Remember how back in 2005 Apple sued Think Secret, one of the most infamous Apple rumor sites on the block? Apparently TS's publisher Nick Ciarelli (aka Nick DePlume) settled and even managed to keep his inside sources hidden (and the man has many), but paid the ultimate price: he's agreed to shut down the site, presumably for good -- at least in its current incarnation. We've got an email out to their crew to verify because something doesn't seem quite right here, kind of almost feels like a put-on. But who knows, maybe Apple managed to take out one of its most hated sites. Too bad that site also happens to be one of Apple fans' most beloved.

[Thanks, Joe]

Update: It's real alright. Nick just wrote back: "I'll just say that I'm very satisfied with the settlement, and that I'd like to thank the Electronic Frontier Foundation and my attorney, Terry Gross of Gross & Belsky, for their support."

The kids over at ThinkSecret have some exclusive pics of what they purport to be interface shots of the iPhone. In these, we clearly see an RSS view thanks to the reader.mac.com URL, a previously unseen SIM loading procedure (requiring a paperclip), and what appears to be an Exchange email configuration tab. TS says that the iPhone supports Microsoft Exchange servers and has likely licensed Microsoft's ActiveSync. The latter dealio we've heard before and is certainly making corporate IT departments a bit fidgety. After all, more than a few CEOs will be demanding integration of their new toys come Monday morning. Jobs himself responded to a USA Today question about the lack of corporate email support with, "You'll be hearing more about this in the coming weeks. We have some pilots going with companies with names you'll recognize. This won't be a big issue." The fact that most of these pictures still sport the old Cingular logo certainly doesn't give us much confidence for an "iDay" release.

Update: As pointed out by a number of our readers, the Exchange tab likely configures IMAP4 access to Exchange like Apple's OS X Mail.app client. Made all the more likely by yesterday's "Rollup 3" release by Microsoft which fixes Mac related issues with Exchange 2007.

According to some juicy and totally unverifiable rumoring by Think Secret, Apple is prepping their "still totally unconfirmed but fairly likely to happen" iPhone as a Cingular exclusive for when it launches next January. The exclusivity, which will expire mid-2007, doesn't seem incredibly far-fetched given the ROKR exclusive Cingular scored last year -- not that it worked out too terribly well for them. Apple is also purportedly in talks with other carriers across the world, but no word if O2 is going to score the Europe exclusive again. Think Secret is also sticking with their story in regards to specs: a 2.2-inch display and three megapixel camera, and we figure we might as well throw HSDPA (high-speed downlink packet access) into the mix given the predicted Cingular launch. The word from "insiders" is that Apple is estimating shipments of 25 million or more iPhones in 2007 alone, which seems quite optimistic given the fact that Moto's RAZR took two whole years to hit the 50 million mark, but when it comes to Apple and potentially fabricated launch deets and market predictions, we suppose the sky's the limit.

Apple rumor mongering is at a fevered pitch with Apple's media event now just days away. Venerable rumor site Think Secret is citing sources calling for that 23-inch, Core 2 Duo iMac we heard about to drop along side 2nd generation iPod nanos. The new nanos, originally expected by TS in August, will be shoved out the door sporting new, multi-colored metalic cases presumably along the line of the now defunct iPod mini. But that's not enough for you is it fanboy? So TS is also calling for the launch of the highly anticipated iTunes Movie Store as well as capacity upgrades for the 5G iPod to store the new flix. No surprise on the bump in disk what with Toshiba already announcing their 40 and 80GB disks and all. Sorry folks, but that touch-screen video iPod just ain't gonna happen next week, according to TS that is.

Apple rumor site Think Secret has been busy chatting it up with all those company insiders whom Misters Jobs and Gates would love to get their rich and powerful hands on, and turned those leaks into an article which dispels some of the recently-circulating iPod rumors, along with providing a few more tantalizing deets about Microsoft's upcoming "iPod killer." For starters, it looks like we shouldn't be expecting the "true" video iPod until at least the annual MacWorld Expo in January -- though larger capacity 5G 'Pods may arrive in the interim -- and apparently the long-rumored iPhone also won't be coming anytime soon, as that project has reportedly been put on hold for the foreseeable future. Furthermore, when the 6G iPod is finally released, it will likely lack both the wireless capabilities and talking interface that some people have been anticipating; Apple is said to believe that the former feature would have too much of an impact on battery life, while the latter would only feed what's seen as a marginal consumer demand. Finally, Microsoft's so-called Zune -- which is rumored to sport WiFi for communicating with MTV's Urge service -- may also come equipped with a powerful 400MHz processor suitable for gaming, as well as a built in tuner for receiving satellite radio broadcasts. Obviously all this info is just speculation from unnamed sources for now, but if the Zune does end up duping your iTunes tracks, playing high-quality games, and giving you access to Sirius or XM on the go, then Apple may be facing its first real marketplace battle in the iPod's brief but influential existence.