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
Intel Says Fiber Optic Thunderbolt Cables Coming Later This Year
One of the promises of Intel's Thunderbolt technology was the possibility for fiber optic cables, offering greater cable lengths and setting the stage for faster connectivity once the standard matures. But Thunderbolt launched using only traditional copper wire cables, and there has been some dispute about just how soon fiber optic cables will become available.
IDG News now reports that...
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Apple Sued over 'Misleading' Advertising in Siri Depictions
The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple is the target of a new lawsuit from an iPhone 4S customer who claims that the company engaged in "misleading and deceptive" advertising in promoting its Siri personal assistant feature for the device. The plaintiff, Frank Fazio, alleges that Apple's depictions of Siri in its advertising suggest an ease of use that he claims is not present in real-world...
U.S. Mac Customers Continue to Wait for Updated Models as New iPad Launches
Last month, we reported on U.S. Mac sales data for the month of January as shared by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, who concluded that NPD's calculated year-over-year growth of 1% was somewhat soft but perhaps not out of line with expectations given the firm's historical understatement of Apple's growth. Measuring only U.S. sales, NPD's data does not account for Apple's strong growth in...
Apple Releases Safari 5.1.4 with JavaScript Enhancements and Bug Fixes
Following last month's developer seed, Apple today released Safari 5.1.4 to the public. The release is available for OS X Lion and Snow Leopard, as well as Windows. Apple highlights the following improvements on OS X Lion:Safari 5.1.4 for OS X Lion includes changes that:
- Improve JavaScript performance up to 11% over Safari 5.1.3*
- Improve responsiveness when typing into the search field ...
Houston Retail Store Grand Opening Hints at 8:00 AM iPad Launch on Friday
Earlier this month, we noted that Apple's forthcoming Highland Village retail store in Houston had seen its grand opening date moved up by a day in recent weeks, with Apple opting to open the store on Friday, March 16 rather than holding a traditional Saturday grand opening store. The change led to speculation that the new iPad might be launching on the new date, and Apple did indeed announce...
HBO Confirms Negotiations to Allow Fox and Universal to Participate in iCloud for Movies
Last week, we noted with the launch of the new Apple TV and iTunes in the Cloud for movies that Fox and Universal were not participating in the iCloud video streaming due to contractual obligations with HBO. At the time CNET indicated that the issue was a temporary one and that HBO and the affected studios would be working to address the holdup in the near future.
The Wall Street Journal...
Jony Ive Discusses Apple's Creative Design Processes
In a rare interview, Apple design chief Jony Ive participated in a Q&A exchange with the London Evening Standard, offering his perspective on a number of topics including how the design process works at Apple.Q: How does a new product come about at Apple?
A: What I love about the creative process, and this may sound naive, is this idea that one day there is no idea, and no solution, but then...
Steve Jobs Discussed Potential Television Deal with CBS CEO Les Moonves
Last November, CBS CEO Les Moonves acknowledged that his company had been in talks with Apple about a potential streaming television service, revealing that CBS had ultimately declined to support the plan due to Apple's demands that it include a split of advertising revenue between the two companies.
As noted by The Hollywood Reporter, Moonves has now added a bit more detail about those talks, ...
Apple Shutting Down iWork.com on July 31 Amid Transition to iCloud
Apple today sent out an email to users registered for its iWork.com beta noting that it will be discontinuing the service as of July 31. The discontinuation comes as Apple places its focus on iCloud, which offers users ways to keep documents in sync among their various iOS devices.Dear iWork.com user,
Thanks for participating in the iWork.com public beta.
Last year, we launched iCloud, ...
Apple Offers Guides to iPad Delivery Dates for Early Orders in Canada and Australia
After the Apple online store came back up following Wednesday's media event, we noted among other observations that the Canadian store was showing a delivery estimate of March 16-20 for orders. While new orders are now shipping on March 22, Apple has noted that when a customer's order arrives within that window is based on delivery zones covering the country.
As noted by iPadinCanada, Apple ...
International 4G iPad Models Will Work on AT&T, Not on LTE in Home Countries
As highlighted by SlashGear yesterday, the Wi-Fi + 4G iPad announced by Apple on Wednesday and launching in ten countries next Friday will not be compatible with LTE networks under development in most of the launch countries. Apple's LTE discussion during the media event focused on five carriers in the United States (AT&T and Verizon) and Canada (Bell, Rogers, and Telus), noting that...
Apple Sells Out of iPad Launch Day Supplies in U.S. Online Store, Now Quoting March 19 Shipping
Apple has now completely sold out of its launch day iPad allotment in its U.S. online store, with all 18 models now offering shipping estimates of March 19 for new orders. Accounting for shipment time, customers placing orders now shouldn't expect them to arrive until the middle of the week following the device's launch next Friday.
A similar situation exists in the Canadian online store,...
Intel Working to Boost Thunderbolt Speeds with Move to PCI-Express 3.0
IDG News reports that Intel is currently working on shifting its Thunderbolt standard to the PCI-Express 3.0 protocol, a move that could allow the company to double data transfer speeds over existing implementations based on PCIe 2.0.Intel in the future will support the PCI-Express 3.0 protocol to shuttle data faster between host devices and peripherals, an Intel spokesman said in an email....
iTunes in the Cloud for Movies Matches Digital Copies Included with Disc Purchases
Tech of the Hub notes (via Wired) that the new upgrades to the iTunes in the Cloud services to include movies purchased from the iTunes Store have another benefit: matching of iTunes Digital Copies that are sometimes included with the purchase of films on DVD or Blu-ray.I purchased the 2009 release of Star Trek on Blu-ray which came with a digital copy on an additional physical disc. A while...
Improved H.264 Compression Holds Down File Sizes on 1080p iTunes Store Content
Ars Technica takes a look at the new 1080p content available on the iTunes Store, showing how a "High" compression profile for H.264-encoded content on the iPhone 4S and new iPad and Apple TV are minimizing the increase in file size needed to move from 720p to 1080p.
Comparison of 720p (left) and 1080p (right) video quality in iTunes Store content
In a survey of several titles now available ...
Apple Investing $300 Million in Austin, Texas to Add 3,600 More Workers
The State of Texas today announced that Apple has committed to spend $304 million to expand its operations in Austin, seeking to add 3,600 employees to its facilities there.The new campus will more than double the size of Apple's workforce in Texas over the next decade, supporting the company's growing operations in the Americas with expanded customer support, sales and accounting functions for...
Apple Pushing Back Initial iPad Orders in UK as Shipments to US Customers Begin
We've received word from several customers in the UK who ordered the new iPad immediately after launch that their orders have been delayed by several days. While at least one of these customers was initially quoted delivery for March 16 and another had been quoted a shipping window of March 16-19, Apple has now pushed back delivery for these customers to March 20 or 21.Despite our best efforts...
iPhone 4S Launches on China Telecom with 200,000 Pre-Orders
In line with its previous announcement, China Telecom today launched the iPhone 4S, becoming the second carrier in the country to officially offer the iPhone for sale. With its 129 million mobile subscribers, China Telecom is a major new addition for Apple and the largest carrier to offer the iPhone on a CDMA network.
M.I.C. gadget has a roundup of the launch events, with China Telecom...
Intuit Releases Lion-Compatible Quicken 2007 for Mac
Last December, Intuit announced that it would be developing a version of its Quicken 2007 for Mac software compatible with OS X Lion, targeting "early spring" for a release. Quicken 2007 has remained a popular option for users of personal finance software despite its age, as Intuit opted to deploy a stripped-down Quicken Essentials for Mac in 2010 rather than continuing to update the full...
Microsoft Targeting OnLive over Windows Remote Virtualization Licensing
Over the past couple of months, we've been covering OnLive's efforts to bring remote virtualization of Windows applications to the iPad, offering access to Microsoft Office, Adobe Reader, and Flash-enabled web browsing through Windows 7. OnLive may, however, be running into some difficulties with Microsoft over its offerings, with ZDNet pointing to a Microsoft blog post discussing licensing...
