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 Named World's Most Valuable Brand at $153 Billion
As measured by marketing and advertising group WPP in its annual BrandZ study of global brands, Apple easily topped the list of most valuable brands for the first time. Apple checks in with a brand value of over $153 billion, up 84% over last year and well ahead of second-place Google, which had topped the survey for the previous four years, at $111 billion. The Apple brand, as calculated by...
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Apple Negotiating Deal With Nuance for Speech Recognition in iOS 5?
TechCrunch reports that Apple is rumored to be negotiating some sort of deal with Nuance Communications, the speech recognition company behind the Dragon NaturallySpeaking engine that powers a number of popular applications for Mac OS X, iOS, and other platforms. Apple has been negotiating a deal with Nuance in recent months, we've heard from multiple sources. What does that mean? Well, it could ...
Conde Nast to Offer In App Subscriptions for iPad
The flood of news regarding companies rolling out support for in app subscriptions for their magazine content continues today with a report from the New York Post claiming that Conde Nast is set to launch the subscriptions for eight of its titles. The New Yorker is said to be the first to gain the feature, beginning next week. Conde is expected to make the New Yorker available next week to...
Security Vulnerability Discovered in Skype for Mac, Latest Update Includes Patch
Earlier today, security researcher Gordon Maddern of Pure Hacking reported on a security vulnerability he accidentally discovered in Skype's software for Mac OS X, a vulnerability that he said he disclosed to the company a month ago and had yet to be patched. I notified them on the security vulnerabilitity and I was given the standard:
"Thank you for showing an interest in skype security, we ...
New iMacs Offer 25% Performance Improvement Over Previous Generation
Earlier this week, we pointed to initial benchmarks from Macworld for the new 3.1 GHz 27-inch Mac, finding the new system to be about 16% faster than the high-end standard configuration of the previous generation overall.
Now that the machines have been out for a couple of days, Primate Labs has put together an early report collating the results from users submitting Geekbench 2 results....
Microsoft Pushing Bing Maps Integration for iOS Apps With New SDK
As noted by Business Insider, Microsoft earlier this week quietly introduced a new Bing Maps Control for iOS software development kit, making it easier for developers to integrate Bing maps directly into their applications. The Bing Maps iOS Control is an Objective-C control for embedding maps directly into native iOS apps. With a rich, gesture-based UI provided by Seadragon, the Bing Maps iOS...
Foxconn Seeking to Accelerate Start of iPad Production in Brazil to July
Last month, word surfaced that Apple's manufacturing partner Foxconn was seeking to invest as much as $12 billion in Brazil, setting up new manufacturing plants in that country to expand capacity and avoid hefty import taxes for electronics brought into the country for sale. At the time, it was noted that Foxconn was planning to manufacture iPads in Brazil, with a goal of beginning production...
New iMac Joins MacBook Pro in Supporting 450 Mbit/sec Wi-Fi
HardMac reports that the new iMac released earlier this week brings support for 450 Mbit/sec Wi-Fi connectivity, adding a third antenna to support the higher speed using multiple-input/multiple-output (MIMO) standards when connected to a compatible network access point. The iMac joins the latest MacBook Pro in offering the improved connection speeds. It seems that Apple seeks to standardize this...
Apple's Bud Tribble to Testify in Senate Hearing on Mobile Privacy
As noted by All Things Digital, the U.S. Senate has posted a hearing notice for a Judiciary Committee meeting on mobile privacy scheduled for May 10th at 10:00 AM in Washington, DC. According to the witness list included in the notice, Apple's Bud Tribble will be providing testimony during the session, which is entitled "Protecting Mobile Privacy: Your Smartphones, Tablets, Cell Phones and Your...
iPad Display Shortages Linked to Light Leakage on LG-Produced Units
DigiTimes reports that LG Display was one of the primary sources of iPad supply issues last quarter, experiencing problems with light leakage on displays produced by its manufacturing lines that scaled back shipments. The issue is said to have been resolved, with display shipments to Apple's assembly partners ramping up this quarter. . . .Samsung Electronics shipped a total of four million...
iPad 2 Launches in China to Long Lines and Sellouts
iPad 2 line at Apple's Sanlitun retail store in Beijing
Apple yesterday launched the iPad 2 in China, officially bringing its six Wi-Fi capable models (three black and three white) to the country for the first time. M.I.C gadget has an extensive gallery of photos from the launch at Apple's Sanlitun retail store in Beijing, where hundreds of customers waited in line for the 8:00 AM launch and...
Apple Climbs to #35 in Fortune 500 Rankings
Fortune today released its annual "Fortune 500" rankings of America's largest companies by revenue, revealing that Apple leapt 21 spots this year to land at #35 with over $65 billion in revenue. Apple climbed 21 slots into the top 50 of the Fortune 500 this year. How'd it get there? The company not only continues to expand its reach in existing markets, it also keeps creating new ones.
Take...
Apple Continues to Close on Nokia for Title of World's Top Smartphone Vendor
Research firm IDC today announced the results of its survey of smartphone shipment data for the first quarter of 2011, following up on last week's release of data on the broader mobile phone market.
According to the new smartphone data, Apple continues to hold second place among the world's top smartphone manufacturers with 18.7% market, with unit sales up 114% year-over-year and its share...
OWC Bumps Aftermarket MacBook Air SSDs to 480 GB
Expanding on its line of aftermarket solid state drives (SSDs) for the new MacBook Air, Other World Computing today announced that it has added a new 480 GB option to the mix, up from the previous maximum of 360 GB. Other World Computing today announced its OWC Mercury Aura Pro Express Solid State Drive is now shipping in an industry largest 480GB capacity for all 2010 Apple MacBook Air models....
Apple Seeking New Vendor for Improved iPhone Ambient Light Sensor?
Arrow on left points to iPhone ambient light sensor (Source: ReadWriteWeb)
DigiTimes reports that Apple is in discussions with two Taiwan-based integrated circuit design firms, Integrated Memory Logic (iML) and Capella Microsystems, for sourcing of components for the company's iOS devices.
The more interesting of the two claims appears to be related Capella, which is said to have delivered...
iPad Claims 82% of U.S. Installed Tablet Market, Eating Into Other Devices
Media research firm Nielsen today announced the results of its Mobile Connected Device Report survey for the first quarter of 2011, determining that Apple held a dominating 82% of the installed base for tablets in the United States during the quarter. The survey found 3G-capable iPads slightly more popular than non-3G models, 43% to 39%, with the Samsung Galaxy Tab proving the most popular...
iMac EFI Update 1.6 Adds 6 Gb/s SATA Capabilities
Other World Computing reports that the iMac EFI Update 1.6 released yesterday for Apple's new iMacs brings an unadvertised improvement in SATA performance for the internal hard drive bays. While iMac EFI Update 1.6 is described as including "fixes that improve performance and stability for Thunderbolt," it would also seem that an unadvertised benefit is that it also unlocks the full 6Gb/s, SATA...
Apple Gains Early Access to Intel's Z68 Chipset for New iMacs
As noted by tonymacx86 (via 9 to 5 Mac), iFixit's teardown of the new iMac released earlier this week reveals that the machine utilizes Intel's BD82Z68 platform controller. The inclusion is notable in part because the Z68 chipset is reportedly not set for public introduction until next week.
Apple use of the Z68 chipset marks yet another exclusive for the company, which has occasionally...
Hearst Magazines Join Apple's 'In App Subscription' Program
The Wall Street Journal reports that Hearst Corporation has agreed to Apple's terms for in app subscriptions, making plans to begin selling subscriptions to several of its magazine titles beginning with their July issues. Starting with their July issues, iPad apps for Esquire, Popular Mechanics and O, The Oprah Magazine, will be available through a service from Apple that allows customers to...
Apple Soliciting Customer Feedback With New 'Pulse' Program
Several MacRumors have informed us in recent days that they have received email invitations to join "Apple Customer Pulse", a program designed to allow customers to provide survey feedback about their product purchases to Apple. Apple values your opinion and invites you to participate in a survey about your Apple products. Your responses will remain completely confidential, and results will be...
