Verizon Wireless, it now seems, is in talks with Microsoft to rollout a touch-screen multimedia phone in early 2010, the Wall Street Journal reported April 28. The project, code-named “Pink,” is said to be an effort to challenge the Apple iPhone.
Rumors of an iPhone on the Verizon Wireless network have been stirred before, and last week received a fresh turn. The Wall Street Journal, interviewing Verizon’s chief executive Ivan Seidenberg, said Verizon was likely to get access to the iPhone in the coming years, as it converts its 3G network over to 4G, or LTE.
“Expect Mr. Seidenberg to come to Cupertino, checkbook in hand, to see what sort of deal he can make,” wrote the New York Times, in regard to the Journal interview.
Days later, USA Today reported that “people familiar with the situation” said Verizon Wireless was in negotiations to bring an iPhone to its network by next year.
Then, on April 28, Business Week reported that Apple and Verizon Wireless were in talks over the possibility of distributing two new Apple devices as early as this summer — a pared-down version of the iPhone, and an Amazon Kindle–like “media pad” for watching videos, listening to music and making calls over Wi-Fi.
Now, “according to reports,” the Journal wrote April 28, the Pink project will aim to extend Microsoft’s Windows Mobile operating system, adding new software capabilities, and provide Verizon with a new way of competing with AT&T, the Apple iPhone’s exclusive carrier.
According to the Journal’s account, the Microsoft-Verizon relationship evolved from a “search-and-advertising partnership” between the two, and that while Pink has been in the works for several months, it’s yet to be decided how the device will be branded. Microsoft is designing hardware and software, but a third party is expected to build the device.
A sore point in negotiations between Apple and Verizon was expected to be the issue of applications. Verizon sells applications, but Apple is has been firm about being the sole provider of mobile apps to the iPhone. To this point, the Journal’s April 28 article states that Verizon may “add a twist” and begin selling applications for the enterprise.
Where a Microsoft-Verizon Pink project leaves Apple is unclear. Though as an analyst with Technology Business Research told eWEEK, echoing the Times interview with Seidenberg, a Verizon-Apple partnership may be likely, but likely not until the carrier implements 4G.
Website : www.microsoft.com
Location : Redmond, Washington, United States
Founded : April 4, 1974
Microsoft is a multinational computer technology corporation. They are a veteran software company, best known for their Microsoft Windows operating system and the Microsoft Office suite of productivity software, but they have also ventured into hardware with consumer products such as the Zune and Xbox. They have made a presence on the Web with the MSN internet portal and Microsoft Live search, but have been widely criticized for their failure to penetrate this market.
Website : www.apple.com
Location : Cupertino, CA, 95014 – USA
Founded : April 1976
Founder : Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne
Started by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne, Apple has expanded from computer maker to include consumer electronics over the last 30 years, officially changing their name from Apple Computer, Inc. to Apple, Inc. in January 2007..
Among the key offerings from Apple’s product line are: Pro line laptops (MacBook Pro) and desktops (Mac Pro), consumer line laptops (MacBook) and desktops (iMac), servers (Xserve), software, Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server operating systems, iPod (offered with up to 120 GB of storage with the iPod classic or with web browsing and touch screen controls with the iPod touch), and the iPhone (now available for sale in over 80 countries).
Website : www.verizon.com
Location : Basking Ridge, New Jersey, United States
Founded : January 1, 1998
Customers : 68.7 Million*
Employees : 70,000*
Annual Revenue : $43.9 Billion*
*As per the company website
A Dow 30 company, Verizon is one of the world’s leading providers of communications services – deploying fiber optics, broadband, wireless, directory and data services. Verizon is one of the largest providers of wireline and wireless communications in the United States and internationally, primarily in the Americas and Europe.
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