The good people over at jkontherun have “totally unconfirmed” news about Microsoft’s plans for a Zune Phone. Yep, that’s right, even though the Zune hasn’t made much of a splash, Microsoft seems to think that making it a phone will help it compete against the hugely popular iPhone…
jkontherun’s anonymous source said that there was a meeting in Redmond this week about the Zune phone and that it will be based on a specialized variant of Windows Mobile 7, with functionality centered around Windows Live Services and a touch-screen based design.
We’re keeping the Zune phone still at the rumored stage, but it seems those rumors just keep popping up. Keep your ears open.
It would be pretty amusing if it didn’t run Windows Mobile. It might undercut the OS, but that would be a hell of a way to generate some serious publicity for the thing. And I bet it would sell better too.
So, are they gona name it Ziphone or something?
Microsoft is about product convergence and the new Zune software is elegant and easy to use which is what Winmo is not. With the intro of WinMo 7 there is an opportunity to skin it to function more like a Zune, which would be fat finger friendly to use.
WinMo gets too much grief, its not as pretty as the iPhone software but it sure does a hell of a lot more.
Zphone/ZuPhone/ZuPo
I own 2nd gen Zune. I weighed it better against iPod Touch. I was waiting for HTC Touch Diamond than iPhone because the former has Windows OS which has better features than the looks. Which is what you would experience after putting the phone in a phone case.
Waiting for Zphone. Wait.. why name it like iPhone. Other names mentioned above sounds good also.
Another name suggestion - MiPhone (Microsoft Phone)