This much we know: a while back, Boy Genius Report learned that Wal-Mart will be selling the Apple iPhone 3G. Now, Boy-o reports receiving a new tip that Wal-Mart will carry a 4GB model for a gutbusting $99 (with a two-year activation). But don't start stampeding Wal-Mart's doors yet -- many are skeptical. "Seems unlikely" says Mac Rumors of the $99 deal. "Simply not true," says MacBlogz. "Based on ...direct information inside [iPhone telecom carrier] AT&T, this is not happening." Could part of the Applefan pushback be fueled by cool-kid remorse that Apple would be caught holding hands with nerdy Wal-Mart? There is "overlap between the generalized Apple demographic and the activist anti-Walmart demographic," says Mashable. This deal sure "would jeopardize part of the mystique surrounding the Apple brand." But Apple apparently wants to access different market demographics, says the Apple Blog. And as BloggingStocks notes, in these tough times Wal-Mart is beating sales estimates and may be the only retailer to come out of December unscathed.

The partnership is hard to deny completely. An advance advertisement that spies uncovered (if it's real) shows Wal-Mart at least planning to hawk an 8GB iPhone for $197, says VentureBeat. Whether it will be in stores before Christmas (which is says here) or after is speculative--one rumor has the offer starting December 28. "It's hard to know what to believe, but it does seem curious that such a huge promotion would be rumored to begin after the holiday shopping season," says Edible Apple. In any case, even at Wal-Mart, the data plan isn't going to be any less expensive," says AppleTell. Oh--one other juicy iPhone tidbit that Gizmodo learned over the weekend: if you put one in a blender with its battery charged, it explodes.