http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/story/10684355/1/exclusive-microsoft-crashes-phone-bash.html
Microsoft-branded Windows Phone 7 Series delayed until 2011
Unfortunately, Microsoft and Asus have encountered some setbacks on the road to manufacturing the next Apple iPhone killer or Google Android annihilator.
Production of the phone has been stopped temporarily. "The phone is still alive," says Kumar, but its arrival to the market will now probably be put off until early next year.
The news comes just four days after Microsoft announced -- at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona -- that its Windows Phone 7 operating system will be available on the some phones by Christmas.
Kumar says he hasn't heard what caused the Microsoft phone delay, but he speculates that if it's a software issue, it could apply to other hardware developers and spoil the Christmas timeframe promise.
A Microsoft representative said the company does not comment on speculation.
The news of Asus' involvement confirms some of the speculation around "project pink," an effort by Microsoft to develop its own phone. This would be a move similar to Microsoft's Xbox approach to video games and its Zune entry in media players.
Asus is a Taiwanese computer maker, perhaps best known for its netbook pioneering effort with the Eee PC line of mini laptops. Asus is also the hardware partner that helped Garmin(GRMN Quote) break into mobile phones with its nuviphone.
Like Google and Apple before it, Microsoft obviously sees the fast-growing mobile phone market as a land-grab opportunity that's far too important to watch from a distance.
UPDATE:
http://www.geek.com/articles/mobile/a-microsoft-phone-due-early-2011-20100218/
Ever since Apple uncloaked the original iPhone, the tech press has been abuzz with Microsofts rumored foray into the phone business. The firm remains adamant that its a mobile software provider that has no interest in building a phone. That might change early next year.
According to an exclusive scoop by The Streets Scott Moritz, Microsoft is teaming up with Asustek to build its own phone. Moritz cited a Northeast Securities analyst Ashok Kumar who predicted, based on his checks with Microsofts suppliers and design partners, a canbybar touchscreen device powered by Microsofts new Windows Phone 7 software. Kumar said that the project has been put on a temporary hold, but noted that the phone is still alive.
The yet-to-be-named phone should make a splash early next year, the analyst said, just a few months after the first batch of Windows Phone 7-powered devices hit the market in time for Christmas.
Update 5:47pm We just got word from a Microsoft representative. He said:
[This article is] based on an inaccurate story from TheStreet.com. This report is inaccurate. Microsoft is focused on enabling the ecosystem and we are working with a variety of partners to provide a valuable Windows Phone 7 Series experience for people. As detailed in Mondays press release announcing Windows Phone 7 Series, Microsoft has a variety of partners in this effort:
Partners from around the world have committed to include Windows Phone 7 Series in their portfolio plans. They include mobile operators AT&T, Deutsche Telekom AG, Orange, SFR, Sprint, Telecom Italia, Telefónica, Telstra, T-Mobile USA, Verizon Wireless and Vodafone, and manufacturers Dell, Garmin-Asus, HTC Corp., HP, LG, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Toshiba and Qualcomm Inc.
---------------------------
So MS is denying it.
Microsoft-branded Windows Phone 7 Series delayed until 2011
Unfortunately, Microsoft and Asus have encountered some setbacks on the road to manufacturing the next Apple iPhone killer or Google Android annihilator.
Production of the phone has been stopped temporarily. "The phone is still alive," says Kumar, but its arrival to the market will now probably be put off until early next year.
The news comes just four days after Microsoft announced -- at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona -- that its Windows Phone 7 operating system will be available on the some phones by Christmas.
Kumar says he hasn't heard what caused the Microsoft phone delay, but he speculates that if it's a software issue, it could apply to other hardware developers and spoil the Christmas timeframe promise.
A Microsoft representative said the company does not comment on speculation.
The news of Asus' involvement confirms some of the speculation around "project pink," an effort by Microsoft to develop its own phone. This would be a move similar to Microsoft's Xbox approach to video games and its Zune entry in media players.
Asus is a Taiwanese computer maker, perhaps best known for its netbook pioneering effort with the Eee PC line of mini laptops. Asus is also the hardware partner that helped Garmin(GRMN Quote) break into mobile phones with its nuviphone.
Like Google and Apple before it, Microsoft obviously sees the fast-growing mobile phone market as a land-grab opportunity that's far too important to watch from a distance.
UPDATE:
http://www.geek.com/articles/mobile/a-microsoft-phone-due-early-2011-20100218/
Ever since Apple uncloaked the original iPhone, the tech press has been abuzz with Microsofts rumored foray into the phone business. The firm remains adamant that its a mobile software provider that has no interest in building a phone. That might change early next year.
According to an exclusive scoop by The Streets Scott Moritz, Microsoft is teaming up with Asustek to build its own phone. Moritz cited a Northeast Securities analyst Ashok Kumar who predicted, based on his checks with Microsofts suppliers and design partners, a canbybar touchscreen device powered by Microsofts new Windows Phone 7 software. Kumar said that the project has been put on a temporary hold, but noted that the phone is still alive.
The yet-to-be-named phone should make a splash early next year, the analyst said, just a few months after the first batch of Windows Phone 7-powered devices hit the market in time for Christmas.
Update 5:47pm We just got word from a Microsoft representative. He said:
[This article is] based on an inaccurate story from TheStreet.com. This report is inaccurate. Microsoft is focused on enabling the ecosystem and we are working with a variety of partners to provide a valuable Windows Phone 7 Series experience for people. As detailed in Mondays press release announcing Windows Phone 7 Series, Microsoft has a variety of partners in this effort:
Partners from around the world have committed to include Windows Phone 7 Series in their portfolio plans. They include mobile operators AT&T, Deutsche Telekom AG, Orange, SFR, Sprint, Telecom Italia, Telefónica, Telstra, T-Mobile USA, Verizon Wireless and Vodafone, and manufacturers Dell, Garmin-Asus, HTC Corp., HP, LG, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Toshiba and Qualcomm Inc.
---------------------------
So MS is denying it.
