rumors

Google shouldn't buy Apple. Google should buy Venus.

The second planet from the sun remains an untapped market for search, and the overall opportunity for desktop applications has yet to be taken over by Microsoft, giving the search giant the chance to establish a working lab for its plans to move into online applications.

Plus, if science fiction films are to be believed, people from other planets often dress in flowing robes and have nightclub haircuts, which would fit in nicely with the hipster motif down in Mountain View, Calif.

It's either that, or they should develop a … Read more

Web-based instant messaging and chat service Meebo is planning to raise $25-30 million in venture funding, VentureBeat reported Monday.

This would likely peg Meebo's valuation at between $200 and $250 million, a whole lot more than the $60-70 million that it was reportedly worth after a funding round last year. As VentureBeat's Matt Marshall noted, investment banking flop Bear Stearns was just sold for $236 million. Never mind that reports show venture funding may be drying up and the economic forecast hasn't been getting any better recently.

Meebo, which is supported by advertising revenue, has reportedly hired … Read more

Sex. Money. Incriminating instant messages. From the news that's been pouring in recently, you'd think Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales were the tech industry's own Client No. 9.

In a series of embarrassing peccadilloes that were originally relegated to gossip blogs like Valleywag, Wales' failed relationship with former Fox News commentator Rachel Marsden took center stage when Marsden "leaked" some of their online chats to the Web and made quite the public display of auctioning some of his clothes on eBay. The usual blog storm followed: photos of other women with whom Wales had reportedly been … Read more

According to a post on Gizmodo last week, which came to them via a posting to DPReview's forums, which apparently may have originated at PhotographyBay, and has nothing to do with the fact that Ferris Bueller was seen passed out at 31 Flavors last night, Canon may be announcing a follow-up to the EOS 5D in April. I always find these rumors to be very silly, since it's really easy to come up with a wish list of what you want to see in the camera and then hide behind an anonymous source while your heart fills with … Read more

Other than to call for a cab, something tells us that new phones won't be on too many people's minds this St. Patrick's Day. But if you adhere to some strange custom by which gifts are exchanged every March 17, LG has a handset that's made to order.

The "Rumor" has been around for awhile, but SlashPhone says a special green version has been made available to Sprint customers just in time for the occasion. Other than the color, the handset seems to have the same features as earlier models, including a built-in GPS … Read more

Facebook plans to launch an instant-messaging application for members to embed on their profiles as early as next week, TechCrunch reported Friday.

Details are sketchy, but it appears that this will be a Web-based IM service that would allow Facebook users to chat with other people on their friends lists without needing to go through a third-party program. Additionally, TechCrunch's Michael Arrington detailed, the service would likely be based on the Jabber open-source platform, which would mean that third-party "universal IM" clients like Pidgin, Trillian, and Adium would be able to implement it.

Facebook representatives were not … Read more

The New York Post's Keith Kelly reported on Thursday that Jossip, a small New York-based blog network that operates a number of media- and entertainment-focused titles, is up for sale.

Kelly wrote that Jossip has hired investment bank Sperry, Mitchell, & Co. to explore potential buyer interest, though he cited a "wild rumor" that media giant Conde Nast may already be interested.

The blogs in Jossip's network include the eponymous Jossip, a New York-focused media and entertainment gossip blog; the Los Angeles-centric celebrity rag Mollygood; gay lifestyle title Queerty; and African-American culture blog Stereohyped.

It's … Read more

Social news site Digg, a perpetual target of acquisition rumors, normally addresses the "is _____ buying you?" questions with a "no comment" answer. Not this time.

Jay Adelson, the company's CEO, posted a blog entry on Friday in response to a rampant rumor that Microsoft, Google, and two major media companies were placing bids on the hot start-up's price tag. A sizeable number of avid Digg users were thrown into panic mode over the prospect of a corporate parent. Adelson appeared to deny the rumors outright.

"Normally our policy is to not comment … Read more

If every blog rumor were to be believed, social news site Digg would have been bought a dozen times over by now, so take the latest one with the requisite grain of salt.

TechCrunch reported early on Friday that four companies are in the running to place bids on Digg--Microsoft, Google, and two unidentified "media companies"--and that a sale may happen soon. It'll likely be less than the $300 million that Digg was once rumored to go for; TechCrunch's Michael Arrington cited sources who said that Google is prepared to bid $200 million to $225 … Read more