April 30 - 7:20pm EDT   As the impending 3G iPhone release approaches, rumors of its potential design, specifications, and features are abound, but some theorize that people are confusing multiple devices which could indicate an "iPhone nano". iLounge writes that select launch partners have supposedly received design templates that point to a 3.5-inch screen on the new version, countering observations that put the screen size at 2.8-inches. [full story]

January 3 - 1:25pm EST   Rumors had circulated that rap star Jay-Z and Apple would together launch a record label, but a new report from the Boy Genius Report "just about" confirms a deal. Citing a "high-up" source attached to Jay-Z, the deal is said be a go. Jay-Z is allegedly happy with the business model and wants to go ahead with the plan. The implications of Apple forging its own music label would likely send tension thundering through the already-tenuous relationships between the Cupertino-based company and its music label partners selling tracks via the iTunes Store. [full story]

December 6 - 2:15pm EST   Apple's widely rumored subnotebook is close enough to release that the company has priced it, CNBC show host Jim Goldman has said in a financial TV report broadcast today and observed by AppleInsider. The presenter refers to alleged sources close to Apple's manufacturing plants in southeast Asia who have seen the 12-inch notebook and appear to confirm earlier details of the computer, which include a design half as thin as today's systems and the use of slimmer, more efficient flash memory for storage. The device is scheduled for an announcement at Macworld San Francisco in January and will be priced at $1,500, matching the cost of the top-end 13-inch MacBook, according ... [full story]

December 6 - 9:15am EST   Apple may be preparing a significant update for the iPhone as early as this weekend that will have some heavily requested features, according to a claim from CNET France. The site points to multiple reports that a 1.1.3 upgrade for the iPhone will appear by Saturday which adds both a disk mode for storing general data on the device and a voice recording mode for capturing lectures or voice memos. The disk feature behaves like the equivalent for iPods and will still block users from simply dragging and dropping content to load the phone with playable music, CNET says. Enabling disk mode should still allow knowledgeable users to browse the content on the phone, though ... [full story]