Nvidia Tegra Microsoft Phone? Maybe, Maybe Not
With Apple having made a splash on the mobile and smartphone industry, it’s nearly expected that Microsoft would eventually jump in at some point for a piece of the pie.
Microsoft’s answer to those expecting some sort of phone--even a Zune phone--are met with denials that the company is working on such a product. An analyst at Broadpoint AmTech, however, believes that we could be seeing a phone product from Microsoft sometime in the next six months. He even goes as far to say that it’ll be powered by Nvidia’s Tegra technology.
The fact that Nvidia Tegra is geared towards powering the Windows Mobile platform already means that the chip company is already working with Microsoft on certain design specifications, particularly for the next versions of the mobile OS.
So far only HTC has committed itself to Nvidia Tegra, but the Broadpoint analyst believes Microsoft will be next: "We believe the HTC ramp in '09 is the more material of the two as we have some concerns on the channel for Microsoft's handset distribution given the lack of prior carrier relationships/handset qualification history," he wrote Thursday, according to CNet.
Of course, there’s also the possibility that it could be a three-way partnership between Nvidia, Microsoft and HTC in bringing a Microsoft-branded smartphone to market. HTC’s already shown that it can work closely with other companies to bring out specialized handsets--something we saw with the (deep breath) T-Mobile HTC G1 Google Android phone.
Microsoft adherent Mary-Jo Foley wrote in her All About Microsoft blog that her sources are pointing to the Redmond company making a reference design for other manufacturers follow and improve upon--but Microsoft itself won’t be releasing the hardware under its own brand.
“The (Zune phone) chassis 1 spec is challenging the manufacturers to come up with something that will please customers,” said Foley’s source, adding that Microsoft was pitting a handful of cell-phone makers against one another to come up with the best implementation of the spec.
With Dell, Acer and Asus/Garmin already plotting to release smartphones, it would be unlike Microsoft to try to seize a part of the market. As far as a Microsoft-centric smartphone that goes beyond just running Windows Mobile, it’s not a question of if, but how and when.
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Unverified blogging wacko Mary-Jo Foley wrote...
What the? MS has been in mobiles and smartphones for several years now! So that statement kind of undermines the author's authority somewhat.
Paul.
Paul.
They dont need to compete with apple, because apple isnt their competition. (Seriously, a single phone on a single exclusive carrier, with a very very exclusive price.)
And I agree with squatchman. You'd be a ton more credible if you left out the 'blogger' source.
I'm sorry, I do not know whom you are referring to.
If it's about Mary-Jo Foley, she's one of the most dedicated journalists who cover nearly everything to do with Microsoft. Her knowledge and familiarity of the company is almost unmatched.
You might want to check out her book, "Microsoft 2.0: How Microsoft Plans to Stay Relevant in the Post-Gates Era" at your local bookstore -- it's a great read if you'd like to get educated on Microsoft happenings.
Actually when did this ever happen?
Windows 95
Maybe Windows NT, where they started moving away from running Windows on top of MS-DOS?
Hardware first? Do explain ? Their ipods always come with old harddrives, their computer systems can only be equipped with old graphics cards .... and I don't really know about many other things they make .... but if they prioritize hardware first, I wonder how they can actually release anything? All apple products are basicly 6 months old the day they go to marked ... they're always underspecced, and they're almost always overpriced.
Microsoft is software first though. You at least got that right. They've probably learnt to stick with what they're reasonably good at, and outsource what they are not.
The software is just a vehicle to get you to buy the shiny hardware. It's less secure than Windows, and less configurable than Linux. Ask someone for the first thing that pops into their head when they think of Apple and you're going to hear either ipod or macbook as opposed to itunes, safari, or OS X.