Recent hype and speculation has surrounded Apple's "latest creation", but spare a thought for Microsoft - who in recent years has had to sit back and watch as Apple's iPhone tore into the mobile marketplace whilst Mac sales rose a massive 33 per cent.
So what does Microsoft have in response to the growing Apple threat? Well, Windows 7 continues to hold the fort in terms of OS market share, but in the mobile space, all eyes are turned to Windows Mobile 7 - currently expected to land in the fourth quarter of 2010, it could reconfirm Microsoft's potential as a serious competitor in the smartphone space.
But what about the fabled Zune Phone itself? Microsoft's device, often outright denied by company officials, had seemingly faded into obscurity until today's Zune software update revealed a few major clues. Although said to provide no new features, the update - labelled version 4.2 - references a new set of drivers for what appears to be a trio of Zune Phone models.
The discovery, unearthed by Long Zheng at istartedsomething.com, is the first real indication that a Zune Phone exists.
What's interesting is that the Zune setup information file, pictured above, references a trio of Zune product IDs, as it does for the three available varieties of Zune media players, suggesting that should such a device exist, it's likely to appear in three unique models.
Feels like Project Pink all over again, but one thing's for certain, we're now all the more excited to see what Microsoft has to say at next month's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
