Microsoft, Verizon plan an iPhone rival: WSJ

SAN FRANCISCO, USA: Microsoft Corporation and Verizon Wireless are reportedly in talks to launch a touch-screen multimedia cellphone in the US early next year, in an effort to challenge Apple Inc.'s iPhone.

The project, code-named 'Pink', would use the software giant's Windows Mobile operating system. A third-party company will handle the actual hardware, while Microsoft will focus on creating "new software capabilities" just as Google has worked closely with partners to make handsets based on its Android operating system, The Wall Street Journal reported, quoting sources close to the development.

The new device would also likely include Microsoft's new Windows Marketplace for Mobile, a store for cellphone downloads along the lines of Apple's App Store, the report said.

The news of a possible Microsoft-Verizon partnership came one day after another US newspaper reported that Verizon is in talks with Apple for the possible development of an iPhone for Verizon.