Banner Year For Unfounded Tech Rumors - 2008

[vicked.vicky]

For the businesses worldwide, 2008 may not have been a good year. However, it was a banner year for unfounded tech rumors. Face it, everyone loves a juicy rumor...



10. Diggsoft or DigGoogle?

Digg was the rumor golden boy in 2008, with either Microsoft or Google rumored to buy the social-bookmarking site. The Internet blogged, Twittered, and Dugg up a storm theorizing on whom Digg founder, Kevin Rose, would end up in bed with. In the end, it was no one.



9. Google Phone Delayed Until 2009

Tales of the GPhone delay started out modest. At first there weren't enough Android developers out there, according to sources. People theorized that Microsoft, Apple, Research In Motion, and Nokia had absorbed all the developers, and so none could be bothered to make Android apps. But the rumor bomb dropped when the Wall Street Journal announced that the first Android device would not come until the second half of 2009.



8. Zune Phone

The more Microsoft insisted it had no Zune phone in development, the louder the rumors about the device's imminent release became. Microsoft never gave people any good reason to expect a Zune phone, but from July through December 2008, you could find various reports from The Inquirer and mock-ups from Wired of imagined Zune-phone hybrids. Closer to reality, perhaps, were rumors that the Zune might soon sport a touch screen.



7. The iPhone Nano

First, we expected to see a miniature iPhone, dubbed the iPhone Nano, at Macworld in January 2008. That never happened. Then people hoped that 25 million iPhone Nanos would arrive in time for Christmas. That never happened. But maybe the third time will be the charm for the iPhone Nano? The rumor du jour is that Apple will release a smaller, cheaper iPhone at Macworld in January 2009.



6. Xbox in a Blu-ray Player

Some Microsoft Xbox 360 users really wanted to play Blu-ray discs on their favorite game console. And just like that, someone came along with the wacky idea of having an Xbox 360 in a Blu-ray player. The suggestion was to have hardware that could run Xbox 360 game discs created by a party other than Microsoft--something like the Panasonic Q, which launched in 2001 in Japan and could play both regular DVDs and GameCube games.



5. The $100 Midget PC Hoax

The concept of a small netbook or a large UMPC called a "Midget PC" sounded plausible. Perhaps it's only natural that a company would introduce a stripped-down model for around $100. So when the rumors grew louder about a tiny Midget PC netbook, everyone thought it would be interesting. One telltale sign that it was bogus was its name: What company would give a product such a horrible label? Turns out, no company would. This rumor proved to be a big hoax.



4. I Want My Mac Netbook, Now!

With netbooks selling like crazy this year, the idea of an Apple mini-notebook with either a multitouch display or a smaller shape seemed inevitable. Analysts say that, due to the weak economy, netbooks might just be the right market for Apple to penetrate. Steve Jobs has categorically denied any forthcoming Apple mini-notebook, end of story.



3. The Trials and Tribulations of Yahoo

Have you heard the latest Yahoo rumor? You probably have, because the only way to avoid Yahoo rumors is by living under a rock. One big fat Yahoo rumor in February claimed that Microsoft would gobble up Yahoo for a whopping $46 billion. That never materialized. Yahoo's then CEO, Jerry Yang, reportedly refused Microsoft's offer and sought an advertising deal with Microsoft rival Google. That didn't work out too well, either. More speculation followed the MicroHoo rumor. One included AOL's possible merging with Yahoo. But the Microsoft-to-buy-Yahoo rumor just wouldn't quit.



2. Shock! Horror! Obama Owns a Zune!

In what would become known as ZuneGate, a contributor to a Philadelphia news weekly reported that, in December, when he was working out one morning, he was surprised by president-elect Barack Obama, who joined him at the gym. According to writer Neal Santos, Obama "hopped on the machine next to me [at the gym] and broke a mean sweat while reading a copy of USA Today and listening to his Zune." The news Obama that used a Zune drove a bitter partisan wedge between the Apple and Zune camps. Unfortunately for Zune fans, the rumor was short-lived.



1. Steve Jobs Dead? Not So Fast, Shorty!

The biggest bogus rumors of 2008 is Steve Jobs's alleged heart attack. This farce has the same roots as the bogus Midget PC: citizen journalism. A CNN iReport stated: "Steve Jobs was suffering a major heart attack." Twitter was aflutter over the news. Apple stocks fell sharply. Even the Securities and Exchange Commission launched an investigation into the iReport. In the end investigators found that an 18-year-old had spread the rumor. But shortly after the "news" broke, Apple representatives reassured everyone that Jobs was fine. And the world sighed in relief.