Today in Tech: Is Amazon making a smartphone?

* Hot on the heels of the Kindle Fire’s launch comes speculation from Citigroup researchers that Amazon (AMZN) will launch a smartphone during the fourth quarter of next year. “Based on our supply chain check, we believe FIH is now jointly developing the phone with Amazon,” writes Citi analyst Mark Mahaney in his latest report. “However, we believe that Amazon will pay NRE (non-recurring engineering fees) to FIH but the device and multiple components will actually be manufactured by Hon Hai’s TMS business group (the same business group that makes Amazon’s E-reader and the 8.9” Amazon tablet). We believe the smartphone will adopt Texas Instrument’s OMAP 4 processor and is very likely to adopt QCOM’s dual mode 6-series standalone baseband given QCOM has been a long-time baseband supplier for Amazon’s E-reader.” (Citi)

* Yelp, the local business reviews site, filed to raise up to $100 million in a public offering. (CNNMoney)

* TechCrunch CEO Heather Harde is just the latest AOL employee to leave the company after reportedly clashing with Huffington Post staffers. The news comes just one day after Brad Garlinghouse, AOL President of the Applications and Commerce group, and head of AOL’s (AOL) Silicon Valley operations, confirmed to the media he was departing as well. (Forbes)

* Meanwhile, Zynga Chief Business Officer Owen Van Natta is stepping down from his role with the bustling gaming startup and becoming a strategic advisor. He’ll also remain on the board. (All Things D)

* The iconic Yahoo (YHOO) billboard, which has overlooked Interstate 80 in California since 1999, is finally coming down. Here’s the inside story of how the billboard first came to be during the dot-com bubble. (The San Francisco Egotist)

* Over at The Verge, founder Joshua Topolsky reviews the new Galaxy Nexus, with a new version of Android (codenamed “Ice Cream Sandwich”), christening it one of the best smartphones ever. (The Verge)

* Is Salman Khan, of Khan Academy fame, the new Andrew Carnegie? (Time)

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