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More pre-CES information is flowing about the rumored Zune Phone project from Microsoft supposedly codenamed Pink. It appears that the concept of a Zune Phone handset is dead as dreams. Brian Seitz, Zune’s Group Manager at Microsoft told Gizmodo’s Brian Lam directly "No Zune phone at CES.".

Damn.

So now what? We still have the Pink rumors, we still have Ballmer talking about porting Zune functionality to other devices….does that leave us with anything?

Well, Paul Thurrott at his Window’s Supersite says:

Microsoft is working on a number of things before that major update, Windows Mobile 7. These include a new version of the WM version of IE, called Internet Explorer 6, and a new Windows Mobile platform called Zune Mobile that includes Zune functionality. But it’s not happening quickly enough.

Zune Mobile? That sounds promising. Perhaps Microsoft is creating some Cloud based form of the Zune software for access from mobile devices such as WinMo phones or XP Netbooks?

The always interesting Mary Jo Foley on her blog All About Microsoft had this to say on Thurrott’s ZuneMo statement:

Microsoft officials (finally) denied this week that the company will be rolling out a Zune phone at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January. But they didn’t deny they have something called “Zune Mobile” up their sleeves.

Zune Mobile seems to be a set of Zune-specific premium services for Windows Mobile devices. These services are part of what I’ve been calling the “Pink” services for the past several months.

I can’t help feeling there is some kind of Zune + Live Mesh convergence coming which will be a serious attack by MS on Apple’s iTunes citadel. Cloud based, DRM free music storage, accessed by any Windows based phone or Netbook or Zune device via Live Mesh. One media folder, one log on, one set of preferences. Add in The Social to create community and track preferences and playlists…always available, always synced, MP3 and video stored on the Cloud and streamed therefore freeing up precious device storage space. It certainly sounds compelling.

Now if I am right, I hope they find a better name then Pink.