Jim Goldman, CNBC's Silicon Valley Bureau Chief, apparently laid a big egg.

Goldman reported yesterday that Palm Inc (NASDAQ: PALM) was going to be acquired by Motorola Inc (NYSE: MOT) for $25 per share, according to his shareholder source.

More and more information pointed to Motorola as the likely acquirer. Ed Zander, Motorola's CEO, backed out of a speaking engagement for the CTIA Wireless conference and rumors had been floating around for weeks that Palm was soon to be sold.

However, Zander said last night during Motorola's conference call that he backed out of the speaking engagement for family reasons (it did come across as legit). Also, the naysayers for a Motorola deal came out screaming that there was little strategic fit.

Goldman's source said a Palm deal would be announced by Friday. Another Internet site, Unstrung.com, reported a Palm deal was to be announced by today. We will have to see if Unstrung.com is also being strung along.

Stay tuned to CNBC to see how Goldman covers his tracks. One could imagine Goldman had a serious conversation with the source before going on the air today.

According to a posting on the always-speculative Thinksecret.com, an agreement has reportedly been signed between and Apple and Cingular to offer the iPhone exclusively through Cingular for the first six months after the phone is launched.

Since I use Verizon, as do most of my Apple-enthusiast friends, I guess we'll just have to wait even longer for this much-ballyhooed Apple-branded handset. Either that, or I can follow the herd in switching mobile service providers -- as was the case when RAZR hit the market a little less then two years ago.

Apple's phone will reportedly feature a candy-bar design with a 2.2-inch display and 3MP camera. Robust iTunes and iSync support will also be delivered with the phone. Insiders say Apple is internally estimating that shipments of the iPhone will top an astonishing 25 million in 2007 alone. In contrast the RAZR has sold more than 50 million units since its launch in late 2004.

The release date for the phone is rumored early 2007 and look for it to sweep through college campuses following its release. On my campus, the scuttlebutt has already started.