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's App Store Reaches 50 Billion Downloads, Now on Pace for 20 Billion Apps Per Year
Apple's App Store today reached 50 billion downloads since its inception in 2008, and along with the milestone comes the end of the company's "50 Billion App Countdown" promotion launched thirteen days ago. The winner of the promotion, who is yet to be announced, will be awarded a $10,000 gift card valid for App Store, Mac App Store, or any other iTunes Store content. Fifty additional winners...
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Airline Industry Remains Divided Over Personal Electronics Usage During Takeoff and Landing
Earlier this year, we noted that the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was continuing to look at the use of personal electronic devices during the taxi, takeoff, and landing phases of commercial flights, hoping to take action by the end of the year to loosen restrictions currently requiring that all devices be powered down during these times.
Bloomberg now provides another update on...
Philips 'Hue' Receives Major Update With Geofencing, Visual Alerts, and More
Late last year, Philips launched its "Hue" lighting system, offering sets of wireless-enabled LED lightbulbs that allow users to remotely control their lighting, including adjusting to a rainbow of colors, from an iOS app. Hue has been exclusively sold through Apple's online and retail stores, and Philips has been working hard to both bring more features to the system and to open it up to...
Sketchy Rumor Claims Sapphire-Covered Capacitive Home Button for iPhone 5S
Cult of Mac points to a report [Google translation] from Taiwanese site TechNews claiming that Apple will be including a sapphire-covered capacitive home button on the iPhone 5S in order to accommodate the fingerprint sensor rumored to be coming as a differentiating feature for the device.Apple is expected to do away with the traditional physical home button, which has long been one of the most...
Apple Seeks to Add Samsung Galaxy S4 to U.S. Patent Lawsuit
Just weeks after the launch of Samsung's latest Galaxy S4 flagship smartphone, FOSS Patents reports that Apple is seeking to add the device to a patent lawsuit already underway against Samsung in the United States.
Judge Lucy Koh has already ordered Apple and Samsung to narrow their case, which is expected to go to trial in March 2014. Each side will ultimately be required to limit their cases ...
An Emotional Bill Gates Talks About Steve Jobs on '60 Minutes'
Microsoft founder Bill Gates was interviewed by Charlie Rose on this week's edition of the long-running television news program 60 Minutes, and part of the interview focused on Gates' relationship with Steve Jobs, including a few details of their final conversation before Jobs passed away in 2011.
Gates grew emotional as he recalled visiting Jobs just before his death. The billionaire welled...
PayPal Executive Looks for Apple to Adopt Fingerprint Sensors, Lead Charge Away From Passwords
CIO reports on an Interop keynote presentation yesterday by PayPal chief information security officer Michael Barrett in which he discussed the future of account security and suggested that passwords and PINs will soon be a thing of the past. Barrett currently serves as president of the Fast Identity Online (FIDO) Alliance that is seeking alternatives to these traditional security methods.The...
New Antenna-Related Part From Upcoming iPhone Surfaces
Earlier today, Nowhereelse.fr highlighted new part photos posted by Japanese vendor Moumantai showing what is claimed to be from the iPhone 5S or perhaps Apple's lower-cost iPhone. The part corresponds to an iPhone 5 part attached to the top end of the main logic board, but does contain some layout differences.
Nowhereelse.fr and other sites have speculated that the part is related to camera ...
Apple Amps Up Promotion for 50 Billion App Milestone
Apple today increased its promotion for the upcoming milestone of 50 billion downloads from the App Store, an event the company is marking with a contest in which the person who downloads the 50 billionth app will receives a $10,000 iTunes Store gift card while the next 50 downloaders will receive $500 gift cards each.
The milestone is now being promoted as the main feature on Apple's front...
Apple Maps for iOS Adds 3D Flyover Coverage in Paris
As noticed by iGeneration [Google translation], Apple has added new Flyover imagery and 3D buildings for Paris, France. The new imagery, which extends into the Paris suburbs, marks a significant enhancement for Apple's 3D maps in France given that the only previous coverage in the country was for the city of Lyon.
Apple maintains a list of cities for which it offers 3D building coverage, as...
Apple's Lightning Connector Detailed in Newly-Published Patent Applications
As noted by AppleInsider, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office today published three Apple patent applications related to the company's Lightning connector introduced on its iOS devices late last year.
Perspective view of Lightning connector
The first application describes the hardware itself, while two nearly identical applications outline the adaptive technology used to assign pin...
AT&T Launches New Aio Wireless Prepaid Brand, iPhone Plans Start at $55/Month
Aio Wireless, a new prepaid cellular brand from AT&T, today announced that it has launched operations in Houston, Orlando, and Tampa, with additional cities coming over the next year. The brand offers customers access to increasingly popular prepaid cellular services alongside popular devices including the iPhone."We talked with no-annual-contract customers and created our service around what...
Pegatron's Plans to Boost Workforce by 40%, Fueling Lower-Cost iPhone Speculation
Just a day after reporting that its consumer electronics revenue would drop more than expected in the second quarter, perhaps due to weakening iPad mini demand, Apple manufacturing partner Pegatron has announced that it will boost its workforce by 40% in the second half of the year. The significant increase is fueling ongoing rumors of a lower-cost iPhone, as the firm has been reported to be...
'The Loop' Launches New Magazine for iOS
Jim Dalrymple, the veteran Apple journalist behind The Loop, is launching a new magazine for iOS devices today. Rather than simply being an iOS version of the existing site, the magazine version of The Loop is a separate publication hosting longer form writing from a variety of contributors and perspectives. As Dalrymple notes in his welcome message:For many years people have been asking me why...
OS X 10.8.4 Build 12E47 Seeded to Developers
As noted by 9to5Mac, Apple today seeded build 12E47 of OS X 10.8.4 to developers. The release comes eight days after the previous build 12E40, and marks the sixth beta iteration of OS X 10.8.4.
As with previous beta releases, Apple continues to ask developers to focus on Wi-Fi, Graphics Drivers, and Safari.
The update is available through the software update tool in the Mac App Store and A...
Surge in Apple's iOS 7 Usage Revealed in Web Traffic Stats
While websites and developers have been seeing low levels of hits from iOS 7 devices for several months, as of last week we noticed a significant surge in such hits in our own logs. The hits come from Apple's block of IP addresses, suggesting that the company may have rolled out a new phase of testing with its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) just a month away.
iOS 7 web traffic at ...
Apple Targets Android Source Code Search Documents in Suit Against Samsung
As the ongoing court battles between Apple and Samsung continue, Bloomberg reports that Apple has become more aggressive in pushing for Google to turn over Android-related documents that may be pertinent to the case. Apple argues that Google's refusal to reveal the search terms it is using to find documents requested by Apple as part of the pretrial discovery phase of the latest lawsuit between...
T-Mobile USA's iPhone 5 Sales Hit 500,000 Units
As part of its first quarter earnings release today, T-Mobile USA revealed that its iPhone 5 sales stand at approximately 500,000 units less than a month after the device debuted on the carrier. The carrier also launched the iPhone 4 and 4S in limited markets where the devices are compatible with its networks, but T-Mobile did not specify how many units of those models it has sold."Our first...
Foxconn's Push Into Televisions Hints at Preparation for Possible Apple Television
The New York Times reports on Foxconn's efforts to diversify its business, recognizing that while Apple is and will remain an important customer currently responsible for about 40% of Foxconn's revenue, it needs to tap into other markets in order to improve its own stability.
One major push for Foxconn has been the television market, where it has invested with Sharp in an LCD panel factory in...
Rovio Introduces 'Accounts' for Cross-Device Syncing
Following last week's introduction of Angry Birds Friends for iOS, Rovio yesterday announced a new "Rovio Account" feature that will allow users to synchronize game progress across devices.Some of you may have noticed a new feature in your Rovio games called Rovio Account. Our fans have been asking for a way to play their game on different phones or tablets without losing their progress when...
