The tech blog rumor mill is running at full speed today about a partnership between online retail powerhouse Amazon.com (AMZN) and brick-and-mortar discounter Target (TGT). Supposedly, the hit Kindle e-reader will be on sale in Target stores later this month.

Engadget kicked off the frenzy Wednesday with what looks to be a covert screenshot of Target's inventory computer showing stock. Target is being conspicuously closed-mouth on the subject, deflecting requests for comments with a simple vanilla statement: "Target has no specific plans to share at this time, and we don't comment on speculation or rumors."

M2E Power has reportedly received a total of $8 million in funding from a group of venture capital outlets including: OVP Venture Partners, Highway 12 Ventures, @Ventures, the CMGI Inc. (NASDAQ: CMGID) clean technology venture unit, and various angel investors. The first round capital funding, it is said, is to be put to work developing "no battery" power sources in mobile devices for military applications with the long-term focus being on civilian applications such as for iPods, cell phones and cameras.

Business Wire reports that M2E, in partnership with General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE: GD), has filed six patents on technology exploiting the Faraday Principle, which involves creating electricity by passing magnets through coils. The reader may wish to note that his principle of electromagnetic induction was proven viable in 1831. Rob Day, principal at @Ventures stated, "They've reached the stage where they've proven this really does work. Prototypes are in actual D-cell or A-cell batteries." You may read about some of the details at AOL Money and Finance.

What's the price of a blogger's soul? In some cases, it's as little as dinner with a guest at a nice restaurant.

According to The Wall Street Journal, "As online food sites become increasingly influential in the restaurant business, chefs and owners are plying bloggers with free meals to get good write-ups. Some are also posting favorable reviews about themselves on popular Web sites or becoming Internet scribes."

This is as clear a violation of journalistic ethics as you will find. Real food critics dine anonymously and pay their own bills -- a known critic is likely to receive special treatment, which of course could make their experience less than indicative of what their readers can expect.

And then there's another problem: Is it really possible to be objective in a review when you aren't feeling the sting of having paid for it?

Blogs are certainly giving the traditional media a run for their money. But in order for the coup to be successful, they will have to adopt some of the ethical standards of the traditional media. For what it's worth, this is the policy for all blogs in the Weblogs Inc. (owned by AOL; includes BloggingStocks) network:

• Bloggers do not receive free products or services from the companies they write about.
• Bloggers do accept review units (e.g., a new cell phone at Engadget, a video game at Joystiq, or a week-long car loan at Autoblog); however, when they're finished reviewing products, they return these items to the manufacturers. If the manufacturers do not take the items back, we give them to our readers. This is the same editorial policy as the New York Times or Wall Street Journal.

I am very pleased to have been given the opportunity to interview Dave Chalmers, Chief Operating Officer of Validas Inc. Validas is a startup company that is assertively carving out a niche for itself in the realm of wireless telecommunications billing processes. Mr Chalmers explained that Validas is built by a team that hails from companies such as Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ) Wireless, and he made clear that Validas presents its offerings supported upon the following premise: "Simplicity defines our service and detail defines our mission." In reflection of his company's declared intent, I found Mr. Chalmers to be both to the point and clearly definitive with his answers.

Dave Chalmers revealed to me that there's an extremely unique quality to the service offering that Validas puts forward in that Validas is thoughtfully positioned to benefit both wireless service consumers and wireless communications providers alike. Simply put, the focus of Validas is to save each and every wireless customer time and money by providing them with nearly instant clarity of their wireless communications bills, and then by giving the customer clear and concise input on how to best tailor their wireless service usage to more closely suit their particular needs and budget. The customer may then approach their service provider with a clearer definition of their needs and expectations, and the information needed to follow through on those expectations. Dave summed it up by telling me that above all else, "we are 100% focused on how we can help consumers and small businesses with our service."

Real world, futuristic technology plays can be had in the recently declared working partnership between Taser International (NASDAQ: TASR) and iRobot Corp. (NASDAQ: IRBT). The team is developing machines and equipment which could revolutionize the worlds of the military, security and law enforcement, all the while seeking to take real people (in their own bodies) out of harms way.

By forming this working alliance, Taser and iRobot have accomplished two very significant things. First, iRobot has deeply jammed their foot in the door of a market sector which will only grow larger. By taking advantage of the position already secured by Taser, iRobot has eliminated years of marketing work which would have been required to gain for themselves the same position. Second, by teaming with iRobot, Taser has fulfilled a grand desire to enhance product mobility and they have done it without the time and massive capital investment which would have been required to accomplish it alone.

If you're looking for a long-term technology play with relative safety, I'd say this working alliance provides a couple good ones and remember, you're hearing that from the biggest bear on the block. ;)

According to DigiTimes, Taiwan's Chinese-language Commercial Times says that Taiwan's Wintek has gained the touch-screen panel orders for the second-gen iPhone. The report claims that Wintek has already begun test production in small volumes with Apple intent on selling their newest model of the iPhone in September for somewhere between $249 and $299.

If this is true, it would certainly make sense. Apple introduced the iPod in the fall of 2001, and soon followed up with smaller and cheaper versions of the wildly popular device. You can now choose from the fifth-generation iPod, which plays video, the smaller Nano, and the even smaller Shuffle. (If I remember correctly, there was a Mini available at one point too.) Each model is regularly upgraded, with increased memory and sometimes lower prices. And the array of iPods appeals to just about any consumer; you can spend $399 for an 80 gigabyte audio iPod or $79 for a 1 gig Shuffle. As a result, just about everyone can afford an iPod -- and Apple sales reflect this broad appeal. So it should come as no surprise that the company is using the same approach with the iPhone.

Other related recent rumors:
New iPods to be iPhones without the phone
Apple patent produces JP Morgan analyst debate

There may be many good reasons to own an iPhone from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL). Although I still haven't gotten my hands on one, I have been able to get a good look at some of what the device can do. Perhaps these aren't the ten best reasons, but they are ten good ones.

To the best of my knowledge, all of the photo gallery images that I'm providing here for you have been sent using the iPhone. Though I'm impressed, I did notice that the iPhone image quality declines slightly as light levels decrease, but it still does remarkably well for a phone. Yes folks, the attached gallery pictures were sent by mobile phones.

The gallery images are all at original resolutions and are all unretouched. If it is true that we can now take digital images of this quality and instantly download them to our favorite picture manager as well as e-mail them to anywhere in the world that we choose, it is my opinion that the makers of memory cards for digital cameras had better be working on some new product ideas, because I'm guessing that image data storage has just taken a turn for the best.

Please do enjoy the gallery.

Gallery: iphone mania