Well it is that time again; let’s push out the facts and the fiction that has been behind Microsoft’s purposed iPhone competitor, “Project Pink”.
It all started back in September 2006 before the Zune even existed. Chris Stephenson, at the time General Manager of Global Marketing for the Zune, was quoted saying that, “A Zune phone is definitely part of the future of this brand”. The tech community freaked at the thought of an iPhone competitor, which at the time was unheard of.
In Feburary of 2007, Cruch Gear stated that they had recieved a sound tip about a Zune Phone. The tipster stated that the Zune Phone would be “a smart phonethat works homogeneously with the Zune marketplace.” I would not run Windows Mobile, but instead a custom version similarto that of the current Zune(at the time). It was to be released sometime in the holiday season of 2007. Gizmodo received morenews, but updated saying the source was wrong.
More after the break.
More rumors broke free a few days later, Microsoft appeared to have filed for a prototype Zune phone with the FCC. Engadget stopped the nonsense stating that “A Zune phone? We think not – yet – but we’ll know better when the filing actually hits the FCC in the near future.”
More and more rumors kept on coming, in September when Mindy Mount, at the time Microsoft’s CFO of the Entertainment and Devices Division, stated, “Clearly we do identify Mobile being more integrated with photos and music. Its a natural thing to have in ourproduct roadmap.”. Now the Codename Pink began floating around, after Roz Ho, head of the Microsoft Mac Business unit moved to the Mobile and Entertainment Division. It was rumored that she would be heading project codename “Pink and Purple.” The project would be about “bringing Zune features and functionality to Windows Mobile devices.”
Some more wood on the fire came when Microsoft announced it’s acquisition of Danger, a consumer handset OS maker in February 2008. This was seen as an obvious sign of the production of a Zune Phone. Steve Ballmer’s memo to Microsoft Employees seemed to be Zune Phone anddanger related was leaked in July. In the memo Ballmer states, “We’re changing the way we work with hardware vendors to ensure that we can provide complete experiences with absolutely no compromises. We’ll do the same with phones providing choice as we work to create great end-to-end experiences.”
CNBC, the business side of the National Broadcasting Corporation brought back Pink rumors, writing “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” and “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 flipphone available on T-Mobile.”
In April of 2009 more rumors came up about Microsoft working with Verizon, as well as more talk of a Pink phone. The Wall Street Journal reported that Microsoft and Verizon were in talks about launching “a touch-screen multimedia cellphone on the carrier’s network early next year.”
In May of 2009, ZDNet released specifications for the Windows Mobile 7 Chassis 1, which is rumored to be the core of “Pink”. Microsoft reportedly choosesMcCann Erickson for the marketing of “Pink”.
As September cam, 5to10Mac published a report that the “Pink” was actually two different phones. The two phones were codename “Turtle” and “Pure”. Gizmodo wasn’t far behind with images of said phones.
On January 8th 2010, after some quite, the “Zune Phone” rumors started up again. Robbie Bach denied a Zune Phone in an interview with the Financial Post. The rumor mill started once again. On January 19th Jefferies and Company analyst Katherin Egbert sent a note to investors stating, “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 Feb15-18 Mobile World Congress conference in Barcelona Spain, or possibly at CTIA in Las Vegas one month later.” Engadget posted a list of tweet’s that included “from Danger”(This is the twitter account of Namrata Bachwani, current Release Manager at Microsoft).
Of the history behind the Zune Phone, and project Pink, the most intriguing thing ever happened on January 25th. Long Zheng, creator of iStartedSomething, posted a new device driver that appeared to be for three different phones, all by Microsoft.
The most recent as of writing this post, is something by the Spanish blog MuyComputer, stating that the phone will be released at the Mobile World Congress on February 15th-18th in Barcelona. It is to have a Tegra processor (Zune HD anyone?), a screen resolution of 480 x 272, HDMI video out, and weighing around 70 grams.
The next few days to weeks in going to be interesting if this proves to be true.
–Tyler Perroux
