Look at the mobile world now. Apple is clearly the rising star with its single, $199 device. The touchscreen phone is the de facto standard for every smartphone/touchscreen device and the App Store has shown company’s how to make a successful content distribution system. But the Zune has Microsoft’s backing and while Windows Mobile hasn’t broke free from its niche market, the Redmond-based company did develop a killer media player in the Zune.

The Zune hasn’t seen iPod-like success but most gadget feigns that give it a try find the Zune is, in fact, vastly superior to the iPod. The interface rocks, it has extra features like an FM Tuner and mesh network song sharing, which all shows that Microsoft really does know how to design a forward-thinking gadget. Plus, Microsoft now owns Danger, the company that developed the Sidekick.

Microsoft scooped up the mobile platform maker for $500M early this year and you had better believe that Redmond didn’t dip into the slush funds for nothing. The T-Mobile Sidekick is a killer device with tweens to hipsters still rock’n the slider and that market happens to be the key demo for a ZunePhone. Apple went after the geeks and freaks initially with the iPhone but quickly the masses found salvation in the device and that’s what Microsoft must do as well.

Skip Windows Mobile; it’s dead. The best WinMob phones skin the OS and hide it below the surface. If the ZunePhone is to succeed, the device cannot be powered by any current version of Windows Mobile and hopefully, that’s why Microsoft bought Danger. The original Sidekick had an innovative UI and that’s what Microsoft will need to compete against Apple and Google. 

Now that the Android-powered G1 is here, Google is also in the mobile world and licensing-out Android to manufacturers like Motorola and Nokia. The G1 might never hit mass appeal outside of the techno-geek arena but next-gen Andriod devices should have a wider appeal.

Microsoft has a challenge. The Zune is an amazing PMP and the world could benefit from another killer mobile phone, but whatever is made, the general populous and Mac Zealots alike will throw it into the ring with the iPhone. But just like the iPod and Zune battles, Apple has a significant advantage of coming to the market first and working all the kinks out over different generations. Microsoft’s first ZunePhone would be compared to Apple’s second – or third – iPhone; that’s just the way it is.

Hopefully this rumor turns out to be true and we do see a ZunePhone sometime soon. Don’t hold your breath though as similar rumors have appeared and gone away over the years with no results. If there were ZunePhone coming, where are all the obligatory blurry camera phone pics? Those simply must leak to the Internet prior to any launch.

Matt: Dude, tell me something about the Zunephone.

Leak: What Zunephone?

Matt: So there is no Zunephone?

Leak: I didn’t say that.

Matt: Then tell me about the Zunephone.

Leak: What Zunephone?

And so on. They enjoy playing the Costello to my Abbot. We know there’s something coming up that combines Zune and telephones, but nobody will call it Zunephone. Ok, fine. Maybe it’s got a different name. But the images, above, from a recent Microsoft patent sure as hell look like the interface for a Zunephone, no?

Ok, leakers, this week’s lunch on me if you can confirm this so I can quit going insane. You know where to find me.

Microsoft phone patent copies iPhone! [Dial-a-phone UK]

So now the new Zunes are out and about, cool. They’re a big improvement to the original, which had been out less than a year. And while we’re supporters of the Zune and the Zune marketplace, there’s no doubt that the Zune still has a long way to go to catch up with Apple and the iPod line. While we now have two versions of Microsoft’s media player, Apple is filling out with fou. Or five if you count the iPhone (which, for now, we won’t). That being said, the Zune is still less than a year old to the iPod’s six. But let’s look at the parity in the market and really get down to who’s in charge here.

It’s not Microsoft. Not yet, anyway. We’re glad that the Zunes aren’t just copycats of the iPod (anymore), but rather innovative devices of their own fate. That’s the way things have to happen if they want to be successful, and you know that Bach and his friends know it. That being said, the PI reports that one analyst has stated that the new Zunes kick ass, circa 2006. Ouch. But we see what he’s saying.

While the Zune 2 isn’t even on the shelves yet, it’s not at all too soon to start predications on what’s coming next; the new Zune’s are a good upgrade, but not the product overhaul it could have been. That being said, we’ve heard much of what the Zune group is working on, and most of the things aren’t included here. That means that a future Zune might have stuff that would position it as a real competitor to the iPod. No, really, let’s break this down.

We’ve been waiting for a full-screen, wide-screen, touch-screen iPod for a couple years now, and we finally have it. All of Apple’s development muscle was hands-down committed to the iPod Touch, that’s a given. But now that it’s out, where does the iPod go next? We’re not sure. There are general upgrades in storage capacity and things of that nature, but those are upgrades for upgrades sake, not really changes. So we might have this lineup for awhile.

The Zune, on the otherhand, has a lot of room to grow. And by letting Apple take the lead in the new media-player-plus marketplace, Microsoft can stand back and see what happens. Thus it will know what mistakes not to make, and will be able to tell what worked. Thus, while Zune 3 might be a few months (or even a couple years) behind the next iteneration of iPod, look for it to be not just competitive, but possibly even, you know, better.

And don’t get me started about Zunephone vs. iPhone. No, really, don’t.

Sure, it’s probably premature to discuss, guess, or even flat-out make up what the Zune 3 will feature, but it’s safe to say that Redmond is looking to use this next generation as a way to totally differentiate its offerings from Cupertino’s.

Think games. Think organization. Think of automated wireless applications we haven’t even dreamt up yet. While one device is plateaued, it means another can climb higher.

Now none of this is a given: Microsoft has a reputation for taking a good thing and messing it up beyond recognition. But if it can keep its head and realize that the Zune group seems to kind of know what it’s doing, then things for the holiday season next year could get pretty interesting, with a reversal of the normal Apple vs. Microsoft/David vs. Goliath story. We’re just really not sure who to root for.

We’ve been dragging the ponds and dive bars of greater Seattle looking for more rumors and tips about the forthcoming ZunePhone, but things are quiet. We don’t like quiet. Here, then, is the first commercial for the ZunePhone, probably in response to the iPhone ad we saw at the Oscars.

Enjoy!