CNBC Says The Zune Phone May Be on Its Way

Rumors of Microsoft making the Zune into a full-fledged phone have been floated since the day the iPhone was just a glimmer in all our eyes. Today, however, Jim Goldman over at CNBC says he’s heard from “inside sources” that Microsoft will be leveraging the technology gained by taking over smartphone maker Danger to create a Zune phone, currently codenamed “Pink.” Details are still sketchy, but it certainly makes sense that Microsoft would take that purchase of Danger and leverage it into a Zune phone. However, they are stuck with two key issues - 

1. Are they willing to completely alienate their hard-won Windows Mobile customers/partners the way they did when they side-tracked the “PlaysForSure” initiative and created their own mp3 player? Maybe they’re figuring if they sell enough units on their own, it’ll completely offset the possible licensing losses from Windows Mobile defections? 

2. Can they pull it off as elegantly as the iPhone does? Sure it was a bumpy first year, but now the iPhone seems to be the phone (well, besides the Blackberry) in every business and home-user’s hands. The Zune never seemed to gain the long-term momentum the iPod has enjoyed, so unless the phone is a complete miracle of design (which, frankly, Microsoft has never been known for) why would consumers switch from their BlackBerries or iPhones?

Looks like we might hear by this February’s CES what Microsoft’s plans are…