Microsoft 'Pink' handset project approaching failure?
updated 07:00 pm EDT, Wed May 6, 2009
Microsoft Pink in trouble
Development delays have brought the unconfirmed Microsoft 'Pink' project to the brink of failure, according to ChannelWeb. The codename is said to represent a smartphone that is being developed in conjunction with Verizon to compete against devices such as the iPhone. Unnamed sources suggest the project originally aimed to integrate technology from Windows Mobile 7. Delays with Mobile 7 have allegedly put more workload on Pink developers to find alternative technology.
Microsoft earlier this month reportedly began taking bids for an ad campaign that would involve Zune-influenced handsets. 'Pink' was referred to as a mobile application, but it is believed to represent smartphones that integrate the company's music services along with particular design guidelines for the third-party manufacturers to follow.
If true, the issues could be an indication of larger problems with Microsoft's mobile endeavors. Late last year, Gartner data indicated that the iPhone outsold the entire range of Windows Mobile devices worldwide. Through the recent quarter, Apple's device showed a 123-percent year-over-year jump in shipments and contributed to the company's best non-holiday quarter ever.
Along with the iPhone, RIM's smartphones and Android-based devices have also taken leading ranks. A new study published by the NPD Group claims the best-selling phone line for the March quarter was the BlackBerry Curve series, with the iPhone falling in second. Three BlackBerries made the top five, along with the iPhone and T-Mobile G1, but the list lacked a Windows Mobile device.
Verizon declined to comment on the Pink story, while Microsoft did not provide any details on the project. "Microsoft's strategy has not changed; it is and has always been to provide a software platform for the industry," a company representative told ChannelWeb. "We work closely with many mobile operators and device makers around the world because customers want different experiences on a variety of phones."
While the company continues to work on the Pink project, Windows Mobile 6.5 is scheduled to finally launch on May 11th. Windows Mobile 7 is not expected to ship on smartphones before 2010, even if the OS is introduced late this year.
hmmm
05/06, 08:00pm reply
You can't of a failure of a project that never existed.
archer75
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Joined: Aug 2006
icons?
05/06, 08:09pm reply
Those "Today" and "SMS" icons look very familiar, and not Windows at all.
gikku
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icons?
05/06, 08:09pm reply
Those "Today" and "SMS" icons look very familiar, and not Windows at all. "Settings" seems familiar also.
gikku
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a clue
05/06, 09:01pm reply
"Microsoft's strategy has not changed..." They've been saying that since 1991.
robttwo
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hmmm
05/06, 09:30pm (2 replies) reply
So do we get to declare every Apple device ever developed in-house but never seeing the light of day as failures too?
I wonder how many iterations of the iPhone Apple went through before releasing the one we got?
testudo
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suggestion
05/06, 09:40pm reply
I hear Android is pretty good. Maybe they should build Pink on that instead...
WiseWeasel
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Joined: Apr 1999
Incrementalism
05/06, 09:52pm reply
Apple's incrementalist approach certainly beats throwing the whole kitchen at a device and praying that it all works.
Apple produced the first iPod with more raised eyebrows than expectations. It did well and Apple SLOWLY added features and SLOWLY expanded the iPod's abilities and carefully raised expectations.
The advent of iTunes Store changed the game, but again, there were few (published) expectations from Apple.
Microsoft sits and waits to copy. They make up a strategy in response to what others do. So, when they finally get around to committing to producing and actually SELLING a product, the version 1.0 MUST works or it's doomed.
Great strategy, huh?
JeffHarris
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But.. but... but...
05/06, 09:52pm reply
...it has hexagons- that makes it cutting edge, dunnit? It CAN'T fail!
jpellino
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darn
05/06, 09:54pm reply
this is a sad day in the world of technology...... no just kidding.
Herod
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ms fail
05/06, 10:16pm reply
right now would be a great time to re-post some of ballmer's classic quotes like the one where he's talking smack about iPhone and how what really matters is how many phones are running your mobile software, not how many handsets you sell.
Late last year, Gartner data indicated that the iPhone outsold the entire range of Windows Mobile devices worldwide.
mmmm... schadenfreude.
climacs
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