The latest rumor making the rounds of the blogosphere suggests that Apple is in talks to buy Twitter for as much as $700 million.

The Twitter-Apple report comes courtesy of Owen Thomas at Gawker, who said he received the information from a source who's plugged into the Silicon Valley deal scene that Apple is interested in buying Twitter.

What does Twitter, an adorable but unprofitable startup, have to do with a hardware company like Apple? The iPhone is the obvious driver of the deal, Thomas said.

Thomas noted that Twitter has reportedly turned down a stock deal from Facebook. According to the source, the deal could be done by June 8, the date of Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference.

TechCrunch's Michael Arrington also reported the rumor that Apple is in late stage talks with Twitter, citing a normally reliable source.

Meanwhile, All Things D reported that late-stage talks are unlikely, as it would require major investors in the microblogging service to be involved, and they are not as yet.

Steve jobs ITunes Iphone Electronics