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Update: AllThingsD reports that Apple is simply acquiring Color's talent, leaving the rest of the company to be wound down.

Everyone seems to be getting mixed signals about Color, the controversial and high-profile startup that started as a photo-sharing app but never could find its groove.

Color is well-known for three things: founder Bill Nguyen (a veteran of the tech industry with a history of exits), raising $41 million prelaunch, and its failure to turn Nguyen's knowledge and that cash into traction.

The rumor mill started with a VentureBeat article claiming that Color's board had voted to … Read more

Color Labs founder Bill Nguyen has a relationship with Apple. In 2009, the tech giant bought one of his startups called Lala for $80 million.

Now, rumor has it that Apple may be after his Color Labs too.

According to The Next Web, sources say that Apple has picked up the startup for a price in the "high double digits," and the deal is final even though papers aren't yet signed.

Color made a big splash when it launched last year as a location-based photo-sharing app for iOS and Android. Its charismatic founder, Nguyen, won big backers, … Read more

Color Labs, according to a representative authorized to speak on the company's behalf, is not closing down.

But for now, that's about all that's clear at the chaotic startup that is Color. Even the representative who issued that statement said he's dealing with the press only because the person who held that job just left the company.

His statement comes after Venture Beat this morning reported that a Color vice president had sent an e-mail to employees saying that Color was winding down. "Last week, the Board and major shareholders voted to wind down the … Read more

Verizon Wireless is set to become the next wireless provider to offer carrier billing for Google Play purchases, according to unconfirmed reports. An internal Verizon screenshot obtained by Droid Life shows that the feature will be enabled later this week, specifically on October 18.

It it follows through, Verizon would be the last major U.S. carrier to adopt the billing strategy for apps, games, and other content. With that in mind, it appears that Big Red is going to employ a somewhat different tactic from the other players.

As evidenced in the photo, Verizon will put a $25 cap … Read more

Wow, suddenly that $1 billion cell phone bill I received last month doesn't seem so bad. I could have gotten a multi-quadrillion dollar bill, like poor Solenne San Jose recently did.

Yes, you read that right. San Jose, who lives in the Bordeaux region of France, received a cell phone bill late last month for 11,721,000,000,000,000 euros, or about $15 quadrillion. Lady likes to talk!

In all fairness, San Jose had been warned she would be charged a fee for terminating her contract with Bouygues Telecom early. She was not, however, told that fee would greatly exceed the GDP of France. (Or the entire world's economic output -- by a factor of 214, no less.)… Read more

Facebook partnered with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today to host an education-centered hackathon called "HackEd."

The goal of "HackEd" is to kick-off the Gates Foundation's new $2.5 million investment fund called the College Knowledge Challenge. The fund is dedicated to getting developers to build apps for students that would assist them in navigating the college process -- this means helping young folks get into school and stay there.

A preliminary analysis puts the iPhone 5's cost at $199, slightly more than the iPhone 4S.

The virtual teardown by IHS iSuppli puts the bill of materials, or BOM, at $199 for the low-end model with 16GB of NAND flash memory.

After factoring in the $8 manufacturing cost, the cost to produce the phone increases to $207, iSuppli said.

The BOM jumps to $209 for the 32GB version of the phone and $230 for the high-end 64GB version, the market researcher said.

"The iPhone 5's components are expected to be slightly more expensive compared to the iPhone … Read more

Birds were tweeting long before you started sending out 140-character messages about your daily commute. And British birdwatcher Bill Oddie doesn't want you to forget it.

So, today at least, Oddie did his part to turn Twitter over to the original tweeters of the world. He and the ZSL London Zoo's head bird keeper, Adrian Wallis, arrived early at the zoo's tropical aviary to interpret the roughly 70 residents' chirps in tweet form.

"Very territorial call from the Scarlet Chested Sunbird -- protecting its nest," read one tweet from Oddie with a sound file attached. Read another: "Here's the Roul Roul Partridge -- listen for high-pitch whistling -- a great way of keeping in touch in the dense jungle." … Read more

Apple could be shelling out $167.50 to make each 16GB iPhone 5.

At least that's according to an initial estimate calculated by research firm UBM TechInsights. Looking at the entry-level iPhone 5, the firm broke down the potential cost of each of the various components.

The new 4-inch 1136x640 pixel display costs $18 to build, the touch screen $7.50, and the battery $3. The A6 processor goes for $28, while the camera costs $10 and the built-in WiFi/Bluetooth/GPS is only $4. Add in the cost of several other components, and you end up with a … Read more