rumors

Rumor: Dell to reveal Android-based handset next month?

Dell has long been rumored to be working on a handset, and the latest speculation is that Google will be part of those plans.

MarketingWeek reported Wednesday that the two companies are teaming up on a handset based on Google's Android mobile platform, and the official announcement will come at next month's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The report cites "senior industry sources," but notes that Google insiders are denying any such announcement is imminent.

Dell isn't talking either. Company spokesman David Frink told CNET News.com that the Marketing Week report is "speculative&… Read more

Underexposed blog: Links of the day

Nikon lens rumors: (24mm tilt-shift, 60mm macro, and 16-85mm VR): DPReview forum -- The 16-85mm VR looks closer to reality. The tilt-shift model would be interesting--that was a longtime Canon advantage. Rumored Nikon D60 details: Digital Photography Review -- Some purported details of the now widely rumored Nikon D60 SLR have bubbled up on the DP Review forum. Nikon releases D80 firmware version 1.10 -- Windows Vista compatibility, USB Media Transfer Protocol now supported, and tweaks to longer-exposure noise reduction. iStockphoto rolls back international price increase -- A 2008 price change increased fees for European buyers because of exchange … Read more

On Wednesday, CBS and Last.fm will announce...something

CBS has alerted media that on Wednesday morning, the company will be announcing "a new unprecedented service" involving social music service Last.fm, which it purchased last year. On hand will be Leslie Moonves, president and CEO of the CBS Corp.; Quincy Smith, president of the CBS Interactive division; as well as Felix Miller and Martin Stixsel, two of Last.fm's three co-founders.

So what is this "new unprecedented service?" PaidContent says it's hearing that CBS plans to use Last.fm's social recommendation engine (its "scrobbling" technology) and apply it to … Read more

Report: European Founders Fund invests in Facebook?

A trio of German entrepreneurs-turned-investors may have invested in Facebook, TechCrunch wrote Tuesday.

The European Founders Fund, consisting of thirtysomething brothers Alexander, Marc and Oliver Samwer, has reportedly put out a "very brief press release" explaining that they have invested in the Palo Alto, Calif.-based social-networking site. An exact amount was not disclosed.

The investment firm was not immediately available for comment.

It's no secret that Facebook has been hunting for new investors ever since it was pegged with a whopping $15 billion valuation following Microsoft's famous purchase of a $240 million stake. Some of … Read more

This week in laptops

Bjork fans sing along: It's oh, so quiet / Shhh, shhh / it's oh, so still / Shhh, shhh...

Few manufacturers want to interrupt the holiday buying season with new product announcements; why make the stuff currently sitting on shelves seem obsolete? Besides, two major shows--CES and Macworld--are just around the corner. So this week was filled with a little news and a lot of speculation.

First up: Apple. Matt Elliott redefined our notion of gadget lust in his write-up about the LED-backlit MacBooks, which are reportedly on the way in time for Macworld. But who wouldn't get a little … Read more

News Corp. reportedly buys something--but it's Beliefnet, not LinkedIn or Digg

There must have been something afoot in the crisp, early-December air that hinted News Corp. mogul Rupert Murdoch was in the market for a new Web acquisition. But, contrary to rumors, it isn't social news site Digg or business networking hub LinkedIn.

Rather, the media conglomerate is rumored to have purchased religion and spirituality site Beliefnet, according to a report from the FishbowlNY blog at Mediabistro. The blog received an "anonymous tip" that prompted a call to Beliefnet, resulting in an odd no-we-won't-deny-it comment that convinced FishbowlNY editor Noah Davis that it was pretty much a … Read more

Don't expect News Corp. to buy LinkedIn any time soon

Recently, a number of conflicting rumors have been spinning around over media mogul News Corp. potentially wanting to fork over as much as $1 billion for business-oriented social network LinkedIn. Would it sell? Would it really cost that much? Or is it all a load of misinformation?

I met with LinkedIn CEO Dan Nye on Monday while he made the rounds at an NYC press tour, and the company's official comment on the LinkedIn rumors is, well, no comment. However, while speaking about the projected growth of the company from its status as a partner in Google's OpenSocial initiative … Read more

Rumors: Pentax K20, K200 debut in January

The latest rumor has it that Pentax plans to announce two new SLR models, the K20D and K200D, on January 24, a week before the Photo Marketing Association trade show that begins.

A now-defunct discussion thread on a Chinese Web site, helpfully archived at DCHome.net and supplemented by postings at Bigbigcar.com and PhotoMalaysia forums, includes a few supposed details about models that would presumably replace the K10D and K100D:

The alleged K20D has a 14-megapixel sensor of the smaller APS-C size, a 14-bit analog-to-digital converter (for better tonal gradations than typical 12-bit converters but leading to larger raw … Read more

Wall Street Journal digs Digg. Should we read into this?

Update 4:20 a.m. Wednesday: Information from a Digg representative has been added.

Kevin Rose, founder of social news aggregator Digg, posted a quick blog entry on Tuesday night about his site's new relationship with Rupert Murdoch's latest accessory, The Wall Street Journal.

"The Wall Street Journal online is adding Digg buttons across the entire site, and you'll now have full (free) access to the articles submitted to Digg," Rose wrote. "The Digg buttons have started appearing on WSJ.com articles tonight."

The "full free access" part is key. While … Read more