Geoff Spick27 January 2010, 10:35 PM
As Apple moves from phones to tablets, Microsoft is rushing the other way, with news that a Zune phone is definitely on the cards.
Add phone to that list and you might just have a contenderA recent addition to the Zune desktop software reveals the existence of an upcoming Zune-branded phone from Microsoft. If you've installed the software, take a peak at the zune.inf file and search for "phone." The related hardware IDs are Microsoft codes which means that new hardware is somewhere down the line. If you can't be bothered, take a look at the boring detail,
here.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the Windows Mobile 7 release and the launch of a Zune Phone are likely to coincide. Given that Zune has become a decent piece of kit (in America at any rate) and Windows Mobile 7 is touted as a decent effort from Microsoft (ignoring the fact that both may be way too late), the Seattle company could have something good on its hands.
Naturally, the release of a data file is far from conclusive and leaves a lot more questions to be answered. Will any device be released outside of North America (Microsoft seems reluctant to ship Zune hardware far from home, despite the Zune brand now appear on PCs and Xbox as software). Will anyone even notice in the rampant battle between Apple, Google, BlackBerry and Nokia?
We think the answers to both are "Yes." As Steve Ballmer has ridden a rocky patch as Microsoft CEO, he will be looking for something to boost revenue beyond Microsoft's now dwindling traditional cash cows of Windows and enterprise software. As with Windows 7, Microsoft has finally started getting things right again and a modern Windows Phone could be very popular amaong enterprises and people looking for an alternative to the iPhone droid army.
Expect to see Windows Mobile 7 in the flesh at February's
Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.