Microsoft completes Danger acquisition, creates new Premium Mobile Experiences division

Microsoft's just announced that its $500M buyout of Sidekick maker Danger is complete, and that it's rolling the new team into its own unit, the Premium Mobile Experiences division. Ready to follow the chain of corporate command? PMX is under the Mobile Communications Business unit at MS, which itself falls under the Entertainment and Devices Division responsible for the Xbox and Zune. Got all that? Good. Danger's management team won't be directly calling the shots at PMX, though -- they'll be reporting to Roz Ho, who you might remember as the former head of the Mac Business Unit. Ho says the goal of PMX is to have people "smile every time they look at their phone," which hopefully means we'll be seeing a lot more Danger influence on Windows Mobile than the other way around. Still, "Premium Mobile Experiences" is an interesting choice of name, especially in the same division as the 360 and Zune -- dare we dream of a Microsoft-branded consumer phone?

[Via MocoNews]

[Sukhminder @ Apr 15th 2008 2:42PM]

Hey, if it makes WinMo better, sweet.

[OnlyShawn @ Apr 15th 2008 2:43PM]

funniest logo-headline yet.

[Fusion @ Apr 15th 2008 2:49PM]

i can see the DANGER already, lol

[js @ Apr 15th 2008 5:20PM]

I see what you did there.

[NHAnimator @ Apr 15th 2008 2:50PM]

"dare we dream of a Microsoft-branded consumer phone"

Well, nightmares are technically dreams. So, yeah, dream on.

[Bang Header @ Apr 15th 2008 2:53PM]

Microsoft-branded music player?

Nah, never happen!

[Rich @ Apr 15th 2008 2:55PM]

@Bang Header
It certainly hasn't happened yet for most of the world...

[Josh L @ Apr 15th 2008 3:54PM]

@Rich

Neither has an Apple-branded laptop or desktop if you want to play the pedantic marketshare game.

[Zach @ Apr 15th 2008 4:16PM]

i disagree with all the hate.
though i do wish danger remained it's own entity, i had a sidekick 2, and 3 for a total of 3 years, (worked a summer when i was 12 to get the 2) and i must say the interface is one of the best i've seen, and i've played with all sorts of blackberries, the winmo platform, and quite a few iphones.

although there is absolutely no way to run homebrew (besides getting a dev key) on the sidekick OS, if they were to make a new platform together (winmo + danger) it would be the openness of winmo combined with a, dare i say, easy to use interface.

i trust danger at the helm, though if microsoft is in the end calling the shots, it won't be fulfilled to it's potential (unless microsoft takes it's head out of it's ass that is..)

[sinai @ Apr 15th 2008 2:59PM]

way to fail microsoft. danger hasn't put out anything innovative in 5 years.

[o0adam0o @ Apr 15th 2008 5:11PM]

Get a Sidekick and slap a memory slot...a better cam..wifi..some high speed data mobile hardware (3g, Rev A etc..) and get it on all major GSM/CDMA...i know this thing will sell like hot cakes.

[JAmerican @ Apr 15th 2008 7:08PM]

I had the first sidekick and loved it because at the time Mobile AIM, Email and Internet all on one device was never seen before. I actually chose the Sidekick over the Pocket PC Phone offered by VoiceStream/T-Mobile at the time. Since then, the only thing new is the designs and the music player. I don't see much more coming out of the Sidekick line. Adding WM to it won't help but I hope we see some efficiency on the WM side with Danger's help (I hope).

JAmerican

[JAmerican @ Apr 15th 2008 7:08PM]

I had the first sidekick and loved it because at the time Mobile AIM, Email and Internet all on one device was never seen before. I actually chose the Sidekick over the Pocket PC Phone offered by VoiceStream/T-Mobile at the time. Since then, the only thing new is the designs and the music player. I don't see much more coming out of the Sidekick line. Adding WM to it won't help but I hope we see some efficiency on the WM side with Danger's help (I hope).

JAmerican

[LaughingMan @ Apr 15th 2008 2:59PM]

Honestly, I think Danger was bought because Microsoft rightly recognizes that their user interface design needs new blood. Windows Mobile has looked and felt pretty much the same for the last 4 versions : clunky. And with version 7, there's high expectations. Windows Mobile is no longer out to beat Palm, which is already pretty much dead. They've got to worry about Android and the iPhone.

Microsoft is having trouble developing something really cutting edge in house, so Danger is brought in.

[catachip @ Apr 15th 2008 3:11PM]

"smile every time they look at their phone"

Riiiight... with a windows mobile device? Maybe they should be shooting for a grimace at first. You know, something that can actually be attained.

[kal326 @ Apr 15th 2008 3:15PM]

@catachip
Well if "Premium Mobile Experience" loosely translates to porn hosting, I could see where this could be possible.

[Dan @ Apr 15th 2008 3:13PM]

You mean like this one:
http://web.archive.org/web/20000301023950/http://www.microsoft.com/products/hardware/phone/default.htm

[Brad @ Apr 15th 2008 3:14PM]

OH ROZ HO. HOW I'VE SO MISSED YOUR NATURAL SPEAKING STYLE AT MACWORLD.

[anodynewake @ Apr 15th 2008 3:15PM]

Oh crap. Not another company consumed by the purging fires of Microsoft.

[lao.soup @ Apr 15th 2008 3:16PM]

Zune phone??

[blevay @ Apr 15th 2008 3:30PM]

"...dare we dream of a Microsoft-branded consumer phone?"

Dare i say my dreams of such a device would be nightmares.

[Quix @ Apr 15th 2008 3:35PM]

"dare we dream of a Microsoft-branded consumer phone?"

The success of the iPhone (much to Ballmer's sweat-soaked dismay) pretty much guarantees it.

Microsoft: The Freedom to Innovate (TM)

[Alexander @ Apr 15th 2008 3:38PM]

sidekick box hey you never know lol

[Quix @ Apr 15th 2008 3:38PM]

"Ho says the goal of PMX is to have people "smile every time they look at their phone,""

I smile every time I look at my iPhone, so PMX = mission accomplished! Nice work guys!

[Marty @ Apr 15th 2008 3:39PM]

Danger + WinMo+ Zune + Xbox + LIVE = Fucking a.

Haters can hate all they want... (ok, the Zune is kind of lame, I have an iPod... I'll give you that) but the potential is... well, it's potential anyway.

And yes, this obviously a good move for Danger more than MS.

[Abuzar @ Apr 15th 2008 4:34PM]

You blasphemer!

You will burn in the Fires of Microsoft hell!

[retro77 @ Apr 15th 2008 3:55PM]

zPhone!
^^coined^^


its really just gonna be a sidekick with the microsoft logo on it.

[haX0r @ Apr 15th 2008 5:21PM]

If the phone runs Windows Vista, they could call it the: CrashPhone.



How about Microsoft makes a car that runs all Windows. Then you would have to reboot your car while doing 65 MPH on the freeway!

[Abuzar @ Apr 15th 2008 5:25PM]

Yeah and when you make a phone we will all call it the Gay Phone!

[haX0r @ Apr 15th 2008 5:24PM]

...Or you can call it the KickPhone. Because when it crashes, you are going to kick the shizznit out of it!

[haX0r @ Apr 15th 2008 5:30PM]

@ Abuzar
I'm not hating MS, I use it all day but their stuff does crash.


Besides your phone would be called n00bPhone

[Abuzar @ Apr 15th 2008 5:44PM]

Yeah call others n00bs AFTER you figure out how to reply on engadget.

[haX0r @ Apr 15th 2008 5:53PM]

Like this...

which n00bie you be?

[Richard Lai @ Apr 15th 2008 5:37PM]

Danger to HTC?

[Frankenstein Black @ Apr 15th 2008 5:39PM]

Wow! Only $500M? Now that's a steal deal, dealy, deal, deal especially for the devision that will surely bring us the ZunE60 Portable...

[Rob Schoenfeld @ Apr 15th 2008 5:45PM]

I don't ever see a Zune phone happening, all it will do is canalize customers from other winmo vendors. I see not on but two os editions being born on business oriented and one consumer oriented. The Zune market place (however sucky) a software application for both devices.

Microsoft needs to do to things to Make Win Mo 7 a success.

1. Needs a kick ass UI (One that will give the Iphone UI a run for its money). This going to have to include some serious quality control on hardware devices to make sure the UI is not sluggish or slow in any way (Force hardware vendors to use better hardware and not the minimum specs need to run the os). The UI should also be consistent with other Microsoft products. If I where Microsoft I would be taking a look at GUI technology like pointui that already offers a proven UI on top of Win Mo.

2. Tight integration with all other Microsoft products, making it a very fluid ecosystem. Microsoft is going to have to streamline the whole sync process and make it very easy to use (at least at the consumer edition). Microsoft will need to make it very easy (and fun) to plug and play the mobile devices with its entire product line (Zune, Sync, Vista, Xbox, etc). Microsoft will also need support a full-fledged media/software store (Including TV Shows/Movies will be a must) to compete with Itunes.

[Quix @ Apr 15th 2008 7:25PM]

"I don't ever see a Zune phone happening, all it will do is canalize customers from other winmo vendors"

Remember Plays For Sure? You can bet Samsung, Creative, and the rest of the "Stabbed in the Back by Microsoft" gang do.

[Sam Zebian @ Apr 15th 2008 5:55PM]

Let's hope something good comes out of this whole thing... Think the type of work that's been done on Zune and Xbox, and apply that type of thinking and that business model to a Microsoft Phone. Now THAT would be awesome!!

[Rob Schoenfeld @ Apr 15th 2008 7:34PM]

Quix

You raise a good point, it will be interesting to see what type of damage control MSFT does to correct that issue. I think once microsoft figures out the UI thing and drives for better hardware from the vendors, you'll see Win Mo sales stablize. At least that's what one would hope. With the Iphone nipping at MSFT's heels they are going to have to change the way they develop software.

[haX0r @ Apr 16th 2008 1:09AM]

MS aren't stupid. Bid for Yahoo...buying Danger...thinking ahead. Are they developing a platform that can cross all lines and bring them back into the mix with a univeral platform phone that does all the goodies of business in conjunction with a media player/xbox type of service for users? That is the question. Also, the best possible IU in the business. Hey they stole it from Apple once, what's to say they won't do it again and show some 0wnage to the other touch phones out there. But PLEASE make a good qwerty board that is either a slide out or a great Wide Screen interface. That is where Apple missed the boat. Hopefully, some one using the Jailbreak SDK would develop an app that does this widescreen, because it is hard to type in that format - make it haptic too.

[caramelzappa @ Apr 16th 2008 12:58AM]

I hope this all goes well. Dangers OS on the sidekick is hands down the best I've used on a phone. I had a sidekick iD, but when it broke I moved to a t-mobile dash and then a t-mo wing. Both the smartphone and touchscreen versions of windows mobile are slow and clumsy, and despite the huge ammount of features I get that the sidekick doesn't have, not one of them is done right. In my eyes the sidekick OS is near perfect, missing only the ability for third party applications (And proper mms support, but at least it's still ahead of the iphone in that department) I'm sitting here with a ridiculously expensive phone just missing my $50 iD.

[maniacprovost @ Apr 16th 2008 4:50AM]

mm, MicroPhone

[macserv @ Apr 16th 2008 2:00PM]

Well, at least now I have fewer mixed feelings about switching from my SideKick 3 to my iPhone. There have definitely been times when I've missed certain elements (sound profiles, anyone?) of the DangerOS. Now it's almost certainly doomed to be mothballed or mutilated, so I guess I can move on.

[DiscoCat5 @ Apr 19th 2008 1:25AM]

"Buy him out boys!"