Oh hello Microsoft Tablet, Turtle, Pure phones! Rumors about Microsoft's Pink phones are back, along with talk of a shrunken Surface...tablet. Numerous sources are reporting that Microsoft is working independently on the tablet and the phone.
ZDNet Microsoft extraordinaire Mary Jo Foley's sources say a phone (singular) and a tablet are brewing. The tablet project is part of something called Alchemy Ventures, and it's looking a like a mini Surface, with our man J. Allard heading it up, along with an exec from the Surface team. (That's a good thing.)
Foley also dug up a job listing hinting that the Redmond company is looking for a person with a breed of interest in the Zune, Xbox and Surface. There's also hints that the tablet will be more of a reader. And perhaps most interestingly, Microsoft might actually wait for Apple's tablet to strike first.
As for the phones, Foley says that Pink will be built on Windows Mobile 7 (which means we won't see it until 2010), with Microsoft branded with mobile services like the Zune store for buying music and videos. 9to5Mac says that there are actually two Microsoft phones being manufactured by Sharp under the Pink name. (Notably, Sharp made Sidekick phones for Microsoft acquiree Danger.) The squircle-shaped phone above is apparently Turtle," and has a slide out keyboard. The other phone is a candybar slider called "Pure."