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Yesterday, I got on Microsoft’s case regarding using a stylus as the means to input data in their Courier project.  Today, I am still on the job questioning whether Microsoft has gone completely insane or just lost their way.  The purported new Pink phones, leaked by Gizmodo, suggest a road map that no one can read.

The new Pink phones take two form factors, both variations on a slider QWERTY.  The phones are definitely designed to attract younger users and are surely the result of the Danger acquisition, so a Sidekick-like feel makes some good sense.  The same image is used on both screens, so there is little we can ascertain about the UI.

My vote is MS has gone completely nuts.  MS looks to have designed a cheap looking device to compete with LG, Samsung, heck even the much maligned Motorola.  Why would you want to do that?  These look like mass phones that should be free or cost $49.  Plastic-y and instantly forgettable.  I have to keep looking up to the title of this post to remember what I am talking about.

The expectation was Pink was going to blow us away, and it still might (sure we’ve only seen the form factor) but I don’t see anything that is going to make me look twice, do you?  Yep, I’ll judge a book by the cover.

The heart of mobile is data input.  MS has beaten us down with a stylus for years, now it looks like they are going to ditch the stylus (hooray) and go with just keys.  Still, if the hottest phones are built on touch using Android or iPhone or BlackBerry OS, the MS entry is already off the back.

I think it is clear that I don’t get it.  Could the UI have something that might blow us away?  We can hope.

Read [Gizmodo]