Mission Creek

from USATODAY.com 

I saw this story and I can tell you. I wouldn’t be too woried if I was Apple. Though Microsoft has had success with its user interface on teh Xbox360, I can tell you from Personal expereince with the Motorla Q, that Microsoft has yet to figure out the handheld operating sysyems and user interfaces….

SEATTLE — Microsoft kept mum Thursday about widely circulating reports that it is developing a would-be iPod killer timed to hit store shelves for the holiday shopping season.

But that didn’t stop the digerati from speculating about the device — and handicapping its odds of succeeding.

“The likelihood of an effort underway at Microsoft (MSFT) to create such a device is pretty much 100%,” says Forrester Research analyst Josh Bernoff. “They are obsessed with Apple’s success on the iPod front and want to make sure they regain the initiative.”

The iconic iPod has carried Apple to the sweet spot of the digital home entertainment market. The basic iPod dominates the paid music download market, and the high-end iPod is gaining traction in paid video downloads.

Microsoft’s answer: a hand-held music and video player, equipped with Wi-Fi, that allows users to download paid music and video files without being connected to a PC, according to Reuters and The New York Times…

full story here