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
Claimed iPhone 5 SIM Card Tray Appears Identical to iPhone 4S
Following last week's leak of home buttons claimed to be for the next-generation iPhone, parts vendor SW-BOX.com has just posted information on a claimed iPhone 5 SIM card tray fresh from one of its parts suppliers.
The tray appears essentially identical to the SIM card tray found in the iPhone 4S and 4, and if the part is indeed legitimate it suggests that Apple may retain a similar...
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Travis County Gives Final Approval to Tax Incentives for Apple Expansion in Austin
The Travis County Commissioners Court has just given official approval for a package of tax incentives designed to secure Apple's commitment to expand its Austin, Texas campus and add over 3,600 new jobs at the site. The approval comes after development officials expressed concern last week that the deal was "in peril" as concerns over loopholes in the contract delayed approval by the county.
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Flashback Malware's Ad-Click Hijacking Detailed, Could Reap $10,000/Day
Antivirus firm Symantec has published a new blog post examining how the Flashback malware affecting hundreds of thousand of Macs has been generating revenue for its authors by hijacking users' ad clicks. According to the report, the widespread nature of the infection means that malware authors could have been generating up to $10,000 per day from the scheme at its peak based on previous analysis ...
Apple Hits New High with 8.8% of Worldwide Mobile Phone Market in 1Q 2012
Research firm IDC today released its estimates of global mobile phone and smartphone shipments for the first quarter 2012, revealing that Apple set a record high in taking 8.8% of the overall mobile phone market. The performance just barely topped Apple's 8.7% share in the previous quarter, which was the launch quarter for the iPhone 4S.
Worldwide Mobile Phone Shipments in 1Q12 in Millions ...
Apple's New Highland Village Retail Store in Houston Hit by Gunfire
Houston NBC affiliate KPRC reports that five businesses along Westheimer Road in Houston were hit by random gunfire early Monday morning, with Apple's new Highland Village retail store being one of the targets.The Houston Police Department confirms it is investigating five random shootings at business in southwest Houston.
Between 4:40 and 5:40 a.m. Monday, several windows were shot out. The...
Upcoming Saskatchewan Apple Retail Store Fills Huge Void in Coverage [Updated]
ifoAppleStore reports that Apple is planning to open a new retail store in the Cornwall Centre shopping mall in Regina, Saskatchewan. The location is a notable one for being the first in the vast province in the heart of Canada, with no other Apple retail stores located within a 300-mile radius.
Cornwall Centre is located in city center and has 90 retailers in an enclosed mall. City planning...
Scott Forstall and Mickey Drexler Net Millions in Apple Stock Sales
A pair of filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reveal that Apple executive Scott Fortsall and board member Mickey Drexler each sold off tens of thousands of shares of Apple stock on Friday, netting millions of dollars each.
Forstall, who serves as senior vice president of iOS Software and has been a fixture in Apple's keynote presentations and media events, sold off 64,151...
Apple Again Encouraging Mac Developers to Sign Up for Developer ID Ahead of OS X Mountain Lion
Apple today sent out an email encouraging Mac developers to sign up for the company's Developer ID program so that their apps can be properly signed ahead of the launch of OS X Mountain Lion later this year. Mountain Lion's Gatekeeper feature gives users the ability to set limits on app installation, with the new "Developer ID" program providing a middle ground of security by which developers...
iTunes Match Launching in New Countries Including Austria, Greece, and Italy
MacRumors has begun receiving reports that iTunes Match has started going live in several new countries today. So far we have heard from users in Austria, Greece, and Italy, with some users reporting that they have been required to agree to updated iTunes Store terms and conditions addressing the service while others have even been able to sign up for the service.
iTunes Match signup page ...
A Look at Apple's 'Mastered for iTunes' Program and its Effect on Sound Quality
Earlier this year, Apple began revealing more information about its Mastered for iTunes program, requesting that music professionals supply Apple with higher-quality recordings as source material for the compressed tracks made available for sale through the iTunes Store. The higher-quality source material, processed according to Apple's guidelines, is being requested to allow Apple to create...
'Angry Birds Space' Reaches 50 Million Downloads in Under Six Weeks
Rovio today announced that Angry Birds Space has reached 50 million downloads, marking yet another milestone for the popular franchise. The title debuted on a number of platforms, including iPhone, iPad, and Mac, on March 22.
Angry Birds Space hit 50 million downloads within 35 days, making it the fastest growing mobile game yet and breaking all our previous records. This has been simply...
Microsoft Invests $300 Million in Nook to Take on Amazon and Apple in E-Book Market
Microsoft and Barnes & Noble today announced the formation of a new Barnes & Noble subsidiary focused around the existing Nook digital e-reader and e-book business, as well as Barnes & Noble's college business. Microsoft will make a $300 million investment in the subsidiary, which is preliminarily being called Newco until an official name is chosen, and receive 17.6% ownership of the business.One...
How Apple Minimizes its Corporate Tax Burden
In the latest installment of its "iEconomy" series, The New York Times takes a look at how Apple minimizes its corporate tax burden, taking advantage of a number of legal maneuvers and loopholes around the world. Apple's strategies are of course fully legal and used by many other corporations, but with a spotlight on Apple as it has rapidly risen to become the world's most valuable...
Apple Looking to Bring EPIX Movie Streaming to Apple TV, Potential Television Set
Reuters reports that Apple has been negotiating with movie streaming service EPIX for the rights to stream content to the Apple TV set-top box. According to sources, the deal would also extend to future streaming devices such as the much-rumored Apple television set.
Apple, which now sells a $99 set-top box that hooks up to a television set and lets users stream online content from Netflix...
Apple Kills Off Chomp App Discovery Services for Android
Following its late February acquisition of app search and discovery firm Chomp, Apple has now killed off Chomp's Android services.
The move was reported late yesterday by a MacRumors reader who noticed that the Chomp app for Android had ceased functioning on his device, and GigaOM confirms that Chomp has also removed Android search functionality from the Chomp website.
Apple reportedly...
Apple's Celebrity iPhone 4S Ads Score Well with Viewers
Advertising tracking firm Ace Metrix today shared its data on viewer reactions to Apple's new celebrity iPhone 4S ads featuring Siri and starring Samuel L. Jackson and Zooey Deschanel. The new ads are registering well with consumers, generating scores higher than any other iPhone 4S ad released so far this year.
“Apple’s ads for iPhone had been falling rather flat earlier in the year, all ...
Mac App Store Hits 10,000 Available Apps
As pointed out by MacGeneration [Google translation], Apple's Mac App Store has reached a new milestone with 10,000 apps available for purchase or free download through the marketplace.
Our own sister site AppShopper confirms the milestone, currently indexing 10,339 applications in the store. Apple launched the Mac App Store in January 2011 and has quickly moved to offer its own major...
Apple Expressing Frustration as Tax Incentives for Austin Expansion Remain in Limbo
Last month, the State of Texas announced that Apple would be making a major expansion of its existing customer support and administrative campus in Austin, investing over $300 million to add 3,600 workers at the site. The move would more than double Apple's workforce in Austin.
Over the past several weeks, a number of governmental agencies, including the State of Texas, Travis County, and...
Josh Gad Likely to Play Steve Wozniak in Steve Jobs Indie Film
Progress continues on the independent film "Jobs", which will see Ashton Kutcher play the role of the Apple co-founder and CEO. According to Variety, actor Josh Gad is in talks to portray Steve Wozniak in the film, which will focus on the early days of Apple.Written by Matt Whiteley, pic chronicles Steve Jobs from wayward hippie to co-founder of Apple, where he became one of the most revered...
Oracle Releases Java Development Kits for OS X as Work on Java SE 7 for Mac Continues
Back in late 2010, Apple announced that it would cease supporting Java for OS X, with Steve Jobs noting that Apple was always a version behind that being distributed by Sun/Oracle, which handled Java for all other platforms.
Confusion about whether Oracle would step into the Java void created by Apple's removal of support was addressed several weeks later when Apple and Oracle announced plans...
