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New GadgetsSomewhere along the line, someone called it “Pink.” Nobody is really sure why. For the ill informed, “Pink” is the codeword arbitrarily assigned to the latest Microsoft rumor. The rumor? A brand new phone produced by none other than Microsoft + Verizon.
Is the rumor valid? It certainly has some valid points. One has to admit that the number one tech company plus the number one phone company equals a winning combination. With the runaway success of the iPhone, someone has to wage competition. No one is better suited to the job than Microsoft and Verizon.
Microsoft has been left in the lurch when it comes to smart phones. Sure, they have some nice software and it’s gotten a lot better. Yes, they made a valiant effort when they signed a deal with Verizon to make LiveSearch the default search engine for all new Verizon phones. But these were only steps in the right direction. All along, the iPhone was selling like crazy, and the App Store, crossed the 1 billion threshold. Who cares about Live Search when users have already downloaded over a billion apps and consumers have bought more than 30 million iPhones?
Microsoft cares. And they are eager to do something about it. That’s why they are cooking up “Mobile Marketplace” (http://client.marketplace.windowsmobile.com/) an App Store rival. Will it work? Time will tell. And it will take time. Movements like this don’t happen overnight.
Some rumor parasites claim that Microsoft will reestablish a strong foothold by unveiling a new phone. Others scoff. One does not regain ascendancy by mimicry, they say. And, unfortunately, it seems as if anything after the iPhone is merely imitation. But Microsoft won’t go down without a fight. If the Verizon partnership proves as successful as they hope, you may be standing in line for a Pink Phone next, not an iPhone.
