Zune Thoughts: More Zune Phone Details Emerge

"It will be a smartphone that works homogeneously with the Zune marketplace. It will most likely not, however, run Windows Mobile. Rather it’ll make use of an interface similar to the current Zune, an interface that I consider among the best available on audio players—I’m sure it can transition to a phone easily. Connectivity is the major concern of the device. It is said that it will be able to sync with the Xbox 360 and stream video from the system to the phone via a wireless data connection. This would be pivotal in Microsoft’s proliferation of its media ambitions. Not only does it already have millions of 360s in homes capable of downloading movies, it’d be able to distribute those videos directly to its phones. Cool stuff."

More rumours and speculation, but it's more to go on than the previous comment of "Yeah, we'll do a phone." Nothing in the rumours surprises me except the part of about it not being a Windows Mobile phone. Microsoft has invested a great deal of R&D into Windows Mobile, and it's a great platform for communications devices. What I think will happen instead is that the Zune phone won't be a Windows Mobile branded phone, but it will have the same software at its guts as a Windows Mobile Smartphone like the Motorola Q. There's just too much good stuff there to not take advantage of - and given the rushed time frame of the Zune, I think (hope) the Zune team realizes they don't have time to invent this from scratch and have it be a great product. I'll be honest though: based on what I've seen of the iPhone, and based on what we were given with the Zune, I'm not terribly confident that the Zune phone will be a great product right out of the gate. Perhaps I'm wrong - perhaps lessons have been gained from the Zune launch and the end of 2007 is enough of a time frame to deliver a great phone product. What do you think? How well will Microsoft execute on the Zune phone?