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
Microsoft Office 2010 to Gain Free Web-Based Components
Microsoft yesterday announced at its Worldwide Partner Conference 2009 that its forthcoming Office 2010 suite will gain a web-based component offering free, ad-supported access to browser-based versions of Word, PowerPoint, Excel and OneNote to anyone with a free Windows Live account. Notably, the online versions will be compatible with Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari.
Wired provides...
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Apple's iTunes Store Launches Two-Track "Digital 45s"
iLounge points out that Apple has launched "Digital 45s" [iTunes Store] in the iTunes Store, a new concept offering a pair of songs from a single artist at a price slightly discounted from the individual track prices. Harkening back to the days of the vinyl 45 rpm record, the iTunes Store has launched a new section of the store for "D45s." As with vinyl 45s, these new digital packs contain two...
Windows 95 Running on iPhone
Russian site GooDiPhone demonstrates Windows 95 running on an iPhone via an emulator. While the performance is terrible, it does function as a proof-of-concept, and they note that performance would be improved if they had had access to an iPhone 3GS for testing.
The team is also reportedly working on booting Windows XP on the...
Apple Announces First-Year App Store Success: 1.5 Billion Downloads, 65,000 Apps
Apple today announced that iPhone and iPod touch users have downloaded over 1.5 billion applications in the App Store's first year of operation. There are currently over 65,000 applications available in the store. Apple today announced that customers have downloaded more than 1.5 billion applications in just one year from its revolutionary App Store, the largest applications store in the world....
Apple Blocking Push Notifications on Unlocked iPhones? [Updated]
In a blog post over the weekend and a press release issued today, Czech iPhone developer PoweryBase notes that Apple appears to be blocking Push Notifications on iPhones that have been unlocked for use on non-official wireless carriers. PoweryBase is the developer behind NotifyMe [App Store Links: Paid ($3.99), Free], a popular application that utilizes push notifications to offer reminders and ...
New GeForce GTX 285 Drivers Available Now, Offering Up to 20% Better Gaming Performance
NVIDIA has released new drivers for the GeForce GTX 285 aftermarket graphics card which has been available for the Mac Pro. NVIDIA representatives have also informed MacRumors that the new driver will deliver "up to 20% better performance" for gaming compared to previous driver versions.
Also, Mac Pro customers using the GeForce GTX 285 will need to update their card's driver before...
Apple Touchscreen Netbook to Launch in October at $800?
Taiwanese news site InfoTimes reports [translation] that Apple is slated to debut its long-rumored netbook this October. Taiwanese companies Foxconn, Wintek, and Dynapack have reportedly received orders from Apple related to the manufacturing of the new device.
The report notes that Apple is looking to adopt a 9.7-inch touchscreen for the new netbook, slightly smaller than the 10.1- or...
'Documents to Go' Updated With Cut, Copy and Paste, Pinch to Zoom, and More
iPhone Alley points out that DataViz has recently updated its Documents to Go office suite for the iPhone to add several new features, the most important of which is the inclusion of support for Apple's systemwide cut, copy, and paste tools. The suite comes in two flavors: a basic version [App Store, $4.99] and an enhanced version [App Store, $9.99] offering support for Microsoft Exchange...
Navigon's 'MobileNavigator North America Lite' Comes to the App Store
German GPS firm Navigon has begun branching out into North America with its release of MobileNavigator North America Lite [App Store, Free]. Readers should note that the free lite version does NOT offer the active route guidance most users are looking for in a GPS mapping application, although it can display a user's position on its map and locate nearby points of interest. Full turn-by-turn...
OS X Snow Leopard 10A402 Brings Visual Tweaks and Other Enhancements
With the release of the OS X Snow Leopard 10A402 beta yesterday, users have been poring over the new version looking for changes. Among the most obvious changes have been a few visual tweaks, although several other enhancements have also been discovered.
- Contextual Dock Menus in List View: Apple has modified the theme of contextual menus within the Dock when using list view. The menus now...
Quicken Financial Life for Mac Delayed to 2010
In a blog posting, Intuit reports that the much-delayed Quicken Financial Life for Mac, initially slated for release in 2008, will now be released in February 2010. We know you've heard this before. In early 2008, we told you we'd release Quicken Financial Life for Mac later that year. 2008 came and went and we did not. At Macworld 2009, we told you it would be later this year.
But after...
Google CEO Eric Schmidt to Discuss Role on Apple's Board in Wake of Chrome OS Announcement
Reuters reports that Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who has served on Apple's Board of Directors since 2006, will discuss with Apple how his role on the board may change in the wake of increasing overlap between the two companies' markets. The report comes just one day after Google announced that it will be entering the operating system market with Chrome OS, initially targeted at netbook computers. Bec...
Apple Recalls First-Generation iPod Nano in South Korea [Updated]
The Korea Herald reports that Apple has agreed to recall first-generation iPod nanos sold in South Korea following four reports of the device's batteries overheating or exploding. The recall comes several weeks after a request from the Korean government after which Apple initially offered to replace only those units found to be defective, but continuing pressure ultimately led to a full recall...
iPhone 3GS Upstream Transfers Limited to 384 Kbps
Macworld reports that while the iPhone 3GS does support the improved 7.2 Mbps download transfer speed now currently being deployed in the U.S. by AT&T and already available in other parts of the world, it will not support the correspondingly improved upload transfer speeds of 1.4 or 1.9 Mbps generally available on such networks and will be limited to the same 384 Kbps upload speed available on...
New Apple iPhone Patent Applications Surface: Object and Facial Recognition, Messaging, Voice Modulation
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published several dozen Apple patent applications this morning, and Unwired View highlights one group of them primarily related to iPhone software. The patents cover object and facial recognition, messaging, and voice modulation.
Object Recognition: One patent application, filed on June 17th, 2008, describes methods by which a mobile device user could...
Apple Releases Safari 4.0.2
Apple today released Safari 4.0.2, now available on Apple's Safari download page or through Software Update. According to the support document associated with the release, the update addresses two security vulnerabilities that could be exploited by maliciously crafted websites. The update also reportedly improves the stability of the Nitro JavaScript engine used by Safari.
The first...
Apple's Disclosures Regarding Jobs' Health Remain Under Scrutiny by SEC
Bloomberg reports that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is continuing to investigate Apple's disclosures regarding Steve Jobs' health during the early January period leading up to the announcement that Jobs would be taking a six-month medical leave of absence. The report is a follow-up to Bloomberg's January report about the investigation. "The issue here is: Did Apple or Jobs make...
Jonathan Ive Gives Giant iPod Nano as Birthday Gift
English fashion designer Sir Paul Smith revealed on his blog that he has received a giant model of a pink iPod nano from his good friend Jonathan Ive as a birthday present. On Friday 3rd July, I received a really lovely mad gift for my birthday (which is on the 5th) from Jonathan Ive and Jody who works with him at Apple - a perfect model of an Ipod but as you can see slightly bigger than usual....
Delicious Library for iPhone Pulled Due to Change in Amazon's Policies
Mac and iPhone developer Jim Dovey reports (via TechCrunch) that the iPhone version of the popular media cataloguing application Delicious Library has been pulled by the developer after being notified that that the application's use of Amazon data runs afoul of recent changes to the company's Product Advertising API license agreement. So Amazon recently changed the terms of service for their...
16 GB White iPhone 3GS Stocks Run Low in Apple Retail Stores
Fortune reports that Apple retail store stocks of the 16 GB white iPhone 3GS model have fallen precipitously low early this week. At present, only 10% of Apple's over 200 retail stores have the model currently in stock. Apple has been having trouble keeping the entry-level white iPhone in stock since the new 3GS went on sale two and a half weeks ago. But as of Tuesday morning, it has all but...
