Project Pink
One possible explanation for all this contradictory rumour - apart from the fact that it's just rumour, of course - is the possibility of two different versions of WM7: one for business and one for consumers.
The latter is thought to be the more ambitious of the two and thus the reason for any delays. It could well be the basis for the fabled Project Pink - a supposed collection of software and services from Microsoft aimed at the young, funky smartphone user, which could even involve the production of a Microsoft branded phone.
If this phone does appear, it's thought it would be an evolution of the Zune; combining a portable entertainment device with a smartphone. Of course, Microsoft would have to partner with a smartphone OEM to produce it, and that carries with it the risk of alienating the others, but that didn't put Google off.
HTC has probably taken itself out of the running by getting into bed with Google, although arguably the best WM6.5 phone out there right now is the HTC HD2. We would venture the front runner to be Microsoft's OEM partner to be LG, which made a public show of supporting WM6.5 when it launched and also seems to be pretty close to Intel.
Yes, Intel. Let's not forget that it expects to enter the smartphone market by the end of the year, and phones based in its x86 instruction set would enable a lot more Microsoft PC-like functionality than ARM-based phones, which currently accounts for all of them. Microsoft and Intel have dominated the PC market together and may consider their respective mobile futures to be intertwined too.
An analyst has recently gone on the record saying they think Microsoft will launch Project Pink at either MWC or CTIA in March, and that it will run on WM7. But that's just one person's opinion, and there doesn't seem to be anything coming out of Microsoft.
So while, as ever, we can't conclude anything concrete from the rumour mill, the mere fact that there is one shows how much interest there is in Microsoft's future mobile proposition. And it must be nice for Microsoft to divert at least some attention from the latest Apple wonder gadget.
