Is the Zune Phone on the Way?

Microsoft has apparently submitted a device for approval to the Federal Communications Commission on Monday, which at first appears to suggest that the company might be considering providing a mobile phone aside from the Zune Media players.

Since Apple has done the same, with their iPhone, there is no reason why Microsoft wouldn't consider this. According to the filing, Microsoft and other firms will submit for approval a prototype of a wireless device that can be used for talking over the Internet and uses OFDM, a technology used to route digital TV and voice calls that is also used in Wi-FI and WIMAX.

The filing doesn't mention Zune at any point and the device mentioned is not really a cellphone, but more of a VoIP-device. Microsoft says that the intended use of the device is "consumer broadband access and networking." Judging from this, we can pretty much rule out the possibility of this being a Zune phone.

In any case, whatever type of device this is, Microsoft seems to be getting ready to release it and even if this has nothing to do with a Zune phone, that doesn't mean we'll never get to see one.

While Apple seems to master the art of keeping something completely secret, Microsoft isn't known for doing the same, and be sure that if there are plans for a Zune phone and Microsoft is considering producing and releasing it, rumors will appear, letting everyone know what the device can do, whether and when it will be released.

This doesn't necessarily mean that we'll get to see a Zune phone this year or the next one or ever. This might just be the only thing left to launch rumors about, since everyone ran out of things to say about the iPhone.