rumors

Rumor of the day: New slim MacBooks coming soon

Since we can't seem to go more than 10 minutes without some kind of Apple news, it's not surprising that another round of Mac rumors are making their way across the Interwebs this morning.

According to the Web site 9to5mac.com, which correctly called the new iPod Nano design last month, Apple is planning a new line of super slim laptops, with a sleek aluminum design. They offer the following predictions:

Black aluminum and silver aluminum (like MacBook Pros) Considerably slimmer than current MacBook and even the MacBook Pro The screen reaches much closer to the edges than … Read more

Report: Facebook may be headed for data storage

Remember when Facebook was just a way to "poke" that kid who sat in front of you in macroeconomics class? Yeah, that was a long time ago. Rev2 reported on Sunday that technobabble on the Facebook Developer Wiki may be hinting that the "social utility" wants to expand into data storage.

So far, this appears to only apply to developers who have created applications on the Facebook Platform and have until this point provided their own data storage for the apps. A Facebook data storage plan would allow them to rent or purchase storage (or perhaps, … Read more

Comcast may be acquiring BuddyTV.com

Citing ever-shadowy "sources," PaidContent reported Sunday that oft-maligned cable giant Comcast is in the process of acquiring television fandom site BuddyTV.com. No financial details were specified.

PaidContent blogger Joseph Weisenthal speculates that BuddyTV will be integrated in one way or another into Comcast's still-in-beta Fancast site, a Web video and community hub that it launched in August. Comcast, whose Comcast Interactive Media division has been attempting to craft an extensive Web 2.0-savvy social media strategy, also purchased movie ticket site Fandango in April.

BuddyTV representatives allegedly denied the allegation initially and then clammed up; we'… Read more

Google Phone to follow iPhone?

I recently wrote about interesting rumors of a Google browser, and now there are strong rumblings of a Google phone. Of course, just like the browser, this is something that has bubbled to the surface several times over the years, but equally like the browser, the newest rumors seem to have the strongest merit yet.

Tech gadget sites Gizmodo and CrunchGear are reporting that the alleged "Gphone" will be produced in Taiwan and is expected launch sometime in the first quarter of 2008. Alleged functionality -- and this would make total sense -- includes Gmail and calendar functions; … Read more

Is MTV working on a branded social network?

Do we really need another social networking site? Apparently so, and we're not talking about start-ups here.

What we're hearing--and this is industry cocktail-party gossip, albeit a very believable variety thereof--is that MTV Networks is working on its own social network and we'll be hearing more about it pretty soon. We don't have a name, or a target demographic (Teens? College kids? Young adults?) or any semblance of screenshots. This is so hush-hush, in fact, that we aren't even sure whether it's an MTV Networks (as in MTV, VH1, MTV2, Spike TV and the … Read more

Confirmed: Sprint's Q4 lineup

Ooooweee--those are some pretty enticing photos. It seems Engadget Mobile got its hands on some marketing material from Sprint about the carrier's upcoming portfolio of smart phones and cell phones for Q4, and if true, we think a lot of Sprint customers will be pleased by it.

On tap, we've got the HTC Touch with its innovative touch screen; the RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8130 (aka BlackBerry Pearl 2), rocking EV-DO and GPS; the Palm Centro, the company's slimmest smart phone with EV-DO support; and finally, the LG Rumor, a slide-out QWERTY device with a focus on social … Read more

Is Facebook ready to stuff its treasure chest with more booty?

Another day, another clump of Facebook financial dirt.

Kara Swisher at All Things Digital wrote early Tuesday that "according to sources," Facebook is considering the possibility of a massive new investment round. If this turns out to be true, it could lift the company's much-talked-about valuation even further into the stratosphere. Facebook's last investment round, a $25 million bounty in 2006, pushed its pre-money valuation to about $525 million. This rumored new round, which Swisher claims is "well beyond" that scope, could solidify Facebook's position in the $6 billion to $10 billion club (… Read more

Report: Major Apple event coming Sept. 5

With rumors of new iPods heating up, fresh news comes of a trademarked Apple "special event" to be held in two weeks.

Ars Technica's Infinite Loop is reporting that unidentified Apple sources have brought word of an upcoming Apple event scheduled for September 5. While Infinite Loop's sources were unable to specify the exact details of what is coming, they signed off on a general reading of AppleInsider's recent report that a series of new iPods are on tap.

There will be at least one new iPod, according to Infinite Loop's sources, but details … Read more

Report: Facebook may be solving that little 'revenue' problem

Throughout Facebook's recent and meteoric rise, one of the detractors raised by skeptics has continually been the social networking site's failure to show concrete proof of a strong revenue model.

But that all might change very soon.

According to a report on the Wall Street Journal's Web site, the social network is "quietly" assembling a new advertising model that will take advantage of the copious personal information that its members post on their profiles. These new advertisements would not be in the form of traditional graphical advertisements but would rather pepper the "news feed&… Read more