Rumors of a Zune phone have floated around forever, but we've always thought it would make more sense for Microsoft to start by simply making a Zune player for Windows Mobile -- a plan Steve Ballmer casually confirmed today in an interview with CIO Magazine. Sure, Ballmer's hinted at Zune on WinMo in the past, but those were just hints -- not like today's pronouncement that "the Zune software will also be ported to and be more important not just with the hardware but on the PC, on Windows Mobile devices, etc." That's a pretty solid declaration of things to come, if you ask us -- too bad he didn't give a time frame. Now, about that 360 integration.

[Via WM Power User]

First things first: open wide and ingest a mouthful of salt. Put away that bitter beer face and down it, we said! Okay, now that you're adequately skeptical, get a load of this. Word on the street has it that Nokia is currently working with Microsoft in order to integrate the Zune Marketplace into the former firm's handsets. No, there's no talk of a Zune Phone here -- no new hardware at all, actually. Instead, it seems the two could be figuring out a way to offer Zune Marketplace content on Nokia's prolific "non-smartphones." Make no mistake, Nokia sells quite a few low-end handsets, and if the Redmond powerhouse could get its material on 'em... well, we're pretty sure you see where this could go. Oh, and we're totally not buying this until N-Gage pops up on the Xbox 360.

[Via Electronista]

The funkiest and freshest dude in Redmond, J Allard, has once again reached out to the people and dropped straight-up knowledge in regards to Zune Phone rumors. According to the report, during an interview with Reuters Allard shrugged off the chatter, saying that the company was focusing on the new Zunes at the present time. It would have seemed like a total dead-end, but the Microsoft exec then noted that the Zune was built on top of Windows Mobile, and added that the giant has, "The flexibility to take these in a different direction where [sic] our customers, our partners and we are ready." Sure, some new product would be nice, but let's be honest folks -- why would you need to make a phone when everyone is running your software anyway?

It's probably not shocking to anyone that the Zune hasn't exactly lived up to the high hopes Microsoft had for it, and at the recent Citigroup technology conference in New York, Mindy Mount -- corporate vice president and CFO of the firm's entertainment and device division -- noted that she'd "give it a B-," and also stated that it was a "solid effort for the first year." More intriguing, however, was her comments on the future of the Windows Mobile OS, and while she was tight-lipped in regard to RIM acquisition whispers, she did hint at the possibility of a tweaked system to compete with Apple's iPhone interface. Reportedly, Mount stated that Microsoft "identified [Windows] Mobile being more integrated with photos and music," and concluded by proclaiming that it was "a natural thing to have in its product roadmap." Of course, this corporate speak can't really be regarded as much more than just that at the moment, but feel free to make of it what you will.

[Via Zune-Online]
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