Signs Point to New Microsoft Smartphone Push

Rumors continue swirling around Microsoft's next steps in the lucrative smartphone market, with a new report suggesting that the software colossus is planning its own mobile phone.

But while Microsoft is dismissing the claims, other industry observers agree that it has to do something to reverse its slide with Windows Mobile in the face of growing and increasingly powerful competitors, including Apple, Google, Nokia, Palm and BlackBerry maker Research in Motion.