Microsoft Pink targeting teens and twenty-somethings, devices launching in Spring?

Few reporting on Microsoft are as plugged in to the day-to-day happenings in Redmond as Mary Jo Foley. So much so that she’s apt to write an entire column (or two) about internal Microsoft reorganizations — moves that can be telling from a company attempting to seamlessly integrate its Zune, Xbox, Media Center, and Windows Mobile products, services, and experiences. While you might find it interesting that Enrique Rodriguez has left the company in the latest shakeup to hit MS’ Entertainment and Devices unit, the following sentence presented as fact is what caught our attention:

“Pink is the codename for both the set of premium mobile services and one or more Windows Mobile phones aimed at the teen/twenty-something market.”

Of course, what she’s referring to is the infamous Project Pink, the mystery whatsit said to be emanating from the Microsoft Premium Mobile eXperiences (PMX) group built around the people and technologies nabbed after the Danger acquisition. We’re also intrigued by the discussion of Pink in a separate breath from the consumer build of Windows Mobile 7. This makes us wonder if Microsoft is working on a three-pronged strategy that will result in targetted Windows Mobile 7 business and consumer devices as well as Pink phones specifically aimed at teens and twenty-somethings. Mary Jo Foley speculates that the Pink devices might be the first to run Microsoft’s new premium Pink services but still be WinMo 6.x based — if true then we could see a launch this quarter, no need to wait for Windows Mobile 7 which isn’t expected until the end of the year. How many days until Mobile World Congress again?

[Thanks, Pratik]

Microsoft Pink targeting teens and twenty-somethings, devices launching in Spring? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jan 2010 07:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Mary Jo Foley (1), Mary Jo Foley (2)  | Email this | Comments

This post is tagged: mary jo foley, MaryJoFoley, Microsoft, pink, project pink, ProjectPink, rumor, speculation, windows mobile, Windows Mobile 6.5, windows mobile 6.x, windows mobile 7, WindowsMobile, WindowsMobile6.5, WindowsMobile6.x, WindowsMobile7