KARYNE: Hey, I?m Karyne Levy.
EMILY: And I'm Emily Dreyfuss.
KARYNE: Welcome to Rumor Has It! This week rumors
about about a new Nook, iPhone of course, and Windows 8.
EMILY: And we?ll vote on what sounds likely, and what
seems like a pipe dream.
KARYNE: The best part is that you guys can vote too.
EMILY: Our first rumor is that Barnes & Noble is prepping a
7-inch tablet with a revolutionary screen, according to
trusted sources speaking to our very own tablet editor
David Carnoy.
KARYNE: So this next gen Nook would be Barnes & Noble?s
way of competing with the Nexus 7 and the Kindle Fire,
which the Nook Tablet really failed at.
EMILY: Right, with a little jab at Apple a la ?the special
screen.? The source tells CNET that the screen technology
was developed in-house by Barnes & Noble and hasn?t been
seen in any product before.
KARYNE: We?ve been predicting Barnes & Noble would
release a new tablet -- hell, everyone else is! It's like they
HAVE to.
EMILY: Right, so we both agree there?s a new tablet coming,
but I don?t think it will be revolutionary. The Nooks are
already great for reading books, but they need to be great
for watching media was well if they want to compete and for
that, the screen needs to be crisper and higher res. I think
that is all this will be.
KARYNE: I disagree. I think Barnes & Noble has shown
innovation in the past, with the Nook Color screen, and
could have something really different up its sleeve. Maybe
it'll be 3D, or OLED.
EMILY: If you?re watching on CNET, cast your vote now
using the thumbs up, thumbs down right next to my head in
the CNET Interactive player.
KARYNE: See 'em? Right there! You have the next 30
seconds to vote. In the meantime, let?s go ask the streets of
San Francisco what they think.
KARYNE: Our next rumor is about fancy pants Windows 8:
Microsoft is going to do away with full retail versions of the
OS, and will instead only sell upgrade licenses at a
promotional price of $40.
EMILY: This is cool. It basically means that Microsoft
doesn?t want to price gouge anymore. They figure if you
want Windows 8, it?s either to upgrade or to build your own
PC, and you shouldn?t have to pay with your first-born child,
or $250.
KARYNE: Right? Why is it so expensive? Sorry to bring this
up, for all you Apple haters out there, but OS X upgrades are
usually around $30. Way to join the rest of the universe,
Microsoft.
EMILY: Want to catch up with iPhone rumors real fast?
There have been a ton. As we?re speaking, new ones are
probably piling up. First, supposedly screen prototypes leak
showing a longer screen case!
KARYNE: Then, the Japanese blog Macotakara believes the
iPhone is already in production! Sources? No one!
EMILY: Then the Wall Street Journal chimes in, insisting the
new phone will be even thinner!
KARYNE: Whew! Do we believe any of that? Who knows!
Another person says it won't even be called iPhone!
EMILY: Wait, what?
KARYNE: All?s fair in iPhone rumor-land.
EMILY: OK, so let?s get back to the Barnes & Noble rumor.
KARYNE: So we asked them: Will the screen in the rumored
new Barnes & Noble tablet be revolutionary?
EMILY: And the CNET verdict is nay, the council was 4 to
one against the screen being Revolutionary.
KARYNE:
EMILY: Our comment of the week last week goes to
flyguy29, who writes regarding the possibilty of an Amazon
phone:
They can do well if...
1) subsidized to the point of FREE and no contract
2) 6 months of free media
3) $599 in free Amazon credit to make you feel better about
using a shopping cart as a phone instead a real phone from
Samsung, HTC or Motorola
KARYNE and EMILY: (blink blink blink.)
KARYNE: That?s our show everyone, share your rumors at
rumorhasit@cnet.com or call us at 1-800-750-CNET.
EMILY: Tune in next week for more tech rumors.
