Microsoft reiterates what we knew: no first-party handset, no Zunephone
By Chris Ziegler 
posted Apr 29th 2009 2:46AM
posted Apr 29th 2009 2:46AM
While avoiding the juicier questions surrounding the mystery of Project Pink and its potential ties to Verizon for maximizing Pink's launch, a Microsoft spokesperson has issued new comments that reiterate the stance Redmond has held from time immemorial: there's no Zunephone, and furthermore, there won't be any Microsoft-branded phones.Of course, the devil could lie in the precise wording, and the exact quote was as follows: "Microsoft is not going into the phone hardware business. Microsoft is not building a Zune-specific phone." Just because there's not a "Zune-specific phone" doesn't mean you can't steal some Zune tech for the phone business, and we have every reason to believe that Microsoft would want to be building Zune-esque features into Windows Mobile -- you can start to see tiny slivers of that in 6.5 with the home screen design, for example -- so we're still pretty confident that Pink (or another project) will ultimately marry portions of the technology and branding. In other words: Zunephone, no; Zune on Windows Mobile, though? Yeah, sure, why not?
How many times did Apple deny rumors of an iPhone? Just checking. Thanks!
Microsoft does have a smart phone out. Its called the Sidekick. He he he.
Not sure that M$ will produce any M$ branded phone.
First they should accept to act as a niche player (like Apple or RIM) but, we know, that's not familiar at Redmond.
my 2 cents about Microsoft strategy, http://meedabyte.wordpress.com/2009/02/10/does_steve_ballmer_have_the_x/
;)
Microsoft is a SOFTWARE company, its only foray in modern time to hardware - the Zune - has been a commercial failure, maybe 3% of the market to Apple's 85% (iPods). This has given them NO confidence (1) to risk another hardware product line, nor (2) to compete against their WM OS reseller/VARs like HTC etc. Just not happening.
"Eludium-Q36 @ May 5th 2009 2:41PM
Microsoft is a SOFTWARE company, its only foray in modern time to hardware - the Zune - has been a commercial failure, maybe 3% of the market to Apple's 85% (iPods). This has given them NO confidence (1) to risk another hardware product line, nor (2) to compete against their WM OS reseller/VARs like HTC etc. Just not happening."
Xbox? Xbox360? Last I checked Apple didn't even have a gaming department, much less a console? So that piece of 'modern-time hardware' looks like this Microsoft 100% Apple 0%