Gaming a key feature for rumoured devices from Microsoft and Sony
Microsoft mythical 'Project Pink' rumours resurface. Sony tablet may signal a new distance from Sony Ericsson
Published: 5 March, 2010
READ MORE: Microsoft | Sony Corp | Games | Handset | Tablet | Windows Mobile
One of the constant sources of mobile industry speculation is whether certain key players will launch their own-branded phones. Google has obliged with Nexus One, and now Microsoft is, yet again, reported to be readying a handset, along with Sony, which could use its own brand rather than its Sony Ericsson joint venture for a PlayStation phone.
The Microsoft rumors center once again on the possibly mythical 'Project Pink', which would create a handset design under the software giant's brand, to spread the presence of new OS Windows Phone 7. This could be a reference design, available to multiple white label partners, or more probably, the basis of one or more specific models, codesigned with selected partners.
An obvious candidate would be HTC, the market leader in Windows Mobile handsets and no stranger to the white label model and the various contradictions this entails as it also looks to build its own brand - it makes the first Google handset, Nexus One, while adopting very similar specifications for its own Desire phone.
The Reuters news agency cited sources who said the first product of Project Pink would appear on the Verizon Wireless network in late spring or early summer. Like many new phones this year, it would target the mass smartphone market and be heavily oriented towards social networking.
Pink would presumably tap into the expertise of Microsoft's Danger acquisition, which would also put other vendor partners in line, as well as HTC. Danger's Sidekick device is made by Sharp and Motorola. Danger is now part of Microsoft's new Premium Mobile Experiences team, within the mobile arm of its Entertainment and Devices division. And the Zune media player and Xbox games console could also sees their capabilities and even brands included in Pink models, something also hinted at by the specs of Windows Phone 7.
Another vendor whose music and games devices fit logically into its phone line-up is Sony. Its Sony Ericsson (SEMC) venture has thrived by using the Walkman and Cybershot names in handsets, but is now moving away from these to try to create its own brands at the high end (possibly in case of any future split between the two parents). Meanwhile, two years of hopes of a PlayStation phone have been thwarted by internecine struggles over ownership of Sony's brand, and now The Wall Street Journal believes the Japanese giant will go ahead with a games handset, but separately from SEMC.
It will launch a smartphone heavily geared to PlayStation games, and probably using its name, plus a tablet-style device in the same category as the Apple iPad, reports the WSJ. The latter will combine functionality of a netbook, e-reader and PSP, according to the usual "people familiar with the matter".
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