So, rumors have been swirling about a potential Zune phone being announced, but looking at the specs, it appears like they are the laggard rather than the leader. Taking note of their XBox 360 coup, where they gained tons of market share by releasing their product ahead of the competition. It seems puzzling that they would release their phone so late in the game, especially with ho-hum features like 720p, a 5 megapixel phone, and their own music store. They, of all companies, should know that a great way to win is by leapfrogging, not crawling ahead. Isn’t the failure of the Zune iteself evidence of that?
Microsoft still has a chance of creating a platform, and getting some market share for the Windows Mobile operating system before it becomes completely irrelevant. Below are a few ideas I think Microsoft could use to leapfrog the competition, and get back into the game.

Pica Projectors

I believe mini, or “pica” projectors, will be the next must-have feature for smartphones. The ability to project a presentation on the fly, or share photos and graphs without having to lug around a laptop, would be greatly valuable for many consumers.
Although there are some pica projectors available on the market, Microsoft should devote resources into developing a great pica projector that is embedded into the phone, and doesn’t suck the life out of the battery, which is why I’m guessing more haven’t been integrated into smartphones yet.

A transformative music experience

With growing dissatisfaction with iTunes as a music marketplace, Microsoft could concentrate on providing a great music experience. Although Real Networks provides a music streaming experience, it falls short by not supporting certain devices, and lacking in selection. Pandora, Last.FM, and others provide more selection, but they are really “music discovery engines”, in that you put it the artists you like, and it won’t necessarily let you play those artists, or choose what songs you can play.
Microsoft could really differentiate themselves by providing a subscription-based music service. Services like this exist with Spotify, which isn’t available in the United States, only overseas, and MOG seems promising, but I haven’t tried it out, since it doesn’t have an iPhone application (yeah, personal disclosure, I have an iPhone).

These are just two quick things that could be done to increase interest in the Zune phone, what do you think? With my iPhone, there are so many little things that aren’t possible for one reason or another, do you think they could come up with something interesting?