RUMOR: iPHONE 4S TO HAVE CURVED GLASS SCREEN

DigiTimes has been canvassing its manufacturing industry sources again, and today it's managed to extract some intel regarding Apple's typically secretive supply chain. Steve Jobs' team are said to have purchased between 200 and 300 glass-cutting machines, specifically in order to use them to slice up curved glass display covers for the iPhone 4S. This move has apparently been in an effort to accelerate production, with glass makers reportedly showing a reluctance to buy the machinery themselves due to its prohibitive cost.

Lest you think this sense of urgency might accelerate the iPhone 4S from its earlier-rumored September launch, DigiTimes also reports that yields of curved glass are not yet good enough to start using said fancy machines. So the iPhone may be headed for the same curvacious look as we've already seen on Dell's Venue and HTC's Sensation, but as it is Apple's wont, it looks like that will be done with a tailor-made, custom solution. At least those Cupertino designers have a couple of generations of curved iPod nano screens under their belt, giving them a good idea of how to handle the atypical glass frontage.

RIM RESPONDS TO DELL DITCHING BLACKBERRIES

Yesterday we reported that Dell would be ditching RIM's Blackberry mobile devices in favor of its own Venue. Dell stated they would save a lot of money by making the switch. RIM has released a statement on the issue "We find it highly unlikely that they will actually save any money with this move and far more likely they were looking for a little free publicity" RIM’s Senior Vice President of Corporate Marketing Mark Guibert told Dow Jones Newswires in an email.

The company’s response is short and to the point, though it doesn’t really address the fact that BlackBerry devices often require more expensive data plans than other smartphones. Businesses that use BlackBerry handsets also incur additional costs associated with BlackBerry Enterprise Servers which can dramatically increase the overall cost of using Blackberries. [BGR]