Windows Mobile 7, the next version of Microsoft’s mobile operating system, may become available at the same time as the new
phone, Egbert said.
The operating system will probably work with Microsoft’s Zune video store and offer the ability to buy songs and music subscriptions, she said. It also may connect to social-networking services like Facebook, Twitter and Microsoft’s own Xbox Live gaming service.
Microsoft President Robbie Bach, who oversees the company’s mobile business, has been critical of Google’s attempts to sell both a phone operating system and its own phone. In an interview this month, Bach said it’s hard to do both without alienating the handset makers that produce.