KARYNE: Hey, I�m Karyne Levy
EMILY: And I'm Emily Dreyfuss. And welcome to Rumor Has
It! The show where we round up the week's biggest tech
rumors.
KARYNE: And vote on what sounds legit, and what seems
like it'll never ever happen.
EMILY: But we�re not only ones passing judgement -- you
can vote on all the rumors too. Watch out for the polls in the
interactive player that shows up right here by my head if
you're watching on CNET.
KARYNE: First up is a rumor that's been swirling around for
years. Last week, a job posting on Microsoft's site hinted
that the next Xbox (some are calling it the 720) is going to
be released within 18 months. Although Microsoft fought
back with a statement, saying that it's "always looking for
talented people to innovate now and in the future," this jibes
with the 56-page document that leaked back in June
mentioning a $299 Xbox for the 2013 holiday season. Woot!
EMILY: In other Xbox-related news, Twitter user SuperDaE
posted what is claimed to be an image of a Kinect 2 in
action. Why does it look a psychedelic sign warning people
at a rave to drink water if they have a headache?
KARYNE: Right, I looked at the pic, and it looks like some
dudes standing next to each other, doing the pat your
head/rub your belly thing.
EMILY: According to SuperDaE, the leaked image was
captured from Microsoft's "Durango" (the codename of the
next Xbox) development kit, and The Verge reports that
Microsoft confirmed it. People are concluding that the
Kinect 2 will offer greater range and sensitivity.
KARYNE: I don't know how they got that from a picture of
just colors. Take a look at it. What new features do YOU
guys think it's revealing? Post your best guess in the
comments section.
EMILY: Granddaddy of the tech world IBM is in talks to save
struggling RIM -- at least its enterprise services unit,
according to a report by Bloomberg. Doesn�t sound
exciting, but analysts say the enterprise unit, which
operates the servers that store BlackBerry data, is RIM�s
crown jewel. Turns out, user data may not sound flashy, but
to RIM it's basically like Scrooge McDuck�s vault of gold.
KARYNE: What's IBM going to do with that business
network?
EMILY: It would give IBM control over a popular, fast, and
secure e-mail system that's favored by large corporations.
But I don't think there'll be any IBM-branded phones in the
near future. Bloomberg says that IBM is not likely to buy the
whole company, which would be fine with RIM CEO
Thorstein Heins, who is hoping the company can keep the
lights on long enough to debut the new BB10 OS and turn
the company back around. Let�s not hold our breath.
KARYNE: Apple told us the big innovations in iOS 6 back at
a fancy event in June, but there's plenty the company
couldn't tell us because it'd reveal secrets about iPhone 5.
The iOS 6 rumor I'm intrigued by most is from 9to5Mac that
suggests that if the iPhone 5 is actually taller, the home
screen will store 5 rows of apps, instead of 4, which would
be amazing for my OCD. Another highlight is that you won't
have to put in a password when you get free apps. So that'll
save 8 seconds in our lives -- 8 precious seconds.
EMILY: And you can prank your friends, by downloading
free apps on their phones when they're not looking.
EMILY: Remember how kind of exciting the Microsoft
Surface tablet announcement was? It was in a secret
location in LA! It starred a magic case of many colors! And
the Surface�s high-res screen! It can run Word! Oh, but there
was just one thing Steve Ballmer left out: the price. No one
knows how much will the Windows 8 tablet cost you.
Rumors have pegged it as high as a thousand bucks, but
the latest has it on par with Amazon�s Kindle Fire, for the
low low price of $199.
Karyne: Holy tablet wars!
EMILY: Here�s the rub, though: this rumor comes from an
anonymous tip to Engadget and makes very little sense.
First, Amazon�s tablet is so cheap bc it�s subsidized.
Microsoft doesn�t have that luxury -- it isn�t trying to get you
to buy more books or cat toys; it wants you to buy the
Surface tablet. And Windows 8 apps cost money but won�t
make enough dough for Microsoft to take hundreds of
dollars in a loss on every tablet. Remember the Surface is
way more advanced and feature-rich than the Kindle Fire.
It�s in the same league as the iPad, and it�ll have a price to
reflect that. I don�t buy this at all. But I will buy the Surface,
if it goes for $199. See what I did there?
KARYNE: I'm going to bet on unicorns and rainbows and
say Microsoft will be smart and will undercut Apple on price.
It�s really the only way it could hope to succeed, right?
EMILY: Let us know what you guys think by voting in the
poll right now. We're going to go ask the people of San
Francisco what they think...
EMILY: And the verdict is: NO. 4 editors to 1 said that it
won't be priced at $199.
KARYNE: Well, that's a bummer.
EMILY: Our comment of the week comes from macewan,
who writes about the iPad Mini: "Interesting that nobody is
talking about how popular this will be with little kids.... The
little hands are used to iPhone, iPod Touch & iPads. An iPad
Mini would be icing on the cake for the 5 and 7 year olds."
KARYNE: That�s our show everyone, share your rumors at
rumorhasit@cnet.com or call us at 1-800-750-CNET. And
tweet us!
EMILY: Tune in next week for more tech rumors, and thanks
to this week�s sponsor, EBAY.
