After a lengthy period where Color Labs was virtually ignored, the company found itself in the spotlight yet again this week with rumors of a shutdown, then an acquisition by Apple. But it turns out neither of those stories are quite true.

AllThingsD has published a follow-up story on what's really happening between Apple and Color Labs, the social startup who raised $41 million from venture capitalists last year and has since struggled to live up to its promise.

After a leaked internal memo claiming the company's board and shareholders had voted to "wind down" Color Labs which was immediately disputed, the rumor mill began churning right away that the outfit was being scooped up by Apple in a deal said to be in the "high double-digits" millions.

So AllThingsD got to the bottom of things, and what actually seems to be taking place is a talent grab of Color's engineering team, which is said to be "about 20 people." According to sources at both ends of the deal, Apple reportedly is "acquiring" the team for somewhere between $2 million and $5 million.

What the deal doesn't include, however, is the "technology, intellectual property, domain names or liabilities" owned by Color Labs, which are said to remain with the company as it winds down with "something like $25 million" in the bank.

Color CEO Bill Nguyen didn't reply to a query by AllThingsD and obviously neither Apple nor Color is commenting right now, but the engineering team -- which is "almost the entire company" -- reportedly will work on Apple's cloud technology.

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