Zune Phone Practically Real

Concept design for Zune phone

A recent driver update to Microsoft’s Zune MP3 player includes code that references the oft-mused about phone version. Files called %Phone.DeviceDesC% indicate there’s more to the device than is currently in the hardware and on the market.

This comes on the heels of speculation from one industry analyst that Microsoft will likely unveil the Zune phone sometime in the next two months. While details on the phone are nonexistent, the expectation is that the phone will be Zune’s attempt to gain the market share it has failed to generate for Microsoft in the past years.

To even compete with the rest of the smartphone market, and the iPhone in particular, it would have to include some pretty fancy features beyond the fact that it plays nice with all your other Microsoft products. Being a function mobile extension of your Windows PC would be nice…

As Microsoft prepares to launch Windows Mobile 7, the Zune phone might be just the platform on which to feature it. Nevermind taking on Apple, Microsoft will be taking a good swipe at Google with a phone plus operating system one-two punch.

But I can’t help but get the feeling that Microsoft has been late to the party too often to really make a dent in its competitors’ market share. Whether its an MP3 player, a phone, or a mobile operating is anyone really that excited? How much better would it have to be?

[via InformationWeek]