Project Pink, Windows Mobile 7 & Zune
For those of you unfamiliar with the story around Project Pink, I highly recommend going through the posts at MobileTechWorld about it before reading further. He links to a bunch of “news” about Pink at other sites as well, and instead of linking to each of them here, I’ll just leave it up to you, dear reader, to follow through on anything that might interest you. However, I do want to acknowledge Gizmodo and AppleInsider’s efforts, in particular, to flesh out the Pink story. They have really managed to get their hands on some good, truthful, albeit woefully outdated info. So, here’s my attempt at filling out the rest of the bits as best I can.
Some of this stuff comes from my two sources. Person #1 has previously worked in Windows Live (before it was fully assimilated by the Windows Client group led by now-president SteveSi) and most recently has collaborated with the Zune Services group (he did not work on ZuneHD). Person #2 currently works with a competitor and is in charge of mobile battery design and testing. He has always spoken on the condition that his work with Microsoft not be detailed at all. Other bits are based on my own analysis of Microsoft’s mobile strategy (or lack thereof) and these parts are hazier than the rest. Okay, let’s get down to it.
What is Project Pink?
In order to answer that, one must understand what was Project Pink and where it’s headed now. The Pink name does indeed reference the singer Pink. It is indeed Roz Ho’s creation. Kudos to AppleInsider for snagging these bits. However, what they didn’t get is why the name is still around. Especially after Roz has been freed of most of her duties in the Mobile group.
Pink is now all about Zune. Anyone who has followed the Zune story thus far knows that Zune as a PMP is going away after the fifth generation player is out in a few years time. That is also why Zune has never been supported outside the US. Microsoft does not wish to introduce hardware to the world that it fully intends to kill in the near future.
Zune instead is becoming a service that will engulf all of Microsoft’s consumer products very soon. It is coming to Xbox first, but that is followed immediately by WinMo, later by Media Center and eventually Windows Live. And in case you haven’t noticed already, please have a look at the colors that define the Zune brand.
But “Zune” in terms of Pink stands for more than a media services layer. It also defines the identity of the UX, reference designs for hardware and adds on XNA capabilities. When Ballmer recently told CNET that Zune HD is supposed to show WinMo partners what they can do with hardware, he really meant it. The spec sheet for Zune HD is very similar to those created for WinMo 7 chassis designs. And all of that together is what Pink/Zune now stands for.When Ballmer said that Microsoft essentially fucked up Windows Mobile, he was referring to a few specific mistakes.
The first was the Danger acquisition. If it helps, Android today is based on Danger’s work. Android is the antithesis of Microsoft’s philosophy and platform. You can’t just pick up people and ideas from a team that is worlds apart and expect them to drive the in-house team that has been working with homegrown technology for a decade. Danger was Roz Ho’s baby; Danger is essentially gone, so is Roz’s involvement in Windows Mobile (it may be worthwhile to closely watch Bill Veghte now).
The second is the idiotic idea that struck a bunch of people at Microsoft who are really good at selling their point of view. They decided to try building WinMo 7 on top of the Windows 7 core. After nearly a year full of tears and hard work (however misdirected) that effort was killed some time ago. WinMo has gone through a dev reset much like Vista did.
The new Windows Mobile 7 is built on top of Windows Embedded CE 6, an improved iteration of proven technology. New technologies include a sensor platform, Silverlight, multi-touch and a rich media framework, based on Windows 7, but built from the ground up for ARM architecture and low power consumption. The core tenets of Windows Mobile are preserved: customization, multi-tasking, and openness.
Okay, I’m guessing all of this has just sounded very confusing. That is because, Microsoft’s mobile organization has recently resembled mashed-potatoes closely. So, here’s the takeaway:
1. Pink brings the Zune philosophy to WinMo.
2. WinMo 7 is based on WinCE 6. Silverlight is important.
3. Pink is not a Microsoft-branded phone (any more). Danger/Roz Ho’s involvement is nil.
4. WinMo 7 will debut XNA in Windows Mobile (not in its current form).
5. Zune as a PMP has 1 revision left.
6. Windows Phone devices with “Pink/Zune” will be closely controlled in software by MS. Will receive marketing support. Premium pricing.
7. WinMo core-based devices can be sold by manufacturers as well. No marketing support, and UX can be replaced by manufacturer. e.g. Sense, TouchWiz etc. “Low-end” pricing.
Some concluding asides: Suffice it to say, Gizmodo’s prototype pictures are now irrelevant. They were really made at Microsoft though. The thing about WinMo 7 that is a bit of a let-down to me is that J. Allard was not personally involved in the project. I feel that he would have taken a different route with the phone business. He would have preferred to kill the Windows Mobile brand-name and instead use Zune as the new branding for phones. He would have created an end-to-end experience a la Xbox. Thankfully, he has spent his considerable intellect on another project in the meanwhile. That is “Courier”. That is what is far more exciting for me than Windows Mobile at this point.
