Microsoft To Team With Verizon Wireless Over Project Pink

Microsoft will be working with Verizon Wireless to bring out the first smartphones, which have been designed as part of Project Pink, that are supposed to bring the Redmond behemoth back in the mobile game.

Gizmodo has some photos which it claims are part of the marketing campaign ahead of the launch. Amongst the various chunks of information dished out, the popular tech blog reminds us that the design appears to have remained unchanged for the past six months or so.

One of the graphics that were leaked to Gizmodo show the device known internally to Microsoft insiders as the Turtle, because of its form factor. This vertical slider is similar in size to the Palm Pre and even has a pebble like shape.

Another model whose picture was captured was what can be presented as a refined version of the old T-Mobile Sidekick that comes with a horizontal slider keyboard.

To be honest, and it is an opinion shared by Gizmodo and others, the phones appear to be a big step back in terms of aesthetics and features compared to the rest of the market.

Based on the leaked pictures, it is likely that Microsoft has come up with an evolution of the Windows Mobile 6.5.3 platform for the Pink phones and will therefore be available before Windows Phone 7 devices arrive on the market.