Wow! Didn’t see that one coming. Microsoft is apparently acquiring Danger, the designer of the HipTop and its software, more commonly known as the T-Mobile Sidekick. Danger originally designed the HipTop platform and operating system as a way to reduce carrier costs and ease development times for hardware OEMs. What started as an exclusive deal with T-Mobile turned into an “only carried by T-Mobile” deal. Now, Microsoft is acquiring Danger in order to improve their stakes in the mobile device game.

Combine this with the fact that HTC is making more touchscreen devices and SonyErricson has finally jumped onto the WinMo bandwagon, and you have a pretty clear idea that Microsoft is not happy with its lot in life. The Zune is an outright failure and people generally can’t talk about WinMo without describing the horrors it visits upon them. Meanwhile, Palm hasn’t offered up a new OS in 4 years and RIM can’t keep its network alive. Doesn’t anyone here see Apple’s iPhone marketshare growing this year? Not if The Scourge of Redmond can help it!

written by Tyler Regas