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 Releases iPhone OS 3.0 Beta 5 and New iTunes 8.2 Pre-Release to Developers
Apple tonight seeded the fifth beta version of iPhone OS 3.0 (Build 7A312g) and a new version of the iTunes 8.2 pre-release to developers. As with the previous beta, iTunes 8.2 is required to install the latest iPhone 3.0 beta software. No new features in the fifth beta version have been revealed at this early time.
Today's release is a bit of a surprise, coming just eight days after the...
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Sirius XM iPhone App Due Within Weeks
The Wall Street Journal reports on the upcoming launch of an iPhone application from satellite radio provider Sirius XM, which is reportedly due "in the next few weeks." While details of how Sirius XM service will be deployed on the iPhone are not yet known, it is assumed that a subscription fee will be required in order to access the music channels. The iPhone application likely will require...
Amazon Launches Kindle DX eBook Reader with 9.7" Screen
Engadget has just wrapped up live coverage of Amazon's press event introducing the Kindle DX, the next generation of Amazon's eBook reader. The Kindle DX, now available for pre-order at a price of $489 for shipment this summer, contains a 9.7" screen and is being positioned as a device for reading documents such as newspapers, textbooks, and research journal articles whose formats have not...
'AT&T myWireless Mobile' Allows iPhone Users to Manage AT&T Wireless Accounts
AT&T today announced the availability of AT&T myWireless Mobile [App Store, Free], a new application released a few days ago that allows subscribers to manage their AT&T wireless accounts from their iPhones. Supplementing AT&T myWireless, a popular service through www.att.com used today by millions of AT&T customers, the Mobile edition for iPhone brings greater ease and simplicity to virtually all ...
OS X 10.5.7 Due for Release on Friday?
Mac|Life claims that OS X 10.5.7, the next update to Leopard, will be released on Friday. If you've been champing at the bit for the magic of 10.5.7, according to a super-secret Apple source, your champing can cease on Friday. The newest version of Leopard is slated to fix a slew of networking, syncing and bluetooth issues.Mac|Life also reports that there is speculation that this will be the final ...
Apple Job Listing Suggests Possible Plans to Add 3G Wireless to Macs?
Computerworld has discovered an Apple job posting for a "Communications QA Engineer" position within the Mac Hardware Group that mentions among its duties the testing of "3G Wireless WAN". The Comms Software QA team within the Mac Hardware Group is seeking a motivated QA engineer to perform quality assurance testing for new Apple CPU Products.
Duties for this position include, but are not...
Apple Now Offering to Swap Water-Damaged iPhones for $199
ifoAppleStore reports that Apple is now offering the opportunity for users with water-damaged iPhones to swap their units for working refurbished units for a fee of $199. The new policy applies to out-of-warranty incidents that would normally require the purchase of a new phone, and also trigger an extention of the owners two-year AT&T contract. Under the new policy, the iPhone owner simply pays a ...
Filemaker Releases 'Bento' for iPhone
FileMaker has released Bento [App Store, $4.99], the company's personal database application, for the iPhone and iPod touch. The new application operates both as a standalone database application and also synchronizes with the desktop version of Bento to provide accessibility on the go. - Comes with 25 ready-to-use database templates that can be easily customized for whatever you need to...
Intuit's 'Quicken Online Mobile' Now Available in App Store
Intuit recently released Quicken Online Mobile [App Store, Free], a new iPhone application providing access to Quicken Online, Intuit's free online service for automatically organizing multiple financial accounts in one location. Quicken Online Mobile offers the following features: - See your online accounts all in one place - See your bank, credit card, loans and other accounts all in one place, ...
Microsoft Releases New "Laptop Hunters" Commercial
Microsoft last night released the fourth in its series of "Laptop Hunters" commercials taking aim at Mac prices. In the latest commercial, "Sheila" is in search of a laptop suitable for video editing that is within her budget of $2000. Sheila briefly looks at the entry-level MacBook Pro, but finds its 2 GB of RAM unacceptable. She ultimately settles on an HP HDX 16t, an upgraded version of the...
Cooliris for iPhone 1.4 Released
Cooliris has released Cooliris for iPhone 1.4 [App Store, Free], a significant update to its slick application for viewing images and video on the Web via a "3D wall" interface. The update brings a revised user interface, Twitter support, and support for syncing favorites between a user's computer and iPhone, among other changes. - Complete overhaul of the user interface with larger, more...
Former Blizzard Employees Land $4.5 Million iFund Investment
Macworld reports that Booyah, an iPhone-focused startup founded by three former employees of game publisher Blizzard Entertainment, has landed a $4.5 million investment from the iFund program offered by venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB). While details of the new venture are scarce, Booyah's three founders carry impressive credentials from their time at Blizzard. Lee,...
OS X 10.5.7 Build 9J58 Seeded to Developers
Earlier this week, Apple seeded a new version of OS X 10.5.7, termed Build 9J58, to developers. World of Apple publishes the seed notes, which list only a pair of changes related to compatibility fixes between the CFNetwork framework and VPN, iChat, and Safari. Apple has also added iChat to the list of focus areas upon which developers are being asked to concentrate their testing.
As with...
Apple to Introduce Cheaper Macs?
AppleInsider reports that Apple is preparing to introduce cheaper Macs as soon as this spring. The move reportedly comes in response to consumer buying patterns shifting toward cheaper computers, including those in the netbook category. Still, people familiar with the matter say Apple's move towards more affordable Macs isn't so much a response to Redmond's marketing antics as it is an interim...
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285 Mac Version Due in June
Engadget reports that a version of NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 285 graphics card for the Mac Pro will be released in June.
Image from Engadget
The GTX 285 is currently NVIDIA's fastest single-processor GPU, offering 240 processing cores and 1 GB of video memory. AnandTech recently reviewed the PC version of the GTX 285 and found that it consistently outperformed the ATI Radeon HD 4870, whose Mac...
Microsoft Xbox Strategy and Marketing Executive to Join Apple?
MCV reports that Richard Teversham, Microsoft's senior director of business, insights and strategy for Xbox, is departing the company to take a position at Apple. Teversham reportedly will take on an "education-related" role in Apple's European office. Focused on EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa), Teversham had been at Microsoft for the past 15 years and worked on business aspects of...
Apple Researching Carbon Fiber Composite Materials for Exterior Shells
A patent application from Apple filed in October 2007 and published today reveals that the company is researching the use of carbon fiber composites for use in the exterior shells of electronic devices. Specifically, the patent application relates to the use of a "scrim" layer on the exterior surface of the carbon fiber laminate allowing for an "improved cosmetic surface."
In the...
Another AMD Graphics Executive Headed to Apple?
The Inquirer reports that Raja Koduri, currently Chief Technology Officer of the Graphics Product Group at AMD, will be joining Apple. The rumor comes on the heels of the discovery just two days ago that Bob Drebin, Koduri's predecessor in the position at AMD, has already joined Apple. Between PASemi, Bob Drebin and other things we can't talk about yet, Apple is building up some serious hardware...
'Simplify Music 2.0' Brings Upgrades to Popular iTunes Library Streamer
Simplify Media was one of the early App Store hits, allowing users to stream their entire iTunes music library to their iPhone or iPod touch via Wi-Fi, 3G or EDGE. The application also allowed users to stream from up to 30 of their friends' libraries.
Simplify Media has now released Simplify Music 2.0 [App Store, $2.99], bringing several new features to the application. - Search: Search by...
'Zillow Real Estate' Released for iPhone
Zillow, the popular real estate information and valuation site, has released a dedicated iPhone application, Zillow Real Estate [App Store, Free]. Zillow's database covers 88 million U.S homes (95% of homes in the country) and provides home details, transaction histories, and estimated home values known as "Zestimates."
In addition, Zillow provides for-sale home listings with details, photos...
