Microsoft Phone

Will there, won’t there be a Microsoft phone?

Confused? Well, perhaps a number of questions will be answered when the new Microsoft phone – allegedly know as the Zune Phone, to join all those snazzy Zune MP3 players – hits the market sometime in 2009; maybe Christmas.

For some reason the software giant based in Seattle has been very coy about details about the Microsoft Phone and for years rumours have been flying backwards and forwards. But, despite the cloak of secrecy, details have been slipping out.

Firstly, it will join the Zune family of devices and services that Microsoft hope will offer a tangible threat to Apple and its family of multimedia devices that have captured the title of ‘cool.’

Apple and Microsoft have had this sort of battle before of course, with the PC and Mac battle all about efficiency over design. Mac users claim to be design-led creative types, where PC users see themselves as more utilitarian, putting power and efficiency first. For many, it’s a sensible woolly pullover compared to a trendy shirt.

And Apple have defined the start of the 21st Century with devices that are not only cool, but now work, and can cut the mustard. And whereas Microsoft rarely played catch-up in the world of operating systems and applications, it has always been running behind Apple when it came to personal multimedia devices.

So now we have the almost inevitable possibility of a Microsoft phone – being called the Zune phone, or Pink phone – to round-off the giant’s personal multimedia offering.

The Microsoft phone will run Windows Mobile 7 and will most likely come packed with an ARM v6+ processor. Therefore, it will be a smartphone, complete with a USB connection, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi 802.1 b/g. A three mega pixel digital camera looks likely to be offered as standard, although rumours suggest that a second camera will be offered as standard. And there’s also talk of assisted GPS. It seems probable it will also come with a light sensor, compass and accelerometer.

It’s almost certain that the screen will be based on a 3.5 inch, 800 x 480 display with touch support. How text will be entered, via the screen, or a physical keyboard, is not definite, although an actual QWERTY keyboard seems unlikely given the design parameters. Although a number of buttons have been talked about.

There’s also talk of Micro SD support and an FM radio. Overall, it will look very much like the existing Zune MP3 player.

But whether the Microsoft Phone eventually becomes as desirable as the iPhone, remains to be seen.