Following up on an earlier rumor that Siri would soon support Mandarin Chinese, Russian and Japanese languages, 9to5Mac noticed that if Siri is actually asked what languages it supports, Japanese is listed as one of the options.

Apple has cut its minimum iAd buy-in fee to $100,000 according to a report from Advertising Age . The new lower price, one-tenth the $1 million originally required when iAd launched in July of 2010, dropped to $500k and then $300k per package . Even the $300k level has apparently not been enough to keep existing advertisers on board and bring on new ones to meet the ever-growing number of ad slots available.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has just completed a Q&A session with analyst Bill Shope at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference. While we liveblogged the event with a rough transcript of Cook's comments, here are a few of the highlights: - Worker safety : Addressing ongoing publicity about working conditions at Apple's suppliers' facilities, Cook reiterated his position that no company is doing more or being more transparent about the issue than Apple

Apple CEO Tim Cook will speak at the Goldman Sachs Technology Conference today at 3:30PM Eastern / 12:30PM Pacific.

Soon after rumors of Apple's plans for entering the television market began to gain significant momentum late last year, analysts noted that the industry's existing players were already "scrambling" to react to Apple's likely entry and its chances of remaking the industry. But perhaps not all television manufacturers are sweating Apple's arrival, as Pocket-lint reports on comments from a Samsung product manager indicating that his company is confident that its massive investment in picture quality improvements will trump anything Apple might be able to put together in other areas

The Mooresville, North Carolina district is one of a handful in the country to issue laptops, the MacBook Air in this case, to each student. Mooresville is attempting to turn the public school education on its head, using technology to change the culture of instruction. The district was profiled in the New York Times on Monday.

Earlier this week, we noted that Chinese authorities had begun seizing iPad stocks from a small number of retailers over Apple's alleged infringement of a disputed "iPad" trademark.

We've been covering Apple's forthcoming Amsterdam retail store with interest for some time now, as it will be the company's first location in the Netherlands. While development has been slowed by historic preservation issues, rumors last month suggested that the store could open on February 18

The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple is working with suppliers on a smaller iPad carrying a display in the range of 8 inches on the diagonal, down from the 9.7-inch display in the current iPad but still larger than the 7-inch display found in the Kindle Fire. Officials at some of Apple's suppliers, who declined to be named, said the Cupertino, Calif.-based company has shown them screen designs for a new device with a screen size of around 8-inches, and said it is qualifying suppliers for it

When looking at the Dock, it can be difficult to tell when a running Mac app has been hidden from view. But with a quick Terminal command, hidden app icons can fade into the background with lowered opacity.