It's crazy, we know. Just hours after hearing shockingly believable
whispers that Apple's white-hot iPhone 3G could be
sashaying over to Verizon Wireless, in flies a
Wall Street Journal report asserting that the suits in Redmond are (also?) in talks with America's largest carrier. 'Course, we've heard
rumors that Microsoft was banging out a smartphone behind closed doors for centuries now, but much to our chagrin, there's no mention of "
Zune" in "
Project Pink." Instead, we're told that said handset is a touchscreen-based multimedia phone that will aim to extend the Windows Mobile OS while "adding new software capabilities." Not surprisingly, the article also mentions that Windows Marketplace would be front and center on the phone, and potentially most interesting is this tidbit: "a third-party is expected to make the device." Hey HTC -- seen any strange calls originating from the 425?
[Via
Boy Genius Report]
posted Apr 28th 2009 1:37PM
UGLY BRICK!!!!
Why you gotta talk about my momma?!
The thing in that picture is a ZUNE 30GB... ITS A BEAUTIFUL BABY.
Okay... Just because it doesn't have a big brain or isn't slim... it doesn't mean it is not beautiful.
@ Temo
Big girls need love too?
no no that's not the zune brick, look you can see that it's running windows mobile not the zune firmware
Your pic for this article is quite biased.
That's all I've got to say.
You may continue licking Steve Jobs' ball sack now engadget.
Notice how if it's about a microsoft product they use combination of old stuff, why don't you use this image for when a new apple product is coming out?
http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/2154/deletee.png
Hoooooh-ly crap! Microsoft is about to take a dump on it's WinMo-powered smartphone partners. Ballmer's Bunch is ready to get into the business of FAIL on a full-time basis. They can sell the rest of the WinMo handset industry a watered down version of WinMo, while Microsoft uses a special version. Not that it's going to do M$ any good.
They know zilch about developing MP3 players and smartphones. Microsoft should just stay the hell out of the hardware business and keep developing their desktop Windows good enough so that users might decide to upgrade from WinXP in the near future.
Though I have heard that M$ sells decent keyboards and mice.
okay you changed it from a biased pic of a zune 30 with some winmobile interface to this one.
thank you engadget for me not hating on you anymore.
The reason is simple.
They want to keep getting invited to Apple shindigs so they can live blog and party.
Start poking fun at them, don't expect an invite. They will have to do their live blogging from post off of Gizmodo.
I have to agree with you. Now that I see it in more detail. I think that was just a nasty photoshop work.
Yes, big girls need love too.
I wish my mom used a Zune, or any MP3.
Why bring our moms here? :P
Steve is sick. No licking please. Look at the Swine Flu!!!
I don't like Apple as a company, but I do hope Steve as a human being gets well and recovers from his illness. Hate Apple or not, its existence has pushed the envelop and started the TouchScreen Frenzy and the revamping of many UI. It is like that High School Cheerleader that is sexy and slim and made all those other fat and not-make-up girls that were not easy to let others touch them, feel bad an lose weight, upgrade their clothes, and start become touch sensitive.
Nice photoshop!
AHHH WHERE'D THE BRICK GO
Ah... Engadget, you have done it again!
While WM 6.5 start page looks cool, I definitely prefer to have a desktop on which I can place the widgets and shortcuts of my choice. I realize this is far from what the mainstream want (some poor G1 owners still have empty desktops), but it works better for me...
IT'S NOT IPHONE
@repinsnug:
yeah but they gotta pay.
No Microsoft not CDMA, go GSM. Please.
But logically speaking every operator has a premium product and i don't see why MS should not select AT&T (I know, I know, its the i word) to do the business or for that matter, T-mobile.
MS has been wanting a new Zune pared with their new OS + Phone. They have the makings of a great phone AS LONG as they include a slide out landscape qwerty.
@fffunfarm06
Actually, people complaining about apple articles on a non-apple article is more annoying than the amount of apple articles.
Aww! I have been low ranked.... but that is because you did not see the original picture that Engadget posted!!!! IT was really ugly!
What are you guys talking about? that zune pictured above looks pretty thin. quite sexy actually.
actually it makes perfect sense that Verizon would rather talk to MS than apple because MS is always willing to bend over and take it from carriers like verizon who like to "brand" the phone and install their dreck on it, and disable anything that threatens their kitsch trinket business model of ringtones, wallpapers, and bullshit.
i expect Microsoft to give verizon a great phone that they will totally ruin.
Microsoft will never understand or get fashion, art, or design. Tie Dye, although colorfull and eye catching, is a poor substitute for fashion and will never, ever be in style. Period.
iPhone nerds and genius is in.
Zune dork isn't and never will be.
@Steveorevo
Well considering it was Isaac Mizrahi who designed that WinMo theme, they might just know something about design...not to mention all the other themes designed by Ron Arad, Vera Wang etc... Are you telling me those people know nothing about art and design yet somehow you Steveorevo do? What great knowledge do you hold that some of the greatest contemporary fashion designers do not?
Go Microsoft screw your phone hardware partners and increase the uptake of Android and symbian!
@insky
Isaac Mizrahi - fashion
Ron Arad - architecture and sculpture
Vera Wang - fashion
This phone (not pictured) will 400% have Tegra.
I wouldn't doubt it. Microsoft will probably try to push the device as far is it can go. I would expect a large screen also.
I just fear bad battery life.
If it does have Tegra (and it will), battery life won't compare to the iPhone. Tegra is ultra low-power high performance. This is why I can't wait for it.
Question is, will Tegra Android get as much attention (and that 3D UI) as Tegra Windows CE?
I hope so for your sake TareX :)
Hardly an iPhone killer if it's Verizon because that means CDMA rather than GSM, and therefore (like the Zune) limited to the USA.
that way it can crash faster!
Agreed: http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=nvidia+tegra&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=F2P3SZ1RivCzA7XHie8O&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&resnum=4&ct=title#
I would imagine a Zune phone would look less like a 1st gen Zune and more like the Touch HD or Touch Diamond 2 running WM 6.5 or 7.
Oh god what I would give for that Zune HD
*drool*
// That was suppose to be at reply to TareX.
Yeah mine was a reply to TareX as well. Perhaps Engadget could spend some more time fixing their crap comment system and a little less time trying to look for ways to make Microsoft look bad. It's amazing that you guys have the cheek to poke fun at other people's products when you can't even get the simplest things right on your own site.
iPhone Killer...
How many times are we going to hear this Engadget... To kill iPhonew you have to kill iTunes and iPod...
not gonna pappen now nubbas!
You won't hear it from us. Try reading the source -- don't murder the messenger, ya know?
The Zune software is actually quite good, and so is the service. I'm not sure iTunes really has the lead that some people think it does.
Windows Mobile is, to a large extent, their real problem. The underlying OS is quite good, but the interface, browser, and other apps are lagging way behind at this point. I know they've got the ability to do this - the Zune's interface is surprisingly good - but they need to actually ship it in a product.
I'm interested to know how you would qualify "the underlying os is quite good."
Erwos - the iTunes Store is the #1 music retailer in the entire United States, including both online and brick and mortar stores. I'm pretty sure it does, in fact, have the lead people think it does.
To put it another way, let me know when Zune Marketplace surpasses Wal Mart in retail sales.
And let us know when OSX surpasses sales of Windows.
Because we all know the ultimate quality of anything is based SOLELY on their sales volume, right?
Yeah, but their new ReallyPlaysForSureWeMeanItThisTimeDontWorryWePromiseWeWontMakeTheOldStuffObsolete DRM will knock everyone's socks off!
@ UnixSystemsEngineer
What's with the FUD dude? You think FairPlay ain't DRM? Or does Apple's shit not stink to you?
Windows Mobile is a "good" OS because you aren't really restricted to what you can run or program on it, save hardware limitations. I am running a TI-89 emulator on my AT&T Tilt (HTC TyTN, I think) for example, and to get around the crappy UI, I run SPB Mobile Shell 3.0, which really make the phone so much more usable. The usability of WinMo is it's real high point, where it does certainly lack that signature gloss that seems to be so popular.
Wait, Look, it's a Zune!
It's a big fat, ugly, brown turd of a Zune with an HD display. Like that's gonna change anything. You can put lipstick on a pig and it's still a pig. Sugarcoat a turd and it's still a turd. The Zune is a turd suuuuuu-preme.
sugar coat a dooshbag and you're still a dooshbag
@ SOOPERGOOMAN
Look, in the sky! Is it an oddly-shaped bird? A surprisingly tiny plane?
No, it's CAPTAIN OBVIOUS!
ibJubie's"metoo"comments.
blah blah blah the biggest "me too"
blah blah blah pathetic
blah blah blah zero interest
a post like this will appear later on in the page
but i wonder what this will be like
Sadly, it looks like you guys have already taken all his talking points.
"miscreantsoft"
Now EVERYONE is using that.
Give me Tegra and a capacitive screen and I'm sold. The latter is more important than the former, though.
It's about time someone stepped up to make a Windows Mobile device to compete with the iPhone/Pre/G1/etc. The Storm just isn't doing what Verizon wanted it to.
Hahaha @ The Storm
Must've been an ice storm... Because I watched some guy today for five minutes trying to get his Storm to unfreeze. I finally stepped in and told him to turn it off and then on. And he muttered something to the affect of, "does it all the time" I snickered. And then pulled out my G1. i
The HTC Touch Pro 2 should be a good competitor, and when I say competitor, I mean a helluva lot better than any of those.
@BlurMagic
I bet that made you feel like a real big man, huh?
Do you really have to use a picture of the old brick Zune? Every time I see one I throw up a little bit in my mouth.
Hey Darren!
If you're going to use pictures of first gen Zunes for all your stories I hope you'll start using pictures of first gen iPods for all those pertaining to apple.
Not to mention 'T-Mobile' in the top left corner.
Seconded! Please start using some screenshots that are a bit more recent...
I know right? i love my zune. i have this one and my 80.
engadget can suck it.
Okay, you win.
nice!
Thanks!
Much Appreciated!
He shouldn't have had to ask IMO. Please report news accurately Engadget, thanks!
Lemme get this straight. A bunch of comment trolls complain about the picture for a post, they cite some ridiculous Apple bias that they claim Engadget has, fffunfarm06 even uses inappropriate language putting down Engadget saying, "Your pic for this article is quite biased. That's all I've got to say. You may continue licking Steve Jobs' ball sack now engadget" and then you guys go and pander to these people and give them their aesthetically pleasing picture of a speculated product. Wow, if trolling gets things done these days, what is this world coming to? Why even read the comments made by these blithering idiots, let alone change your posts' content based on their obviously biased views?
@ dingothe band:
+1.
Windows needs a complete overhaul of the UI. I love windows because it's so scalable and expandable, but it's just too unpredictable, u nstable and the UI is just garbage.
People will stand in line for days and buy this phone on the day of launch. They will blindly ignore any of its shortcomings and vehemently defend it with every breath they take. All phones manufactured after (and a few before) this one will be mere clones. People will stand on mountain tops and invade comment sections in silly blogs and force their love for this phone on anyone that doesn't buy one.
Aw, who am I kidding. Surely no one is stupid/desperate enough to do any of that crap for just a phone.
I see what you did there.
Even Captain-Obvious is skipping pointing this one out.
hehehe
Everyone likes a little pink!
Microsoft canned their "Portable Media Center" and "Plays for sure" software support for third party hardware after introducing their own "Zune" hardware. What guarantees Microsoft will continue to support third party Windows Mobile smart phones after introducing their own hardware? Already, "adding new software capabilities" that will be exclusive to their own hardware effectively means they are gimping the version of Windows Mobile available to third parties.
are you nuts? when a good chunk of the business world runs on Windows Mobile, Microsoft isn't going to go slaughter a cash cow.
The conceptual image that Endgaget embeded above will be used as a template for the final production model, with additional mechanical buttons placed all over the device in awkward places. Is there any doubt that this will not come into fruition? Of course not. MS will be coming out with the "zPhone" very soon. It's expected, after all Microsoft is the biggest "me too" company on the planet.
L.M.L.Y.P beat you to it... I guess that would make you the biggest "me too" commenter on the planet?
LOL... unfortunately no. That would be you and your associate "L.M.L.Y.P." for repeating the very two words that the industry has already been using far longer that I have.
LOL
He had it right on... Jubei- this is sad. Start making actual arguments instead of copy and pasting (must be nice finally being able to do that on your iPhone, right?) previous comments.
Hmm.. so what you're saying is, it wasn't just him but the entire industry that you're copying with your "me too" comments. I guess that makes sense coming from the supporter of a company that copied every single change in the cupcake branch of android and tried to pass it off as innovative.
I think by "the industry" Jubei actually means "the Brotherhood".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0UjU0rtavE
That video sums up Apple quite nicely. Microsoft just puts their own spin on things- Apple steals ideas and uses them as their own.
Is it impossible for you guys to photoshop a ZuneHD with a Windows Mobile 6.5 interface on it? I think such a picture would look a bit more like the phone discussed in the article. Its almost as if you have a bias towards some other brand which is trendy, over priced and doesn't know how to multi-task.
Engadget just offering up how they are going to treat this device from here on out.
Hint: They are going to mock it every chance they get, because it's competition against Apple, and we cant have that.
ask and you shall receive...
Wha? They changed the picture!?
Mouth hitting floor.
@ look_around_you
Your conspiracy theory of Engadget / Apple are amusing. Answer me one thing; if Engadget were so pro-Apple / anti-Microsoft, why would they hire a MS shill like Michael Gartenberg?
@Skeezle: Why would Fox hire Colmes?
@Mark
I don't know, I do not watch Fox News because I think it is biased horseshit. See how that works?
@Skeezle:
Typical Apple fanboy. If you do not watch Fox, how do you know they are biased? Likewise, how can you complain about something non-Apple if you refuse to use the competition?
Clearly Engadget knows I was on to something, hence changing the picture :) Thanks Engadget for re-evaluating your choice in graphics.
How could Microsoft be banging a SmartPhone out for centuries...that seems quite like a large exaggeration.
[/sarcasm]
ill buy 50
I'm curious to see how Microsoft's new phone will look like.... never really been a fan of the windows mobile platform.
verizon FTW! luckily for me i like phones to be phones not fashion statements ... cant wait for LTE and i know that in a year or so some kick ass phones are going to be available.
@Look_Around_You
Nevermind the fact that Engadget has probably mocked every piece of technology at one point or another.
I'm not really sure how you would expect a gadget blog to comment on news that Microsoft might be releasing a smartphone? Just ignore the fact there's been rumours for about a decade? Yeah, ok.
two in the pink, one in the stink!
so let's say this mystery "zune phone" come in early / spring 2010. That's a full three years after the iPhone was announced. Pathetic, especially when you consider Microsoft didn't even have to start from scratch - they were ALREADY in the smarthphone business long before the iPhone. Christ - google came out with a whole new mobile OS out of nowhere while Steve Ballmer literally laughed his a$$ off at the iPhone. Look who's laughing now.
Be annoyed at over exhuberant apple fanboys all you want- but please don't bother defending any sort of microsoft "innovation."
So when Apple releases their Netbook long after others have been making them, will it be just as pathetic?
If Microsoft has been in the smartphone business for a long time, doesn't that make the iPhone's late entry pathetic?