Rumors had been circulating that Foxconn (otherwise known as Hon Hai Precision Industry) planned to split its operations into three separate businesses, but if that's the case, it doesn't look like it will happen any time soon.

Foxconn didn't rule out the possibility entirely, but did say this kind of thing would need careful evaluation, adding that there are no current plans to blow up its business model. In a strange move, Foxconn did, however, express "gratitude" in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange for the media's interests in the matter.

Should Foxconn ultimately slice its business into three units, Chinese-language Next Magazine says one of those would include the company's chassis and connector manufacturing division. Another group would consist of the company's channel retailing business and OEM products, while the third group would put its attention into optoelectronics, monitors, LCD TVs, and other display technologies.

Once every few months, rumormongers turn the spotlight onto their favorite rumorware. The long-rumored PSP phone is one such device that makes a comeback every now and then. Now, its the turn of the venerable Wall Street Journal to report about a “smart phone capable of downloading and playing PlayStation games.”

According to its sources, Sony is developing a host of portable media devices and the PlayStation-compatible phone is one of them. The report comes days after Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) SVP of publisher relations, Rob Dyer, told Industry Gamers that the PSP Go has turned out to be confusing and expensive.

Another device mentioned in the same report is a “multifunction” media device to rival the Apple iPad. Apparently, the device will cut across different segments and serve as an e-reader, MID and handheld gaming platform all at once. Both the rumored devices are said to be compatible with Sony's version of  Apple's iTunes.

Back before it was called the iPad, the Apple Tablet was delayed more times than Amy Winehouse has been in rehab. Are those days behind us? It all depends on who you ask.

According to Peter Misek, an analyst with Canaccord Adams, there's a "manufacturing bottleneck" that's throwing a wrench into production, and could ultimately delay the iPad's release.

"An unspecified production problem at the iPad’s manufacturer, Hon Hai Precision, will likely limit the launch region to the US and the number of units available to roughly 300K in the month of March," he writes, "far lower than the company’s initial estimate of 1,000K units. The delay in production ramp will likely impact Apple’s April unit estimate of 800K as well. It is also possible that, given the limited number of units available in March, the launch will be delayed for a month."

Misek's report has been receiving a ton of media attention, but according to Apple, it's all hogwash.

"The iPad will be available in late March," an Apple spokeswoman reiterated to Wired's Gadget Labs.

According to news and rumor site DigiTimes, you have nothing to worry about if you're hoping to get your hands on an iPad this month. That's because Foxconn's component suppliers have said their supplies are right on schedule and that Foxcon (also known as Hon Hai Precision) will be able to ship 600,000 to 700,000 iPads in March, and up to one million units by April.

Could there be a love affair brewing between Intel and Nokia? Quite possibly, as it would appear the two are collaborating on a new mobile chip for use in smartphones and netbooks.

Officially, the two have teamed up to tackle Linux development, but reading between between the lines, ArsTechnica thinks there's a good chance they're up to more than that. As the rumor goes, Intel and Nokia are busy piecing together a system on a chip (SoC) called Penwell. The rumor is at least plausible when you consider Intel's Atom architecture.

"Intel's 32nm Atom core, codenamed Medfield, will leave plenty of 'uncore' available on an SoC for all sorts of third-party IP blocks. [Charlie] Demerjian [at SemiAccurate] suggests that once such IP block could be the HSPA/3G modem that Intel licensed from Nokia last summer," ArsTechinca writes.

But that isn't the only clue. Nokia doesn't seem to want to talk about the chip that's supposed to power the successor to the N900, saying only that it is continuing to develop on the OMAP3, which is the same chip used in the N900. Given the availability of next-gen ARM parts, it seems unusual that Nokia would stick with OMAP3.

Of course this is all speculation and could end up much ado about nothing, but what if it isn't?

Image: desinformado.com

If it makes sense for laptop makers to think small, it also makes sense for smartphone makers to think big. Such appears the case with High Tech Computer (HTC), the world’s largest manufacturer of Android and Windows Mobile smartphones. Rumor has it HTC may be branching up into tablets and netbooks.

It appears that HTC has been busy working on technologies for applications used in smartphones, and piecing together an app store--not to use now, but sometime in the future. Peter Chou, CEO of HTC, confirmed HTC’s activities in comments made at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Chou added there’s nothing ready yet, and HTC isn’t certain what it will do with the apps or the app store, if it does anything at all.

Chou also said that HTC has been actively designing tablets and netbooks, but he cautions this doesn’t mean HTC intends to go to market. Said Chou: “We will design, we will study, we will research, but that doesn't mean we will do it.” Chou noted if HTC does get into the tablet/netbook markets it will do so with a partner.

Image Credit: HTC

We haven’t really settled into Windows 7 yet, and the rumors about Windows 8 are already starting to flow. Based on ‘leaks’ from the Redmond campus, it appears that Windows 8 is going to replace sliced-bread as the most amazing thing ever.

But what’s Windows 8 going to be like? One Microsoft employee, purportedly working on Windows 8, let his exuberance get the better of him and posted this on an MSDN blog (which has since been deleted but, because you can’t hide your sins once posted, has been cached): “The minimum that folks can take for granted is that the next version will be something completely different from what folks usually expect of Windows...The themes that have been floated truly reflect what people have been looking for [for] years and it will change the way people think about PCs and the way they use them. It is the future of PCs…”

So, Windows 8 will be “different from what folks usually expect of Windows,” “what people have been looking for”,  and “will change the way people think about PCs”. There are some obvious responses to these proclamations: good, competent, useful, but, one suspects, Microsoft will be aiming a bit higher than this for Windows 8.

In another Windows 8 comment, John Magelarrs, Regional Vice President of Consumer and Online at Microsoft EMA said: “For me, Windows 8 will be mind-blowing.” There you have it--a whole lot more of nothing.

All this leaves Steven Chapman, at Microsoft Kitchen, wondering “just what in the heck Steven Sinofsky and crew are cooking up for Windows 8.” The best guess he can venture is that Windows 8 will be 64-bit only. Well, if it’s going to be mind-blowing, that’s the least we should expect.

Image Credit: Microsoft

Oh Asus, why so sly? Would it really be so bad to come out and say, "Hey, we're launching an awesome tablet this summer that will run circles around Apple's iPad,"? Instead, Asus chairman Jonney Shih says everyone will have to wait until June for the company's "killer product."

Shih also said his company wants to become another Apple, so perhaps that's the reason for the hush-hush approach, even if everyone already has a pretty good idea what the secret is. If you recall, Apple used the same ploy with its iPad, going so far as to deny at times that it was working on a tablet.

So what exactly can we expect from Asus come June? Unofficially, you're probably looking at the Eee Pad. Past and present speculation suggests the Eee Pad will tap into Nvidia's Tegra 2 technology and will likely run on Android. Initial rumors had the Eee Pad shipping for under $500, but like everything else we know about Asus' upcoming "killer product," that too remains to be seen.

Image Credit: Slashgear.com

Word are wonderful for conveying information, but sometimes not so hot for communicating. Pictures, by comparison, are transcendent. Not only are they capable of passing along a lot more information (the old “thousand words” adage), they don’t suffer from the human filter requisite of language. Google figured this out with Street View and Images: communication is picture-based, not word-based.

Limits on the use of pictures or images are both technological and arbitrary. Google’s got the technology, now its chipping away at the arbitrary. What started with Street View, which shows us the outsides of things, may be moving to “Store View”, which will show us the inside of things. Barry Schwartz of Search Engine Land is passing along a tip from a New York retailer that Google might be in the process of taking pictures inside of retail establishments, with the plan of linking them to Street View.

There are definite advantages for Google and retailers in this. Google will drive more traffic to its sites, in particular Google Maps, while retailers can show off who they are and what they have to offer. It can aid consumers as well, as they’ll get a general feel for a store before venturing a foot inside.

Google hasn’t commented on its new endeavor, so right now “Store View” is entirely speculative. But, logically, it does fit into an overall market behavior for Google.

Image Credit: rustybrick/Flickr

We've been hearing about a possible Zune phone for quite some time now, and according to Spanish blog MuyComputer, Microsoft will unveil the rumored smartphone later this month at the MWC in Barcenlona.

"The Zune Phone presentation at Barcenlona's Mobile World Congress 2010 is 100 percent confirmed," Engadget claims to have heard from MuyComputer's editorial director, Javier Perez Cortijo.

Should the rumor prove correct, calling it a 'Zune Phone' might be a bit misleading. This won't be a Zune player with a phone tacked on, and instead will be a Windows Mobile 7 device with Zune software.

On the hardware side, the Zune Phone will tap into Tegra. It will also sport a 480 x 272 touchscreen and come with an HDMI video out port, MuyComputer reports.

MuyComputer Source

Image Credit: MuyComputer (mockup, not a real product shot)

It seems like just yesterday we were putting on our cardigans and hamming it up with complete strangers at our Windows 7 party, and that's because it kind of was. And with Redmond's latest OS barely three months old, there's already talk of Windows 8, including a release date that was supposedly leaked to the Web.

According to news and rumor site Fudzilla, former Microsoft employee Chris Green drew up a chart detailing Microsoft's roadmap for future product releases. In it, he reveals the following release schedule:

• WIndows 8: July 1, 2011
• Windows Server 2012: July 2, 2012
• Office 2012: July 2, 2012
• SQL Server 2011: July 1, 2011
• SharePoint Server 2013: July 1, 2013
• Exchange 2013: July 1, 2013
• OCS 2010: December 1, 2010

These are all RTM (Release to Manufacturing) dates, and if they're legit, it means Microsoft plans to pull-forward the Windows 8 RTM date from what would typically be a three-year interval between OSes.

Color us skeptical.

Image Credit: windows8geek.com