The New York Times last week got the Valley all a-titter with a report that Apple in recent months had held talks to take a stake in Twitter.
But Bloomberg reported over the weekend that in fact Apple is NOT in active talks with Twitter. The story is attributed to "two people familiar with the matter." Actually, the Times story says that the two sides are not in negotiations at the moment, but went on to suggest that the talks could point to a closer relationship between the two companies.
Bloomberg asserts that the two companies held talks more than a year ago but never reached any agreement. The Times had reported that the companies had held talks in recent months about Apple making an investment in the hundreds of millions of dollars that would would have valued Twitter at more than $10 billion.
The two stories agree on several basic points: the two sides talked, no agreement was reached, and they aren't currently talking about a deal. What's irritating about the Times story is the way it was positioned, with a headline reading "Apple Officials Said to Consider Stake in Twitter," and then a story that says that no talks are actually taking place.
