KARYNE: Hey, I�m Karyne Levy. It's been so long! Hiiii!
EMILY: And I'm Emily Dreyfuss. Surprise!
KARYNE: Welcome to Rumor Has It! The show where we
round up the week's biggest tech rumors.
EMILY: And vote on what sounds likely and what's probably
not true.
KARYNE: And remember: you can vote on all the rumors!
Keep your eye out for the poll in the interactive player, if
you're watching on CNET.
EMILY: First up, Google I/O begins this week, and we've
seen a swell of rumors about what will be unveiled at the
show. The one I�m personally most excited about is also the
most predictable:
KARYNE: Nerds wearing Google Glass will live narrating the
experience of waiting in the Google I/O line?
EMILY: OK, maybe the second most predictable. It�s
rumored we�ll see the next generation of the popular Nexus
7 tablet. A KGI Securities analyst says the tablet will have all
upgraded specs and components, but the same $199 price
tag.
KARYNE: People love the Nexus 7, and if they manage to
make it faster, lighter, and more powerful while keeping the
price the same, they�ll have another hit.
KARYNE: Another rumor swirling around Google's I/O
conference is that Google will revamp its Maps interface.
According to the site Google Operating System, the Web
giant will roll out an update that takes away sidebars and
navigational buttons and concentrates more on one big
interactive map.
EMILY: How are we supposed to navigate without buttons?
KARYNE: The whole Map will be one big button.
EMILY: Okkkkkkk, so what what is now displayed in the
Google Maps sidebar would be overlayed on the top of a
full-screen map, and there would be new colors and icons.
The worst part of this rumor is about my least favorite thing
on earth, Google+. Supposedly you�d be able to filter Maps
search results based on recommendations from your
Google+ friends.
KARYNE: Oh great, that's all I need. I just want to buy a
huge bag of coffee at Costco. I don't need my opinionated
Google+ San Franciscan friends telling me I have to get the
hand-crafted, small-batch, shade-grown, organic nonsense
from whatever hipster panda poop local coffee place is
popular right now with the fixie bike crowd.
EMILY: Whoa.
EMILY: The next big rumor is that Amazon is going to
release two smartphones. Sounds familiar right? We�ve
been hearing about a possible Amazon phone for a year, but
this Wall Street Journal report adds a new twist: it says one
of the rumored devices would supposedly sport 3D
hologram images and have a cutting edge navigation
system that you use with your eyes.
KARYNE: We saw a computer navigation program like that
at CES, but it was so rudimentary all you could do was play
Fruit Ninja.
EMILY: Hey, that�s not nothing. Of course, this rumor is
sourced from anonymous �people familiar with the matter,�
so take it with a grain of salt. I for one think it makes sense
for Amazon to make a phone -- they�re already in the
hardware game with the Kindle and more and more our
phones are our readers/computers/TVs, so Amazon won�t
want to be left behind.
KARYNE: But why would it get all 3D gimmicky?
EMILY: Maybe bc Amazon is trying to be a content creator--
with their new TV shows and publishing-- and this way they
could make and sell 3D games.--
-
KARYNE: Microsoft is holding an event on May 21, where
it's presumed to announce the next-generation Xbox, which
we've been calling the 720, but others are calling the Infinity.
Gamers feared that the next console would require you to
always be online. This fear was ramped up after a Microsoft
exec tweeted that having to be online wasn't that big of a
deal, and people should hash tag "deal with it."
EMILY: However, that same exec then left the company as a
result of those tweets, so we can�t draw much of a
conclusion from that.
Now Ars Technica is reporting that a new internal e-mail to
the Xbox team suggests the opposite, that the console
won't always need to be plugged into the Web.
KARYNE: According to the report, there are a number of
scenarios, including playing a Blu-ray disc, watching live
TV, and playing a single-player game in which the console
should "just work," regardless of its connection to the
Internet.
EMILY: So not only do you not need to be connected to the
Internet, but the next-gen console will also play Blu-ray and
will let you watch live TV? Sweeeeeet.
KARYNE: What do you guys think? Will the next-gen Xbox
force you to be connected to the Internet at all times? Don't
forget to vote and leave a comment, and we'll check in with
the CNET Council.
EMILY: And the Council's verdict is...
NO. Four editors said that the nextgen Xbox will not need to be connected to the Internet all the time. One
editor said "sure!"
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.
