Just a week ago, Microsoft acquired the famous makers of the Sidekick, Danger Inc.  According to this press release, this "acquisition will align Danger’s nearly 10 years of expertise in the mobile consumer space with Microsoft’s vision to provide innovative and compelling mobile experiences to a growing base of customers."

Rumors of the Zune Phone were brought up, debunked, revived, and burned again. However, I couldn't help but noticing a paragraph in the press release that read, "Combining these services with Microsoft’s connected entertainment and experiences technologies, including MSN, Xbox, Zune, Windows Live and Windows Mobile, will provide Microsoft with the tools to accelerate its work to create industry-leading entertainment and communication experiences for consumers." Could this be the birth of a possible Zune Phone? What do you think? Feel free to share your opinions and thoughts in the comment box.

When the Zune was first introduced there was plenty of skepticism about its adoption into the consumer electronics world. Market research groups such as HitWise indicated that during the holiday season there was a large jump of visitors to Zune.net. Then Zune users speculated over whether Microsoft would be producing a Zune Phone, which was quickly squelched early on by Bill Gates during the CES 2008.

Zune has been toted as the “iPod Killer� and is slowly climbing up the ladder. So what else is Microsoft trying to kill?

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Yep. I know there is no Zune Phone. I just posted that a couple posts ago, but KaseyArt worked so hard on some ideas that I had to share them anyhow.

I am no Nostradamus, but I didn't expect to see a "Zune Phone" in 2008...

"No, we won't do that. In the so-called smart phone business we will concentrate solely on software with our Windows Mobile program," Gates was quoted as saying in the interview published on Wednesday.

We have partnerships with a lot of device manufacturers from Samsung to Motorola and this variety brings us significantly more than if we would make our own mobile phone," he added.

I think I have to believe, but didn't Bill Clinton tell us that he did not have relations with that woman?

Ok, first off, I have always wanted to use Zunelicious in a sentance. My buddy and fellow Mobian, Judie named her Zune this and I have loved it since! Now that we got that out of the way, let's proceed.

Zune Rumors have been heating up to a boil today. Starting late afternoon, I saw something, somewhere that said to look for the Zune 2 tommorow. Then like a wild fire, the rumor popped up everywhere.

Crunchgear made a statement that indicated that they were expecting a Oct 16th release...

There seem to be rumors floating around today that the Zune 2 will be announced tomorrow, but there?s no definitive confirmation as of yet. Our inside sources have hinted at it, but we?re looking at an official announcement on the 16th. If this turns out to be true than our insider will be swimming with the fishes.

So, then they updated their post striking through all the "inside info" they had. Now, we are told to look out tommorow for the 160gb Zune and the flash versions! Yeah!

A couple hours later, Engadget posted a photo that looks real enough. If it was photoshopped, they would have made the photo look clear and sharp, huh?

Well, look out guys... Looks like the Zune 2 is real and coming tommorow. As a gadget fiend, I am all over this. Stay tuned.

Sources: Crunchgear, Engadget, and Betanews

From engadget:

Heads up, Zune fans ? some new product is heading your way sooner rather than later, and we suspect there?s more than a couple of things to get jazzed about. According to reports from a ?source? inside Microsoft, a new batch of Zunes (AKA Zune 2, Draco, Scorpio, etc.) are due out on October 16th (just in time for the holidays), in both flash memory- and hard drive-based forms. The new, smaller, flash Zune (the Draco) will be hitting shelves in pink, red, black, or army green colors, will have a 4GB or 8GB capacity, and will feature a ?squircle? (the source?s term, not ours) for navigation, which won?t have a center button but can be pushed, ?From any side.? The hard drive-based player (the Scorpio) will be available in 80GB, sports the soon-to-be infamous ?squircle,? and touts a screen which the source claims is ?awesome? for video.

Source: engadget

From Whizbyte on the Zune:

After some discussion with a representative of Microsoft(press), I was given the following information after asking if they could confirm any details regarding Scorpio (the new 80gb model) and draco (the flash based zune). This is the reply:

We have seen the rumors floating around, but we haven?t announced specific dates or details for the next generation of the Zune devices or service. That said, Zune follows the cycle of the consumer electronics cycle so you can expect an update later this year prior to the holiday season.

There are three predictable paths along which we?ll expand Zune:

• Device family - adding in new sizes, styles and price points
• Features - we?ll move towards parity with iPod building in support for video, podcasting, etc and at the same time build on key differentiators such as the wireless feature, the FM tuner, etc
• Geographic Markets - we?ll start to expand the international footprint of Zune over time but only when we can ensure an offering which is tailored to that market

And one thing about Zune that?s really great for consumers is that the device is future-proofed. Consumers can buy without fear of their device becoming obsolete. Zune?s software (firmware) can be updated so their device gets automatically updated with new features when the new software is launched.?

Source: Boy Genius Report and WhizByte

That ?big? announcement that was supposed to come Monday never quite made it, but this info over at Engadget fills that feeling of emptiness from the ?big? announcement. Zune to get wireless downloads, version 2 hardware, flash player.

If this is a true, and it sure looks like a convincing spoof if it?s not, brings the missing link that Microsoft should have included with the Zune in the 1st place, WiFi that doesn?t suck. Being able to use the built in WiFi of the Zune for good things rather than having Judie Hughes, Matt Miller, and I spamming each other with our songs in close proximity.

The info that Engadget got was some screenies of a Zune running a beta build of firmware v1.4. The screen shows as 2.1.4 though. I sure hope this is real.

Remember the early days of the cell phone biz? You got a cool, free phone for signing up for a year. Well the cell carriers do less of the totally free phones these days, but Microsoft is looking at that business model.

Source: Zune Online via Gizmodo

?It looks like the same discussion with Chris Stephenson that yielded that 2007 European Zune launch figure also gave up a few more details about the Zune line: apparently we can expect a flash-based Zune for the holiday season later this year (damn they?re taking their dear sweet time on that) and apparently Stephenson also hinted at ?a truly WiFi-enabled device? at some point in the future, according to Digital Music News.?

I am liking the ?a truly WiFi-enabled device? idea! I love my Zune, but the crippled WiFi ability is kind of like when your dad adjusts the governer on your go-cart. You know damn well you can zune zune (err zoom zoom), but you are throttled down for your safety. I would love the ability to stream my external hard drives mp3 content over my wireless router to my Zune while I am on the lawn tractor!!!