04/05/2010
Wall Street Journal
Microsoft Corp. plans to introduce a new line of mobile phones next Monday. according to people familiar with the matter.
The new devices, based on a Microsoft development project code-named “Pink,” are expected to emphasize social-networking services targeted at young consumers, and will be offered through a partnership with Verizon Wireless, the carrier owned by Verizon Communications Inc. and Vodafone Group PLC. The phones initially will be available only in the U.S., with an international launch to follow, according to one person familiar with the matter.
On Monday, Microsoft invited members of the media to an April 12 event in San Francisco with the slogan, “It’s time to share.”
Microsoft designed the software, online services and hardware for the new mobile phones. though Japan’s Sharp Corp. is manufacturing them, people familiar with the situation said. The Pink phones will run software that resembles elements of a new Microsoft mobile-phone operating system due out later this year, called Windows Phone 7, but they aren’t expected to run the same applications, these people said.
