Dell (DELL) CEO Michael Dell has done little to dispel rumors that his company is working on a mobile computing device. In fact, he all but confirmed them while traveling in Japan on March 24 when he said: “It is true that we are exploring smaller-screen devices.” What form those devices will take remains a matter of heated debate. Talk is that Dell plans a smartphone that would compete with Research In Motion’s (RIMM) BlackBerry, Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone, and the various devices running software from Microsoft (MSFT), Nokia (NOK), or the Google-backed (GOOG) Open Handset Alliance. Prototypes of a Dell-made smartphone are being circulated in the wild and, according to Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu, got a cool reception from mobile-phone carriers including AT&T (T) and Sprint Nextel (S).

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Earlier this year Lego and Digital Blue announced combined efforts that would yield a variety of Lego-centric electronics aimed at kids. Slated to be released by this Summer, the announcement included details on a digital camera, a walkie talkie and an MP3 player – nothing too crazy. These functional toys would appear as though they had been built from lego bricks and would all fall into an affordable $20 – $60 price range. Cool. An anonymous tipster may have just shined some light on a yet-to-be-announced element of this partnership however, that might bump the endeavor’s interest-factor from a 1.1 to an even 2.

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After my Apple news site, Think Secret, published details of Apple’s Mac mini two weeks before the product was officially announced, the company sued me in an attempt to ferret out the leaker. But lately, there are signs that Apple–long the most secretive company in the tech world–has thrown in the towel on fighting leaks.

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This morning a rumor about Steve Jobs having a heart attack started circulating. The person who started the rumor submitted it to MacRumors using an anonymous proxy IP address. I saw the report right when it was submitted and after some brief research dismissed it. The story was also posted to CNN’s iReport (citizen journalism site) and also appeared on Digg with a large number of diggs (but not yet on the front page). I tracked back and found the story was being promoted by a semi-coordinated effort by members of the 4chan message board.

So, I chose to ignore it, since we get fake rumor submissions daily.

Digg users also figured out that this was likely fake, and despite the concentrated efforts, the story was kept from appearing on the front page due to a corresponding number of Digg users burying the story.

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So, I’m skeptical about this, but in the interest of keeping you fully informed, here goes: Salesforce.com (CRM) shares are trading sharply higher today, in a move TheFlyOnTheWall.com asserts is due to “renewed takeover chatter.” This is not the first time TFOTW has reported “chatter” of this variety, and nothing has materialized before, so I’m not sure why this round of rumors is any more convincing.

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In August, Pandora founder Tim Westergren told the Washington Post that the future could be bleak for the Internet radio station due to high percentage of its revenue being forced to go to royalty fees. Now, one month later, Westergren is shooting down rumors and socialsphere speculation about why Pandora is facing potential extinction.

“One of the fallacies that is floating around is that Internet radio is poorly monetized–that is not true,” Westergren said. “We’re just being charged more than other forms of radio.”

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Such is the frenzy for information about potential new products from Apple (AAPL) that the blogosphere has begun to lose track of the rumors.

On Macrumors.com, a post this morning makes reference to a report purportedly put out today by Piper Jaffray analyst Michael Olson. The report, which supposedly details expectations of upgrades to Apple’s laptops and iPods that may materialize in September, sounds suspiciously like a report put out on Aug. 6 by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster.

In fact, they are the same report! There were no new reports from either Munster or Olson today, as a quick phone call to Piper Jaffray’s media relations department revealed. Olson and Munster work together, sharing coverage of Apple, and the one report they filed on Aug. 6 is being confused as two separate reports a week apart.

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Turns out the iPhone shortage isn’t limited to New York Apple stores: Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster called 20 Apple stores nationwide today–and all of them were sold out of iPhones. In a note, Munster says the lead time for iPhones on Apple.com is still “5-7 days.” What does this mean?

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