Microsoft "Project Pink" revealed?

Tough days for Redmond. After the rumor on the Microsoft Courier Booklet, now it’s time for the secret “Project Pink” to be leaked.

“Project Pink” Turtle phone (Image courtesy of Gizmodo)

First details about “Project Pink” come from MoDaCo.com:

The Who

• Project ‘Pink’ is being developed by Microsoft’s ‘PMX’ team (Premium Mobile eXperiences), which includes the majority of the assets from the $500m of Danger, makers of the sidekick.
• The hardware partners on the project are Sharp, who you will recall previously worked with Danger on the sidekick releases.
• The key operator partner is Verizon, however Microsoft have agreements in place to offer the ‘Pink’ devices worldwide.

The Hardware

• The project is about two devices, ‘Turtle’ and ‘Pure’.
• Turtle is a slider device with a T9 keypad, similar in style to the Motorola Alexander, almost round in shape like a make-up compact.
• Turtle has a 3.5mm jack and 5 Megapixel camera.
• Pure is a sideways sliding QWERTY device, like the HTC Touch Pro2. It has no tilt mechanism.
• Pure has a 8 Megapixel camera.
• Both devices use ground breaking screen technology from Sharp, which will ‘blow everyone away’.
• The devices will be dual MICROSOFT / Sharp branded.

The Software

• The Pink software suite is built on the same core as Windows Mobile 7, but shares nothing in look and feel with the new Windows Mobile OS.
• Pink includes elements of the software seen on the Zune HD.
• Pink includes XBox integration as seen on the Zune HD
• The UI is written in Silverlight and uses Seadragon.
• In true Danger style, ALL data is synced to ‘the cloud’.
• The software even has parental controls.
• The device has a unified messaging experience – the lines between IM, Email and SMS are blurred a-la MOTOBLUR!
• On device content purchases of applications / music / video etc. are supported.

As you can see, “Project Pink” is about the Turtle and the Pure, a couple of sliding keyboard phones powered by the core of Windows Mobile 7 with a UI based on Silverlight and Seadragon. The devices, shown to us by Gizmodo.com, will also share some Zune HD features, like the XBox integration, and will target mostly consumers.

“Project Pink” Pure phone (Image courtesy of Gizmodo)

I don’t know if these devices will ever hit the market, but, just in case, I suggest Microsoft and Sharp find a more unique design.  These don’t really look like very original design concepts to me.

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