iTunes Store offerings that have grown to include a variety of streaming and downloadable rental options as well as digital purchases. YouTube's new rental service, which comes at "industry standard pricing" typically in the range of $2.99-$3.99, builds upon free movie offerings the site has offered for...
Apple Finally Releases iOS 4.3 WebKit Source Code Under Pressure
Late last week, Daring Fireball's John Gruber helped draw some attention to that fact that Apple had yet to release the source code for components of its iOS 4.3 WebKit implementation as required under the Lesser GNU Public License (LGPL) due to Apple's use of LGPL code in the project. Apple initially released iOS 4.3 on March 10th, and LGPL licensing requires that the source code be released...
Apple's New Data Center Focus of Nuance Voice Recognition Partnership?
Late last week, we reported on claims that Apple is in discussions with voice recognition firm Nuance Communications regarding some sort of partnership presumably linked to rumors that Apple is integrating significant voice capabilities into iOS 5.
TechCrunch now follows up to report that the deal seems to revolve around Apple utilizing Nuance's technology in its new North Carolina data...
DoubleTwist Brings AirPlay Compatibility to Android
As noted by Engadget, doubleTwist has released a new version of its Android app offering support for Apple's AirPlay streaming standard. As of version 1.4 it will stream music, videos or pictures to the Apple TV or other compatible devices while also claiming beta support for Sonos hardware. The DoubleTwist player is free, but using AirPlay means purchasing the $4.99 AirSync add-on that also...
'The New Yorker' Subscriptions Go Live on iPad
As noted by All Things Digital reports, Conde Nast has followed through on last week's claims that the publisher would begin offering subscriptions to its stable of magazines via the iPad App Store using Apple's in app subscription mechanism. As previously reported, The New Yorker is the first title to debut with subscriptions, but another seven titles should be rolling out soon. An updated...
Amazon Cloud Player Gains iOS Compatibility
Late last week, iFans noted that Amazon quietly made some changes to its new Cloud Player for playing music stored by users in its new Cloud Drive service, making the player compatible with iOS devices for the first time. While it isn't quite as nice as an actual app, it provides nearly all of the functionality that you could ask for. Even the multitasking music controls work flawlessly. Sound...
