John Martellaro former Senior Marketing Manager at Apple has written a post for The Mac Observer today discussing how he believes the Wall Street Journal's post from earlier in the week was a controlled leak from Apple.
Martellaro clearly outlines how Apple uses controlled leaks float ideas, build hype and do a form of market research. All information is leaked via verbal communication so to not leave a paper trail.
The way it works is that a senior exec will come in and say, "We need to release this specific information. John, do you have a trusted friend at a major outlet? If so, call him/her and have a conversation. Idly mention this information and suggest that if it were published, that would be nice. No e-mails!"