In the months leading up to various rumours & event, there’ve been lots of false starts, twists and turns on Microsoft’s mobile roadmap. Mary Jo, who has been covering Microsoft for almost 20 years, have been getting lots of tips.
Here’s a quick guide to Microsoft’s mobile offerings, organized by codename, designed to help demystify what Microsoft demos and details next week at Mobile World Congress:
Cashmere: The latest version of Windows CE (the underlying OS upon which Windows Mobile, Zune and other third-party-developed products is built). This may be the foundation for Windows Mobile 7. If it’s not, perhaps Chelan, the next release of Windows CE (which, last I heard, still had not been released to manufacturing), might be — but I’m thinking Cashmere is more likely, given the typical lag times between when Microsoft rolls out a new version of CE and when it uses it as the base for a new Windows Mobile version.
Dorado: The Zune software for the PC. Microsoft has used the Dorado codename since it introduced the ZuneHDs last year to refer to this platform. But with the next generation of mobile devices, Dorado will get more capabilities, enabling it to become a synchronization/marketplace site for ZuneHD, Windows Mobile 7 phones and Pink devices, tipsters say.
Metro: The user interface for Windows Mobile 7 phones. It will look and feel a lot like the ZuneHD UI, tipsters say.
Pink: The uber-codename for the successors to the Sidekick, aimed at the teen/twenty-something market. Pink also has been used to refer to the premium consumer-focused mobile services for these and other devices.
Pure: One of the Pink phones, possibly manufactured by Sharp. Gizmodo ran an alleged prototype photos from their sources of Pure last fall.
Rouge: This was supposed to be the business/enterprise version of Pink. I recently heard Microsoft has canned the idea of doing Rouge services or phones. (Anyone have any more info on that?)
Skybox: The Microsoft “MyPhone” service, the first version of which Microsoft announced a year ago at MWC. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Microsoft announce some new, premium additions to its mobile backup and restore offering at next week’s event.
Turtle: Another of the Pink phones, possibly manufactured by Sharp, pictured in a leaked photo on Gizmodo late last year.
ZunePhone: Windows Mobile 7 phones running/accessing Zune music, video, synchronization and other services.
It’s unclear the extent to which Microsoft will talk about/show the Pink phones at MWC. While some Microsoft watchers have said they expect the Pink phones could make their debut in Barcelona, Mary Jo have also heard Microsoft may not make MWC the venue for the Pink roll-out, and will instead hold a separate event, possibly in April, as its Pink showcase.
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