Let the official pre-Consumer Electronics Show rumor mill begin. The biggest one so far is that Microsoft will launch a rival to the iPhone – the Zune phone – at the January 2009 event. The new mobile device is rumored to be based on the Zune digital media player, with elements of the Danger Sidekick cell phone. Microsoft purchased Danger in April 2008. The Wired Gadget Blog has the details. No word yet on any possible carriers. If the rumor proves true, my guess is either T-Mobile or Sprint would be the Zune launch partner. T-Mobile makes some sense because of the obvious Sidekick connection. Sprint could possibly be in play because they’re the only major carrier without an exclusive blue chip 3G handset launch. AT&T has the iPhone, Verizon has the BlackBerry Storm, and T-Mobile has the G1.
