Will they or Won't they this is the question?
Microsoft once again denied they're making a branded mobile phone, as a confusing Wall Street Journal article seemed to say Microsoft and Verizon Wireless were working on some sort of device.
"Microsoft is not going into the phone hardware business," spokesman John Starkweather said. "Microsoft is not building a Zune-specific phone. We're deepening our relationships with our hardware partners."
Verizon, of course, does not comment on rumors and speculation.
A close read of the Journal story shows it may mean much less than it appears at first glance. You can read the entire story as, "Verizon Wireless will launch phones with the next version of Windows Mobile software."
That's almost a non-story. Verizon Wireless has carried Windows Mobile phones for years, and there's no reason to believe they would stop.
Reliable Microsoft watcher Mary Jo Foley takes things another step, saying in a blog post back in February that "Microsoft is developing some smartphone reference implementations." These are essentially demos and recommendations, to show device manufacturers the best way to build Windows Mobile phones.
"From what I've heard, Microsoft is focusing most of its reference efforts around the Windows Mobile 7 platform. I wouldn't be surprised to see Windows Mobile 7 as Microsoft's showcase for Zune Mobile," Foley wrote in February.
The Journal story says the supposed project "extends the tech giant's Windows Mobile cellphone operating system, adding new software capabilities ... [and] a third-party is expected to make the device," which describes both Windows Mobile 6.5 and Windows Mobile 7 pretty exactly.
The new versions of Windows Mobile, expected this year and next respectively, will extend Microsoft's venerable platform. Third parties will make phones. And Windows Mobile 7, coming in 2010, is rumored to fold Zune functionality into the platform.
