MacRumors

Nuance has long been given credit for powering Siri's speech recognition capabilities, but neither the company nor Apple have ever confirmed the partnership, until today. Speaking at the D11: All Things Digital conference in Palos Verdes, California, Nuance CEO Paul Ricci admitted that Nuance technology powers Siri.

"We're a fundamental provider for Apple," he said.

Though Nuance did not previously admit to an Apple partnership, there have been numerous hints that all but confirmed Nuance's Siri role. Siri, which was acquired by Apple in 2010, was built using voice recognition technology from Nuance, and in 2011, pre-release iOS 5 screenshots revealed hidden Nuance preferences.

Besides powering Siri, Nuance has its own dictation and speech recognition software. It has also formed partnerships with several other companies and Siri competitors, such as Amazon's Evi, and released an API for developers.

Though Nuance is responsible for Siri’s voice recognition capabilities, Ricci did point out (via The Next Web) that other Siri abilities are the work of other companies. Siri integrates with many different services to provide query results, like Yelp, OpenTable and Wolfram Alpha.

Apple is expected to increase Siri integration across its products with both iOS 7 and OS X 10.9. Reports from earlier this year suggested that Apple was working closely with car makers to provide more comprehensive "Eyes-Free" in-car Siri integration and OS X 10.9 is rumored to include Siri support.

Alongside today's introduction of a new stripped-down 16 GB iPod touch, Apple has also reduced pricing for educational customers on its 13-inch non-Retina MacBook Pro. The prices have been cut by $100 for both the low-end and high-end stock configurations, bringing pricing down to $999 and $1299 respectively. The new prices on both models are $200 below Apple's standard retail pricing.

Education pricing on the non-Retina 15-inch model remains unchanged at $1699, while the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro continues to start at $1399 for education customers. The discounted education pricing is available to employees of K-12 schools as well as faculty, staff, students, and parents of students at higher education institutions.

(Thanks, James!)

Following today's launch of a new stripped-down 16 GB fifth-generation iPod touch, The Loop reports Apple has disclosed that the company has reached a milestone for the device with over 100 million units sold since its launch in 2007.

In addition to launching a new model of its iPod touch on Thursday, Apple told me this morning that it has sold more than 100 million units of the iPod touch since its introduction.

The iPod touch was launched in 2007 and took the design of the iPhone, minus the calling ability. It has since become one of Apple’s most popular products.

Historically, Apple has not disclosed the number of iPod touch units it sells each quarter, generally announcing only that the device accounts for more than half of the company's total iPod sales. The company revealed in documents filed in its lawsuit against Samsung last year that it had sold 46.5 million iPod touch units in the United States alone, but firm numbers have otherwise been difficult to come by.

Earlier this week, the San Francisco Chronicle addressed some criticisms of Apple's proposed flagship store for the city's Union Square retail district, a store that would replace the current flagship a few blocks to the south. While the announcement of Apple's plans several weeks ago had been accompanied by glowing remarks from city politicians, critics have pointed to a long blank wall along Stockton Street and the removal of a popular fountain behind the store as significant issues for the plans.

The Chronicle now follows up on the situation, quoting San Francisco mayor Ed Lee as saying that he hadn't realized Apple's plans called for removal of the fountain and reporting that he would be taking another look to see if it could be kept.

"We weren't necessarily focused on that side," Lee said, referring to a plaza along Stockton Street where the fountain stands. "It wasn't part of our discussion." [...]

"I need to take a look and visualize" how the fountain would or would not complement Apple's proposal for a raised narrow plaza between its store and the Grand Hyatt. The hotel tower was built in tandem with the plaza and the retail building in the early 1970s. "We have to see whether it might fit in."

Lee also addressed the issue of the 80 foot-long blank wall along Stockton Street, noting that city officials had raised objections to it during initial discussions and that Apple had been "very receptive" to those concerns. The city places distinct emphasis on activating the street-level experience in the pedestrian-oriented Union Square shopping district, and Apple's plans would create a significant gap in that experience.

The project still needs to proceed through reviews by the city's planning and historic preservation commissions, and it could see tweaks as a result of discussions with those groups. Apple has not commented further on the project, and the Grand Hyatt hotel that owns the property and fountain simply notes that "it's too premature" to address whether there may be changes to the proposal.

Apple today made a quiet update to its iPod touch lineup, launching a new 16 GB fifth-generation model without a rear camera for $229. The new iPod touch, which is only available with a black front and silver back, replaces the fourth-generation iPod touch that Apple had continued to offer since the introduction of new models late last year. The new model is available now in Apple's online store and should be available in the company's retail stores starting tomorrow.

Apple introduced the redesigned fifth-generation iPod touch last September with the same 4-inch display seen on the iPhone 5 and a number of other enhancements. But with the new hardware pushing the entry-level price to $299 for a 32 GB model, Apple decided to continue offering the fourth-generation models at cheaper $199 (16 GB) and $249 (32 GB) price points.

Now, with production on the fifth-generation models having been underway for roughly eight months, Apple has found a way to shave costs through both natural component cost declines and the removal of several features to be able to offer a stripped-down fifth-generation model at pricing close to that previously offered for the fourth-generation models. Beyond the loss of a rear camera, the new entry-level iPod touch also omits Apple's "Loop" wrist strap introduced on the fifth-generation models last year.

Earlier this year, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo had predicted that Apple would discontinue the fourth-generation iPod touch in favor of a stripped-down fifth-generation model without a rear camera. Kuo had believed that Apple would introduce an 8 GB version of that device for $199, but Apple apparently decided that 16 GB of storage should be the minimum for the iPod touch lineup.

Apple today announced that it will once again hold its monthlong iTunes Festival in London this year, with 30 nights of concerts at The Roundhouse during the month of September. The full schedule of performances is yet to be announced, but Apple has revealed that the lineup will include Justin Timberlake, Thirty Seconds to Mars, Jack Johnson and Jessie J.

“This year’s iTunes Festival is the best ever with an incredible lineup of global superstars and stellar emerging artists,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “Music fans around the world are going to love watching this incredible month of music, whether in London at the Roundhouse or on their iOS device. We’re honored so many renowned artists are part of this year’s lineup.”

Free tickets for the concerts are available through iTunes in a lottery system, with media partners in the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Europe, Japan and Mexico also giving away tickets as part of promotional competitions. The concerts will also be broadcast via iOS app, iTunes on the computer, and Apple TV.

Apple also typically releases a series of live EPs from each year's shows through the iTunes Store.

Apple traditionally sponsored the iTunes Festival each July since its inception in 2007, but last year moved the festival to September and has opted to keep to that schedule for 2013. More details on the concert lineup and schedule will be released over the coming weeks and months.

Apple has hired at least a dozen former AMD graphics engineers for its Orlando offices in recent months, according to a MacRumors review of employees' LinkedIn profiles.

The majority of hires, which include a graphics architect, hardware engineer and others, occurred in January of this year.

AMD laid off a number of employees last year in a corporate reorganization, and fired more in January. It seems likely that Apple hired a number of the laid off Orlando AMD engineers for a new team it's building in the region.

The company has also posted new job listings for Site Managers to head GPU teams in both Orlando and Cupertino.

These hires and new listings are in addition to job listings posted last month for chip engineers for its Orlando Design Center.

Site Manager

Job Number: 27994768 - Orlando, Florida, United States

Job Summary

Manager will be responsible for leading the Orlando GPU team to deliver high quality IP to specification and on schedule.

Key Qualifications

- 10+ years proven experience leading high performance GFX (or equivalent complexity) IP development teams
- 5+ years proven experience building/hiring medium/large (30+) complex ASIC IP development teams
- Excellent personnel management, mentoring, team building and hiring abilities
- Proven ability to manage parallel project efforts including effective resource/schedule planning & tracking
- Excellent written/verbal communication and project management skills
- Experience with GFX Architecture/Design, GFX APIs and overall GFX development is a significant plus
- Ability to work well in a cross-site team and be productive under aggressive schedules

The new job listings ask for extensive experience in building and leading teams, including hiring, mentoring, and more. They also focus on intellectual property development as well. The listings in both Cupertino and Orlando are identical.

Apple's interest in GPUs (Graphics Processing Unit) and CPUs coincides with an effort to develop more of its technology in house. Apple is a licensee for ARM and Imagination Technology, which power the company's iPhones and iPads.

Apple is continuing to seek improved supply-chain risk management by shifting more of its manufacturing needs from its longtime partner Foxconn to Pegatron, notes The Wall Street Journal in a new report that suggests Pegatron will be responsible for the assembly of Apple's low cost iPhone.

Pegatron Corp., named after the flying horse Pegasus, will be the primary assembler of a low-cost iPhone expected to be offered later this year. Foxconn's smaller rival across town became a minor producer of iPhones in 2011 and began making iPad Mini tablet computers last year.

Pegatron's rise means an end to the monopoly that Foxconn Technology Group—the trade name for Hon Hai Precision Industry, the world's largest electronics contract manufacturer—has held over the production of Apple's mobile products.

According to the report, the change is meant to help Apple expand its product lines and prevent supply chain disasters that could hold up the production of Apple's devices. At launch, the iPhone 5 was criticized for its tendency to scratch and scuff, which eventually led to increased quality control standards to reduce out-of-the-box issues.

Foxconn executives admitted last year that the iPhone 5 was difficult to assemble, and an April rumor suggested that Apple returned 5–8 million defective iPhone 5s to the company after continued issues with quality control.

Foxconn, in its growing heft as the world's largest electronics contract company, was also getting more difficult for Apple to control, with incidents such as changing component sourcing without notifying Apple, people familiar with the matter said. At the same time, Foxconn became frustrated with the growing complexity of Apple products, such as the iPhone 5, which is difficult to make in the volumes Apple needed.

In addition to cutting down on the risk of production issues, Pegatron is also said to have accepted less profit in order to secure orders from Apple. Tim Cook, too, is said to be responsible for the change, as he is more interested in diversification than maintaining a strong relationship with Foxconn chairman Terry Gou.

Despite being a smaller manufacturing partner, Pegatron has a long history with Apple. The company was responsible for packaging Apple's first generation iBooks, and as noted above, began assembling a small number iPhones for Apple in 2011. Currently, Pegatron produces the lion's share of Apple's iPad minis.

Apple's low cost iPhone could bring in huge profits for the smaller supply partner, as it is said to be aimed at untapped emerging markets. Earlier this month, Pegatron announced that it would boost its workforce by 40%, fueling initial rumors that the company would produce the cheaper iPhone.

The low cost iPhone is expected to come with an unsubsidized price tag between $350-$400. Release dates for the device have been murky, with sources targeting both a late 2013 release and a 2014 release.

At the All Things Digital D11 conference today Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers partner Mary Meeker published her 2013 Internet Trends report, a 117 slide presentation that covers a range of topics from Internet usage and traffic to mobile device growth trends.

Unsurprisingly, mobile adoption continues to grow. Both Apple and Samsung have experienced enormous smartphone market share unit growth over the past two years, with Apple going from 16% share in Q1 2010 to 22% share in Q4 2012 and Samsung growing from 4% to 29% during the same time period.

Tablet growth has exploded as well, outpacing even smartphone growth. When comparing the first 12 quarters after launch, iPad shipments ramped up three times more quickly than iPhone shipments.

In fact, tablet shipments surpassed both desktop PC and notebook shipments in the fourth quarter of 2012, less than three years after tablets surged in popularity. A similar report from IDC earlier this week confirms the rapid tablet growth, estimating that yearly tablet shipments will surpass notebook shipments by 2013 and the total PC market in 2015.

Other highlights from the report include overall smartphone growth, which is up 28% year over year in the United States and 31% in China, and mobile internet traffic, which now accounts for 15% of total global internet traffic.

Following Tim Cook's appearance at D11 last night, respected Apple journalist Jim Dalrymple has posted his expectations for Apple's WWDC Keynote next month.

It's not clear if Dalrymple, who is known to have excellent contacts at Apple, is passing on something in particular from the company or it's just a summary of what he expects ahead of WWDC.

Dalrymple writes that he doesn't expect a new iPhone or iPad model, largely because the devices are flagship products and would have their own, separate media events. Instead, he believes that the Mac wouldn't warrant its own event -- but an announcement of Mac updates would fit well at WWDC.

The Mac is still an important part of what Apple does, but I don’t know that Apple would hold a special event specifically for a Mac product anymore. If they did, it would have to be quite a spectacular product.

For me, the Mac products fit well with a Tim Cook keynote at WWDC. That’s all I really expect from Apple in the way of hardware at the conference.

Finally, Dalrymple expects Apple to show off new versions of both the Mac and iOS operating systems, which Tim Cook confirmed last night at D11. A number of previous reports have claimed that much of the iOS user interface would receive a Jony Ive-led revamping, with a "flatter" design and fewer skeuomorphic elements.

Last month, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said Apple's notebook line would receive updates at WWDC, with non-Retina models shipping soon after WWDC and Retina machines shipping later due to production bottlenecks on the displays.

A number of reports have suggested that Apple will introduce new iPhone and iPad models this fall, including a Retina-display equipped iPad mini, as well as a new iPhone model perhaps equipped with a fingerprint sensor.