There’ve been persistent rumours for, ooh, ages that Microsoft would be making, at some point, their own mobile phone, under their ‘Pink’ initiative. However, things have got a bit more concrete, today, with pictures and a teeny bit of info being leaked, not about one phone, but about two Microsoft-branded phones.
And according to Gizmodo, they have silly names. Say hello to the Turtle and the Pure.
It’s being stated that these two oddly-monikered mobiles are the modern, Microsoft-esque replacement for the Sidekick, which would certainly explain why Microsoft bought the company, Danger, who actually came up with the original Sidekick. So, for both these new phones, I’m expecting (if the rumour is indeed accurate) them both to be focused heavily on social networking and messaging, a conclusion that’s borne out by the fact they’ve both got QWERTY keyboards.
They’re also said to include Zune services, making them as close to a Zune phone as we’ll get.
The big one of the two, the Pure, looks as though it’s got more than a hint of ‘WinMo side-slider’ in its heritage, but it’s the little one that intrigues me more. Y’see, I’ve already got a side-sliding phone (the X1), and it’s eminently nicer than the Pure. So, it doesn’t interest me much.
The Turtle, though, does, and not just because of its silly name. I mean look at it. It’s the one that looks like a stunted Palm Pre, in the pic on this blog post. It looks… hmmm, how best to say it?
It looks bizarre, with its weird, curvy, shell-like back, and stumpy little screen. Where the Pure has a vague hint of ‘WinMo side-slider’ in its design, the Turtle has a hint of ‘diuretic tablet for camels’. And that intrigues me. It’s not what I’d call a pretty phone, but at least it’s interestingly ugly.
And hey, I may even like it, when I see one in the flesh. Stranger things have happened…
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