14 DAY TRIAL // We've already laid down a few words on Microsoft's Pink project, which is supposed to include both a mobile phone, though not developed by the Redmond company itself, and the range of mobile services related to the device, and now we learn that all the suppositions are a step closer to becoming reality, and that the wireless carrier that would launch Pink (or just one of the carriers) could be Verizon.
What Pink is expected to consist of includes a phone, Zune services, Windows Mobile Marketplace access, My Phone services and a wide range of other ones the Danger team from the company's Mobile unit developed, and which are consumer focused, states a recent article published on Wall Street Journal.
According to the story, Microsoft is working on the phone's both software and hardware, yet it should be manufactured by a third party, though the device is supposed to come as a Microsoft phone. The operating system that will be included with the handset should be the next-generation Windows Mobile 7, though it won't resemble any of the WM 7-based phones coming from other manufacturers, it seems.
Launching the Microsoft phone could offer Verizon a way to boost its revenue in the competition against AT&T, which is the exclusive distributor of Apple's iPhone in the US. As such, rumors started to go around claiming that the upcoming Pink could shape up into a device meant to be some sort of an iPhone-killer, though coming with a lot of similarities with Apple's product.
According to WSJ, Microsoft and Verizon have been working on the Pink project for the past several months, as their relationship evolved from the search-and-advertising partnership they inked at the beginning of the year. It seems that a lot of the details regarding the project haven't been decided just yet, and this applies to the branding of the phone as well.
Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg was reported recently to have stated in an interview that the company planned to partner with Apple for the introduction of an iPhone, yet he declined to comment on Verizon working with Microsoft for said device.
For what it's worth, it seems that some people familiar with the carrier's plans have stated that it is working with Microsoft for the introduction of a touch-screen multimedia mobile phone, which should land on Verizon's airwaves as soon as early 2010. The time frame seems to be in line with what was so far reported on the release date of Windows Mobile 7.