rumor mill

Your holiday shopping plans may be getting a little more exciting this month with the introduction of the Nook Color 2, which is expected to drop on Nov. 7.

The soon-to-be-released Kindle Fire will have some competition in the Nook Color 2 if rumors are correct. The Nook Color 2 is said to be sporting a seven-inch touchscreen and support web browsing, email, apps, music, and games, alongside a $200 price tag. It's a great price and sure to excite shoppers who want a tablet feel on an ereader budget.

There are endless iPhone 5 rumors floating around the Internet on a given day, but how do you know which ones are based in reality? We've scoured through some of the most prominent rumors and rounded up a few that we think might actually be true. Check them out below.

1. It will be announced on Oct. 4 — Earlier this week media received invitations to an event at Apple's Cupertino headquarters on Oct. 4 with the message "Let's talk iPhone." Tuesday can't come soon enough.
2. It could have voice control — Reports of an "Assistant" feature indicate voice activation that will allow users to make appointments, get directions, and set reminders as well as send SMS and iMessage texts just by speaking commands.
3. It could be released on Oct. 15 — France Telecom's CEO announced to the press recently that he's been told the iPhone 5 will be released on Oct. 15. This seems to fit the other release date rumors we've heard, which pinpoint the iPhone 5 launch to be "sometime in early October." Additionally, an Apple employee who remained nameless says we're "just weeks away" from an iPhone 5 announcement. We're not sure why Apple would launch the iPhone on a Saturday, so we're betting on the 14th instead.
4. It could be available on Sprint — There are several rumors saying that Sprint won't just get the iPhone 5, but that it will offer unlimited data packages with the device and will also get its own iPad 2.
5. It could be slimmer, wider — Several leaked cases (and case images) seem to suggest that the iPhone 5 could come with a new form factor, similar to the iPad 2. A slimmer, wider body, tapered back, and rounded edges.
6. It could come with a better camera — Though a next-gen iPhone is almost guaranteed to come with a better camera, a photo that popped up on Flickr recently suggests the camera could be 8MP. Someone from inside Apple's cafeteria at 1 Infinite Loop in Cupertino, CA, snapped a pic of his sushi lunch and uncovered image data says it has an original size of 3264 x 2448 — approximately 8MP. Fishy, indeed.

Just because Apple has an obvious hold on the tablet market with the iPad, doesn't mean other companies aren't getting in the game. Amazon is holding a press conference tomorrow morning and is expected to unveil its first tablet, currently dubbed the Kindle Fire. It could change the game for the better. Here are four ways the Amazon tablet could rock our worlds.

1. Affordability — Latest rumors and reports peg the Amazon tablet at a super-low price point, maybe even as low as $249. This could be a huge selling point for the upcoming holiday season.
2. OS — The Amazon tablet is expected to run its own version of the Android operating system, which will allow users to download plenty of apps from the Amazon App store.
3. Form — The Kindle Fire will supposedly look very similar to the 7-inch BlackBerry Playbook, which is the perfect size for browsing and reading.
4. Accessibility — If Amazon releases a tablet, you know it's going to be super simple to download movies, books, and apps, and have it all connected to your Amazon account. One click on the go? I better put my credit cards on lock down.

According to 9to5 Mac, the next iPhone will come with some mind-blowing Siri-based voice control software, among other features like an 8MP camera, upgraded 1GB of RAM, and a dual-core A5 processor.

According to the report, the "Assistant" feature will allow users to make appointments, get directions, and set reminders as well as send SMS and iMessage texts just by speaking commands. Thanks to some amazing voice recognition software, you can speak back and forth to Assistant like it was a real person helping you with your day-to-day tasks, schedule, and reminders in "conversation view," which seems handy for busy, on-the-go types, in addition to getting help with solving math equations, conversions, facts, and trivia.

Additionally, you can hunt down your pals with the "Find My Friends" feature. Just ask Assistant where one of your friends is right now, and the software will send their location. You can set privacy levels for this or even turn it off completely if you'd prefer.

We just got an invite for a press conference scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 28. Could this be the announcement of the new Amazon tablet?

The fabled tablet is said to come with movie streaming capabilities, along with other features like direct access to the Amazon online store, app store, and the Android OS, but it's also rumored to be super affordable with a price tag of around $250.

We won't have to wait long to find out what this tablet really is working with — the press conference begins in NYC at 10 a.m. EDT/ 7 a.m. PDT. Stay tuned for more!

Facebook's annual developers conference is happening this week in San Francisco, and there are a few rumors floating about as to what could be revealed. Speculation has been that Facebook will roll out its own media service that would partner up with sites like Spotify to share what you're listening to on your profile, but would also extend into TV, movies, and videos. The data would be shown off in some sort of widget on the site, allowing you and your friends to discover new forms of entertainment, but would also extend the reach of the third-party streaming media companies to Facebook's hundreds of millions of users.

But what would those widgets look like? Well, that's where the second rumor comes in — a radically redesigned Facebook profile page. According to new reports, Facebook will be giving profile pages an overhaul that will allow for media content to be displayed on the profile as you're viewing or listening to it. Facebook also intends to make profile pages more engaging so users will hang there for even longer.

Finally, Facebook might actually unveil an app store, allowing you to use Facebook credits for purchasing.

What do you think about these Facebook rumors? It won't be long until we get the real scoop — F8 is happening this Thursday!

According to an Engadget tipster from AT&T, the iPhone 5 (or iPhone 4S) will be coming in white. Surely you remember the back and forth waiting game drama that came with the white iPhone 4, but hopefully now that Apple has its white paint issues under control we won't have to wait long to see a lighter hued next-gen iPhone. Fingers crossed, anyway.

The CEO of France Telecom, parent company to wireless provider Orange, told members of the French media that the iPhone 5 will be released on Oct. 15.

Although he did not give further details about the release, we can chalk this up to speculation until we hear from Apple. In the meantime, get your old iPhone ready for resale with these tips!

The iPhone 5's reach is expanding! According to Bloomberg, Sprint will offer unlimited data with the iPhone 5 when it hits shelves this year. This, according to people "close to the matter," makes a stronger case for the rumors that say Sprint will be getting the iPhone 5, but also offers stiff competition for both AT&T and Verizon who have done away with their unlimited data plans over the course of the last year.

If the iPhone 5 lands on Sprint's network, would you switch carriers?

Today's iPhone rumor is one you can really sink your teeth into: reportedly, this leaked photo was taken from the iPhone 5. Release date and spec rumors have been running rampant since early Summer, but this could be the first evidence that the iPhone 5 will come with a suped-up 8MP camera as expected.

According to data recovered from the photo file, the photo's original size is 3264-x-2448 — approximately 8MP — and location data seems to suggest that the pic was taken inside Apple's cafeteria at 1 Infinite Loop in Cupertino, CA.