Now to counter the Apple rumors we have one claiming that Microsoft is looking to put out their own iPhone contender and push it onto the Verizon network.

The new phone will not be Zune based, but if the rumors and rumblings are correct will be an extension of the existing Windows Mobile OS. The phone is being called Project Pink ad will feature the almost obligatory multi-touch interface and will have the new Windows Market Place as an App Store competitor. No other information on "Pink" was available.

Read more here at the Wall Street Journal

Microsoft Corp. is in discussions with Verizon Wireless to launch a touch-screen multimedia cellphone on the carrier's network early next year, in a bid to compete with Apple Inc.'s iPhone, people familiar with the matter said.

Microsoft's project, which is code-named "Pink," is aiming to produce a phone that extends the tech giant's Windows Mobile cellphone operating system, adding new software capabilities.