What better way to kick off a weekend than with some completely unconfirmed buyout rumors? Oh, but don't get your hopes up too high-- this isn't another "Disney buys Apple" thingy. Nosiree; this time around, the rumors have Apple cast as the buyer instead of the buyee. And just who is this mysterious takeover target, you ask? Well, if the whispers flying around can be believed, it's none other than Alias|Wavefront, those 3D wizards who churn out Maya. Could Apple be looking to leap into the 3D biz?

It's not all that far-fetched. Remember, it was revealed just a month ago that Apple bought Nothing Real, who makes one of the premiere compositing applications on the market; grabbing Maya as well might be part of an overall strategy to cement Apple as a major player in Hollywood. And there's little question that things over at Alias|Wavefront might be a bit shaky right about now; faithful viewer ajs points out a Macworld article which details how the Toronto-based company is shutting down both of its U.S. offices and losing one of its cofounders as a result. He also notes a forum post by at Architosh's editor claiming "superb inside information that Apple is likely going to buy a market-leading 3D modeling/rendering and animation application."

Now, we don't know from "superb inside information," but we've definitely been hearing some buzz lately about certain very big Apple personalities doing the high-level meeting thing north of the border, flashing some cash and showing a little interest. Personally, though, we're not at all certain how a potential purchase of Alias|Wavefront meshes with the company shutting down its U.S. offices; surely the closer to Cupertino, the better, right? Unless, of course, Apple is only looking to buy Maya, and not the company itself.

On the other hand, closing offices might imply to some that Alias|Wavefront is in a serious financial bind, which might make it a lot more amenable to outright buyout offers; the official corporate spin as seen at MacCentral denies that the company's in trouble, but then again, it is official corporate spin, so we'd hardly expect anything other than the standard "this is just a restructuring measure" kind of stuff. Whatever. It's all just rumor and speculation so far, so don't go taking it as gospel or anything-- but if you want to spend the weekend thinking idle thoughts about what might be next on Steve's shopping list, hey, don't expect us to try to stop you.