Microsoft's Latest Phone Experiment
09.04.10
SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp will show off its latest mobile phones on Monday, but don't expect a direct rival to the iPhone.
The world's largest software company is trying a new tack in the hotly contested arena with its long-awaited "Project Pink" devices.
Unlike Apple's popular device or Research in Motion's BlackBerry, they are aiming at hyperactive teenagers who want multiple instant messaging accounts, e-mail, games, music and Facebook in a cool-looking package.
The phones won't be powered by Microsoft's upcoming Windows Phone 7 software, and will be priced much lower than the iPhone or Google Inc's Nexus One.
But investors will be watching closely as Microsoft, which has ceded ground in past years in handheld devices, attempts to reassert itself in a small but significant way.
The Microsoft-branded phones -- made by Japan's Sharp and sold by Verizon Wireless -- are the souped-up descendants of the Sidekick, originally made by hip phone developers Danger, which Microsoft bought two years ago.
Source: ABC News