Written by Peter Murphy on Sunday, November 30, 2008

Microsoft SmartPhone, The Rumour Mill!

Well this one has been going around for ages, that Microsoft would eventually come up with it’s own hardware to deliver it’s Windows Mobile OS on, and somehow couple it with the Zune MP3 player to create the ultimate WinMo device. I always find myself having a little chuckle at the cynical optimism of tech writers, whether they be from large syndicated news networks, or rather less well known publications.

To set the stage, a blast from the past, that did nothing to dampen the rumours of a Microsoft WinMo phone

Albeit a rather tongue in cheek look at a Microsoft device, more of a boomerang than a sleek phone, there is still a lot of wondering and speculation as to whether Microsoft will ever release a mobile device, or Zune Phone. A post earlier in the week at CNBC.com, seems to suggest that this is actually about to happen, and soon.

I’m hearing from a good source that Microsoft is ready to give a major facelift to the company’s Zune music player that could mean its evolution into a new smart phone from the company.

My source says that the new device falls under the codename “Pink” and that it will combine the company’s Zune and technology from Microsoft’s purchase of Danger Inc., the company that brought us the Sidekick flip phone available on T-Mobile.

The un-named source is also suggesting that the wraps may be taken off of a prototype, at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show in January 09. Not the only Microsoft device news of recent times though, although this next bit of information is really a bit hard to give any real credibility, considering the article starts with

WHAT DO YOU get if you take an Iphone, remove the clean UI, user friendliness, nice industrial design, battery life, cache, functional OS, and in general everything else that makes it worthwhile? The new Microsoft phone, powered by Nvidia.

In what is an obviously biased post, in the Inquirer, we are given a little taste of what micro$oft’s doing, un-named sources again, partnering with Nvidia, to fashion a device around the Tegra chipset, a low power use platform, that to all intents and purposes would be viable in a mobile phone. Whatever the case may be, this one is supposed to arrive in February.

I know we’ve seen all of these rumours, in one form or another for a couple of years now, but I do find myself wondering, if Microsoft do produce their own handset, will they be able to get it right? Say they produce hardware with Windows Mobile on board, without any of the tinkering that the service providers do to the ROMs, are they more likely to get it right?

Whatever the case, I’ll leave you with a video of the ZunePhone, while you mull all of this over.