A good while back now we all got to have a proper look at the Pink phones. They’re from Microsoft, made by Sharp and distant cousins of the Sidekick. We knew back then that they were aimed at the “youth” market and now further evidence is getting spilled courtesy of Mary-Jo Foley. She discusses the recent changes within the Entertainment and Devices teams at Microsoft and, although Microsoft wouldn’t confirm it, Pink is mentioned as being aimed at the “teen/twenty-something market”.
Meanwhile, Windows Mobile 7 has again popped up in the news with TheInquirer and other sites spotting some rather meaty information coming from analyst Katherine Egbert. Katherine works for Jefferies (an investment banking firm) and told her clients that…
“Our recent industry checks indicate Microsoft will be debuting its own phone sometime in the next two months. We expect the new phone to debut soon, at either the Feb 15-18 Mobile World Congress conference in Barcelona Spain, or possibly at CTIA in Las Vegas one month later.”
She also dropped some other interesting bits of info, including the fact that Microsoft is, “partnering with a few OEM manufacturers” (like Google) and that the Windows Mobile 7 experience will be Zune-like with 720p HD video capabilities and at least a 5 megapixel camera. Hmmm.. we heard similar specs last week didn’t we? A Zune video store will be included, as will music subscription and purchasing services with an interface which is “similar” to the Zune HD.
Going back to the Pink phone for a moment, Katherine had a little less intel, but did state ..
“We don’t have any information about the cost of the Pink phone, nor do we know what service providers might be partnered with Microsoft. The new phone might explain why Microsoft has allowed WinMo to dwindle to less than 10 percent mobile OS market share. Pink would be the ‘third screen’ (after Windows and Xbox) and (the) final component in Microsoft’s ‘3 screens and a cloud’ strategy.”
All very interesting and intriguing stuff. It looks like Microsoft is about to fight back..
Links – zdnet.com – arstechnica.com
Credit – Richard Collier