Microsoft and Flextronics team up on design for low-cost Windows Mobile handset

Their hookup with Sendo a few years ago only ended in heartbreak (and lawsuits), but Microsoft is headed back to the handset market, only this time they've teamed up with contract manufacturer Flextronics (one of those companies that builds everything for everybody) on a reference design for a low-cost smartphone running Windows Mobile. The phone, codenamed "Peabody" for whatever weird reason, is spec'd out to connect to GSM/GPRS networks, and won't actually be sold directly to consumers. Nah, their real customers are other handset manufacturers or wireless carriers, who can use the Peabody reference design to order up a menu of different options and features and have a line of handsets customized to suit their needs and built to order by Flextronics. Having the platform already set out makes the phones easier and cheaper to build, and you can already tell that Microsoft is itching to do for cellphones what they've already done for PCs.