Microsoft "Pink" phone rumors continue to percolate

The iPhone 3GS, the Palm Pre, and the T-Mobile myTouch 3G all have starring roles in this year's so-called "Smartphone Summer," but does Microsoft have a sleeper waiting in the wings? Maybe so, if the latest "Pink" phone rumors are true.

ZDNet's Mary-Jo Foley has been way out front in reporting on Microsoft's long-rumored "Pink Project"—which may or may not involve (as Foley puts it) a "Microsoft-branded phone" that looks and feels like "a souped-up Sidekick" with Zune-powered video and music abilities—and last week she dug up an interesting tidbit: namely, that Microsoft has signed up an ad agency to handle upcoming Pink promotional duties.

That might be a sign that Pink, whatever it is, has become more than just a codename, and could be well on its way to producing an actual shipping product.

But the Pink Project is still shrouded in mystery. Microsoft has yet to confirm its existence, of course, and officially, Redmond still stands behind Windows Mobile as the perfect mobile OS for one and all.

Foley, for one, says her spies are telling her that Pink will (or already does) involve either Motorola or Sharp, the same manufacturers responsible for the popular Sidekick line of smartphones—and Microsoft, if you recall, acquired Sidekick developer Danger last year.

Meanwhile, Foley continues, Pink will be be based on the upcoming Windows Mobile 7 OS (due in the fall), although the Pink user interface—codenamed "Purple"—will "look different" from traditional Windows Mobile handsets (again, according to Foley), and will instead "appeal to an audience not so different from the traditional Sidekick audience." Interesting.

OK, so should we be expecting a "Pink" phone this fall, or maybe early next year? Hard to say. We've had some false alarms in the past—namely back at CES in January, when a rumored Pink phone failed to materialize.

Most recently, the Wall Street Journal reported back in April that Microsoft was in talks with Verizon Wireless about a project—again, code-named "Pink"—that involves an "iPhone-like device" that would "extend the tech giant's Windows Mobile operating system, adding new software features." The Journal story (attributed to anonymous sources) claimed that the phone could arrive "early next year," but so far, we haven't heard any further details (much less an official confirmation).

In other words … all very sketchy, at least for now. But despite the varying specifics and predictions, the "Pink" talk simply refuses to go away.

So don't pin your hopes on a Sidekick-style, Zune-infused "Pink" phone quite yet, but it's definitely something to keep on the radar.

Related:
Report: Microsoft chooses ad agency for Pink phone campaign [ZDNet]