Rumor: Zune Phone Is Coming to CES 2009

By Jose Fermoso December 10, 2008 | 6:52:42 AMCategories: Audio, Microsoft, Phones

After years of rumors and brusque denials, it appears the Zune phone is the real deal.

According to Trip Chowdhry, an analyst at Global Equities Research, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will announce a Zune-style mobile device during his keynote address at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, on January 7, 2009.

In an article in Barron's, Chowdhry claims that the company's new centerpiece will combine the best features of the Zune media player with the hardware design of Danger's mobile Sidekick, in addition to "motion enhancement features," like an accelerometer.

Basically, this means the device will come with a physical keyboard like HTC's G1 and will likely feature a larger screen to accommodate heavy multimedia elements. And since we're all here copying each other's mobile phone features, we'll be shocked if the Zune phone doesn't feature multitouch capabilities.

This report seems to confirm an earlier one revealing that Microsoft was working on a phone code-named "Pink."

It's a long way from Ballmer's original statement in April 2007 regarding the iPhone: "It's not a concept you'll ever get from us. We're in the Windows Mobile business."

In fact, this was always the excuse Microsoft gave as to why it couldn't build a phone -– its WinMo business was too successful and it couldn't afford to cannibalize the market. This year, Microsoft's WinMo profits are expected to be near $300 million in revenue.