The rumor mill is focusing on Microsoft this week, with renewed chatter about the software giant releasing a smartphone at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona later this month and news about imitating Apple’s MobileMe service.
The rumored Microsoft phone could include Nvidia’s Tegra processor and Qualcomm’s telecommunications baseband chip, according to Doug Freedman, a researcher at Broadpoint AmTech.
“We believe the HTC ramp in ’09 is the more material of the two, as we have some concerns on the channel for Microsoft’s handset distribution, given the lack of prior carrier relationships/handset qualification history,” Freedman wrote in a report Thursday. “It could turn out to be … a reference design Microsoft has used. That could be possible. But we’ve also picked up that Microsoft is working on a phone themselves.”
Microsoft Denies Rumors
Neither Nvidia nor Qualcomm was immediately available for comment, but Microsoft has moved to squash the rumors. According to Scott Rockfeld, Microsoft’s director of Windows Mobile, the company has no plans to make a phone.
“Our core focus has been and will continue to be providing software plus services and working with our partners to deliver great phones. Our partners have been integral in our success to date, and we are excited about the innovation we are bringing to the market together,” he said. “We continue to collaborate with Nvidia on the delivery of innovative solutions that move the smartphone industry and the consumer experience forward.”
Still, Freedman seems to know something others don’t. He said a phone could turn up within the next six months. Although there’s plenty of room in the market for additional phones, Michael Gartenberg, an independent technology analyst, insists the speculation about a Microsoft phone is off base.
“The last thing Microsoft wants to do at this point is to alienate all of its partners in the…