Here are the latest Apple rumors from the blogosphere:

"Japan’s Nikkei business daily is reporting that the country’s third-place wireless carrier, SoftBank, has entered discussions to acquire more than two thirds of Sprint Nextel stock. The price is said to be over ¥1.5 trillion, or about $19.2 billion." -- "The Verge" (www.theverge.com)

"Japanese mobile carrier Softbank Corp. is in advanced talks to buy U.S. wireless carrier Sprint Nextel Corp. in a deal expected to exceed ¥1 trillion, or roughly $13 billion, in value, a person with knowledge of the negotiations said Thursday." -- "Wall Street Journal" (online.wsj.com)

"Before Apple's smaller iPad has even been officially announced, one retailer is preparing in advance for the rumored device by sending out in-store displays to sell accessories to customers." -- "AppleInsider" (www.appleinsider.com)

"Shipments of Apple's new products -- a Retina Display 13-inch MacBook Pro, 7.85-inch iPad and iMac -- have reportedly been delayed from September to October and with the year-end holidays approaching, the upstream supply chain is aggressively preparing for expected strong orders in both October and November, according to sources from the upstream supply chain." -- "DigiTimes" (www.digitimes.com)

"Is Apple about to invite more companies to build the iPhone? Daiwa Capital Markets analysts in Hong Kong believe so, saying the California-headquartered electronics giant is about to green-light iPhone assembly work to a second company, Foxconn International Holdings" -- "MarketWatch" (www.marketwatch.com)