Hasta La Gadget!

Things may not be looking up for the real Steve Jobs at moment, but at least his fake, online counterpart, Dan Lyons, can breathe a sigh of relief. Reports from Alley Insider regarding a “lifetime ban” from CNBC may have been blown slightly out of proportion.

Lyons was reportedly banned for life from the financial network after confronting the station’s tech reporter, Jim Goldman, for not reporting anything about Job’s health until after he stepped down. Lyons accused Goldman of being “punked” by Apple PR.

We reported the story, citing the blog’s report. Soon after, however, we were contacted by NBC Universal VP, Kevin Goldman, who stated, simply, “Dan Lyons is not banned from CNBC.”

We contacted Lyons, who neither confirmed nor denied the original report. “I can’t really talk about it,” he told Gearlog. “[I] would just like to let it all drop. If they say I’m not banned, that’s great.”

Lyons also expressed regret about the incident. “[For what it’s worth], I wrote an apology to Goldman and others at CNBC after the show for being so rude. And I still feel bad about that.”