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"The rumor mill is churning today around a device that is not the Apple Tablet, for once. This time it's Windows Mobile 7, Microsoft's promised next-generation smartphone mobile operating system.\nThe idea of a \"Microsoft Zune Phone Experience\" has been floating for some time, and according to All Things Digital that rumor has been circulating anew. Microsoft is allegedly working on a mysterious project codenamed \"Pink\" that vaguely involves Windows Mobile and the Zune, MS's portable music playing answer to the iPod. \nTo congeal all the rumors together, the analysis seems to suggest that Project Pink, a.k.a. the Zune Phone Experience, would theoretically be Microsoft's answer to the Nexus One by Google: a phone developed with a heavy amount of direct input from its parent company. AllThingsD's sources indicate that phone could debut as early as mid-February at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona or possibly one month later at the CTIA wireless trade show in Las Vegas.\nWindows Mobile 7: Two Editions?\nMeanwhile, WM Experts have compiled a number of Windows Mobile 7 (supposedly to be referred to officially as simply \"Seven\") tidbits, perhaps most importantly the reported plan to offer at least two separate editions of the mobile operating system. A Business Edition (BE) would support cloud syncing with multiple devices, including your home or office PC. \nA Seven Media Edition (ME) is rumored to include more Zune-like features, such as a similar media player, HD video, possibly streaming TV, Xbox Live integration, Facebook and Twitter interfaces (similar to what is already live on the Xbox 360), and support for Silverlight and Mediaroom. The support for Xbox Live dovetails nicely with some earlier job postings from Redmond looking for new hires to bring the XBLA experience to the Windows Mobile platform.\nThe Million-Dollar Question: When?\nIt would make sense for Microsoft to finally integrate what are primarily three separate experiences and divisions: Windows Mobile, the Zune and the Xbox. That kind of synergy could be exactly what the company needs to steal back some of the thunder it's slowly lost to new smartphone platforms like the iPhone, and now, increasingly, Android. Still, all signs point to a long wait until we see Seven running on any production device \u2014 perhaps as late as 2011.\nWith the Mobile World Congress and CTIA events just around the corner, though, we'll hopefully get some more clarity on all the above, plus a better sense of the timeline we'll be looking at for WinMo7. Are you a current or past Windows Mobile user? What should Microsoft do to come out swinging in the next version of its mobile OS? \n[img credit: WM Power User (please note they are leaked screenshots and may not represent the final version of Windows Mobile 7)] "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2010/01/19/windows-mobile-7-rumors/>