The company has yet to confirm any details

Apr 6, 2010 15:06 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft has yet to confirm any details officially, but the company did send out invitations to an event scheduled for April 12th, 2010, noting that, “It’s time to share.” The Redmond company’s timing for sharing coincides with the launch of Visual Studio 2010, .Net Framework 4 and Silverlight 4 in Las Vegas, however, it is focused on the unveiling of a new Mobile Phone line in San Francisco. While the software giant is keeping information on the April 12th event under a tight lid, speculation and third-party sources have indicated that Microsoft will launch the first Pink phones.

Various tidbits of information on Project Pink, or codename Pink, have been leaking constantly for the past two or three years, with nothing taking contour, until now, that is. It now appears that Microsoft’s first Pink phones will be the successors of Sidekick devices, following the Redmond company’s acquisition of Danger, finalized in 2008.

At the same time, Project Pink is not just about the devices themselves, but also about the services designed to complement the new phones. According to unnamed sources, the upcoming Pink phones will be focused on delivering social networking and Zune services to users, just as Windows Phone 7 devices, which are planned for availability ahead of the 2010 holiday season.

According to Mary-Jo Foley, there are no less than four product monikers lined up for the new phones, including Pure, Turtle, Lion and Pride. Other third-party sources revealed that Microsoft would be releasing just two phones, namely codename Pure and Turtle. The successor of the Sidekicks would feature a Windows Mobile operating system, sources also said.

Microsoft is laboring to build on its momentum on the mobile-phone market, especially with the success of Google’s Android and Apple’s iPhone. The company even simplified the official brand of its next-generation mobile platform, from Windows Phone 7 Series to just Windows Phone 7.