TechCrunch’s MG Siegler this morning reports that Apple (AAPL) has been “negotiating a deal in recent months” with Nuance Communications (NUAN), the provider of voice-recognition software, citing multiple anonymous sources.

Siegler notes that Siri, a startup that Apple bought last year for “personal assistant” functions, uses Nuance’s technology. Siegler opines Nuance could be “a big part of iOS 5,” with numerous patents on voice technology. A Nuance founder, Mike Cohen, helped develop Google’s (GOOG) voice recognition technology, Siegler notes.

Siegler says a variety of possibilities are “on the table,” including an acquisition of Nuance by Apple, though he concludes that’s unlikely at the moment.

Nuance shares today are up $1.46, or 7.3%, at $21.56. Nuance has a market capitalization of $6.5 billion.

Article courtesy of Tech Trader Daily

Yes, the streaming video service that David Pogue wrote about in The New York Times today is indeed swamped, it would appear: Zediva.com says on its Web site it is not taking anymore signups for the moment as its “registration is temporarily full.”

Pogue writes today that the company is an attractive alternative to Netflix (NFLX) and other streaming video. Instead of negotiating rights to stream movies as Netflix does, the company simply buys tons of copies of the latest DVDs and puts them online, and lets its users pull the video feed from those discs over the Internet.

Netflix shares today are up $2.17, or 1%, at $216.01.

Article courtesy of Tech Trader Daily

Raymond James chip analyst Hans Mosesmann this morning writes that the DRAM and NAND flash chip markets are likely to become “more volatile in the near-term before stabilization” as a result of last week’s earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Japan.

Mosesmann notes that spot prices for DRAM chips were up 6% to 7% “overnight,” and that should boost contract prices for the chips as well. Micron Technology (MU) should benefit, as its facilities are not in Japan, he notes.

SanDisk (SNDK), however, with the bulk of manufacturing for NAND in Japan, through its joint venture with Toshiba (TOSBF), though “we expect modest impact at the moment.”

Mosesmann reiterated a Strong Buy rating on Micron and a Buy rating on SanDisk.

Micron shares today are up 28 cents, or 2.7%, at $10.51, while SNDK stock is down 85 cents, or 2%, at $44.22.

Previously: SNDK: NAND Prices Likely To Rise, Says UBS, March 14th, 2011.

Article courtesy of Tech Trader Daily

Like a Thai hooker with the clap.

The New York-based firm, which oversees roughly $19 billion in assets, plans to lower its fees to a 2.5 percent management fee and a 25 percent performance fee, said the person, who was not permitted to speak about the matter publicly. The move comes only a few weeks after D.E. Shaw, founded more than two decades ago by David Shaw, delivered fresh disappointing performance numbers, the investor said.

Previously, the firm charged a 3 percent management fee plus a 30 percent performance fee.

Considering the measures taken indicate they’re desperate to hold on to customers, you can most likely negotiate practically anything (no minimum, no lock-up) and maybe even try stuff in the moment that you never agreed to earlier (come in and trade for a day) and it’ll go by without much argument.

DE Shaw Cuts Fees [Reuters]

Related: Absurd Speculation That SAC Capital Might Lower Its Fees On Account Of Investor Demand Can Be Nipped In The Bud Right Now

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

There’s one person in particular the government seems to just be dying to get it’s hands on but up until this moment, no one has had the vaguest clue– none whatsoever!– as to who it could possibly be, nor has there been nary a hint. Until now.

Mr. Gasparino said, “Regulatory sources are telling the FOX Business Network that the FBI, the Justice Department, are using the same techniques they used against the mobs and against terrorists. There is a gentleman in the middle they want to snare.”

“Sources are telling us among those top players in the middle Steve Cohen the head of SAC Capital is clearly on the radar screen. The lower level guys are the people they are looking to arrest, flip, gain information from, and make the case against the top guy. It is classic mob related, terrorist related investigation.”

[Benzinga via BI]

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

How many times have you sat in a meeting only to be called on by your boss to answer a question you’re not even sure he’s speaking English on? How many times has Steve Cohen called you on a Sunday night and peppered you with brain busters about a company you’re supposed to know inside and out but in this case have never heard of, which is not an acceptable response? How many times has the FBI made an unannounced visit to your office demanding to see you break dance on the trading floor or they’re shutting the place down, and you can’t even box step?

Called out, you probably fumbled around, giving entirely unconvincing answers (filled with lots of ‘umms’ and lines like ‘it depends what the meaning of is is’) and did something that resembled a busted Macarena. Business leaders of tomorrow who graduate from MIT’s Sloan school of business will fare better when put on the spot, as their course catalogue now includes a class on ‘improv.’

A group of MBA students at MIT’s Sloan School of Management tossed aside their briefcases and book bags this month to flex their creative muscles, doing everything from playing an imaginary game of soccer to inventing office conflicts. The second-year MBA students were participating in a leadership class called “Improvisational Leadership: In the Moment Leadership Skills,” according to a release from the Sloan School. The acting class is the latest step by a leading business school to integrate creative arts and drama into the business school curriculum. It’s a trend that has been brewing for several years at a small but growing number of business schools…The financial crisis and shaky economy has heightened the need for this type of training, which brings lessons from psychology and theater to business education, said actress Daena Giardella. Students are asked to examine their habits and default responses and come up with new ways to approach the situation, without a script in hand, she said.

“We need these skills so we can adapt to new circumstances to come up with new fixes,” Giardella said. “If there has ever been a time when there is a need for great spontaneous communicators who can be in the moment, embrace change, and make things happen, it’s now.” The three-hour, once-a-week class has some readings and two required papers, but the majority of the class grade comes from class participation and scenes and monologues that students are expected to enact on the spot. For example, in one scene a student played a boss who was annoyed with an employee who didn’t respond to e-mails. In another, students banded together to form a corporate team that was frustrated when a member who was planning to leave hadn’t yet told the team leader.

MBA Brings Improv To The Classroom [BW]

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

Eric Savitz, one of the best damn bloggers despite being sans portfolio, for the moment, is still at it.

My good friend Eric Savitz, who left these halls a week ago, is back on the case, I’m happy to report. He’s been using Posterous, an apparently very efficient and streamlined blogging [...]

Article courtesy of BARRONS.com: Tech Trader Daily

Reuters’s Nadia Damouni and Megan Davies this afternoon report private equity firm Bain Capital has lost interest in bidding for disk drive maker Seagate (STX), citing anonymous sources, leaving TPG Capital (the former Texas Pacific Group) the sole bidder at the moment, after KKR (KKR) previously lost interest.
TPG has been [...]

Article courtesy of BARRONS.com: Tech Trader Daily

Slow news day, for the moment, but plenty of rumors to fill the void amidst a down market: the Nasdaq Composite is currently off 42 points at 2,472.
Shares of security software developer Sourcefire (FIRE) are up 22 cents, or 1%, at $23.73 amidst talk the company could be a take-out [...]

Article courtesy of BARRONS.com: Tech Trader Daily

Looking for a new gig (or a gig period)? Disheartened by the dearth of openings in the industry at the moment? Itching for the chance to get all up in UBS’s face? If you’re under 37, in “prime physical condition” and can shoot a gun, the IRS wants you for its Criminal Investigation Divsion, which is now hiring. [FINS]

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker