Citing sources close to the project the report said that the new phone, code-named “Pink”, would be a full multimedia phone that would be based around the Windows Mobile operating system.
The phone would be manufactured by the third party company, probably HTC given Microsoft’s extremely close relationship with the Taiwanese company, and distributed in the United States by Verizon.
The project is being run within Microsoft by a group called the premium mobile experiences group the paper claims. It uses knowledge from Danger Inc., which Microsoft bought last year, which specializes in mobile devices.
Microsoft was unable to comment at time of going to press but has reportedly said that it remains focussed on its mobile software business and is talking to a variety of manufacturers.
The deal would make sense for Verizon, which is looking for a product to compete with AT&T’s sales contract with Apple for the iPhone. AT&T is currently trying to its exclusive deal with Apple for the handset.