Rumour: Microsoft planning smartphone invasion

by Stevie Smith - Feb 6 2009, 11:36

With Netbook giant ASUSTek and navigation specialist Garmin officially teaming up to mount a concerted challenge in the smartphone market, everyone’s favourite software behemoth is rumoured to be the latest heavyweight player looking to knock RIM’s BlackBerry line off its perch.

More pointedly, current industry chatter emanating from Broadpoint AmTech analyst Doug Freedman would suggest that Microsoft Corp. is in the process of developing its own take on the smartphone design and will be opting to imbue its handset with the powerful NVIDIA Tegra "computer on a chip" processor.

According to an industry note penned by Freedman, while device manufacturer HTC will be the first to offer a Tegra-powered smartphone during 2009, Redmond-based Microsoft “is working on a phone themselves.”

However, despite the belief that Microsoft is angling for an entry into the smartphone market, Freedman also pointed out some reservations attached to that likelihood due to “concerns on the channel for Microsoft’s handset given the [company’s] lack of prior carrier relationships/handset qualification history.”

Though seeing Microsoft attempt to elbow its way between the likes of Research In Motion, Apple and Palm is certainly a tantalising prospect, the software maker has indicated that any such move is a total non-starter.

“Microsoft has no plans to make a phone,” insisted Windows Mobile director Scott Rockfield in a statement published by CNET. Rockfield also added that the company’s “core focus” remains centred on providing software services that enable business partners to create great handsets.

With regard to the rumoured hardware association with NVIDIA’s Tegra chip, Rockfield merely outlined that Microsoft has plans to continue its relationship with NVIDIA based on “the delivery of innovative solutions that move the smartphone industry and the consumer experience forward.”

Despite Microsoft’s apparently staunch denial, Freedman’s note claims Microsoft’s phone could well be unveiled in the third quarter of 2009 and that his information is sourced from within the official supply chain working towards the handset’s creation.

Graphics chip specialist NVIDIA refused to comment on the story.

The Tech Herald: ASUS and Garmin pool resources for nuvifone G60 smartphone

Around the Web