Microsoft’s Project Pink to be canceled?

It’s been rumored for a very long time that Microsoft was working on a new mobile project dubbed Pink. Headed by the Danger/Sidekick team that Microsoft acquired, Project Pink was supposed to incorporate Zune and debut other popular features currently absent from Windows Mobile. A few weeks ago, leaked images of what the phones could look like had many people scratching their head if Microsoft is serious about this. Today, MobileCrunch received news from a source who was either on the team or knows lots of info about Microsoft’s Project Pink. The source has stated that since the acquisition of Danger/Sidekick, most of the team has left or been fired.

The source goes on to say the project was created to challenge the Windows Mobile 7 team and that Project Pink is now 2 years behind schedule. Internally, the employees hate the project and dissent is very high. With all those problems, the source states Project Pink “is near death and probably will be canceled.”

Microsoft is very behind in the race for mobile, but not out. With the iPhone, Android, Palm, and Blackberry, Microsoft has lots of catching up to do. Tomorrow’s launch of Windows Mobile 6.5 is a step in that direction, but a very small one. The Zune HD clearly shows Microsoft can deliver when they need to and since they reject the idea of a self-branded phone, they should work closely with OEMs to base future phones around similar specs.

• Much of the Danger/Sidekick team has left or been fired since the 2008 acquisition. According to our source, there is “no braintrust that understands how to build a product” left on the Pink team.
• If a product does ship, it will lack the third party application support/store that rumors have indicated it would have – the remaining team members simply don’t know how to get it done.
• Amongst remaining employees, dissent is high. Much of the team uses iPhones around the office, or their old Sidekick handsets. Employees “hate the product” internally, many feeling that the division exists only to “challenge [the Windows Mobile 7 team] and upset them into competing.” Our source outright indicated that they felt the product was never intended to ship.
• At this point, the project is roughly 2 years behind schedule. In order to continue moving forward toward some undefined launch date, basics such as a calendar application have already ended up on the cutting room floor.
• On the “Turtle” (the smaller of the two devices): The touchscreen is unusable, as there are too many elements on screen at one time. “Your finger covers 50% of the screen”, says the source. The unit was designed “on the fly”, with a design drawn up and then sent to Sharp for verbatim manufacturing. Our source says this backwards design process has lead to a “near disastrous” battery life. “Designers forced Sharp to build to sketch and not ‘worry about that stuff.’”
• The UI concept work was originally done by an outside party, and Microsoft engineers have been “struggling to replicate it ever since”.