With Apple grabbing all the mobile phone spotlight with the iPhone and their endless apps, Microsoft has decided to step up their game. Instead of seeking a way to counteract the efforts of their recently jailbreaked device, they are in talks with the group behind ChevronWP7, the app to jailbreak and unlock the Windows Phone 7. They also have reached out to the man who has been making headlines recently, not only for jailbreaking the iPhone, but discovering the root key of the PS3. Brandon Watson, self described "Entrepreneur on loan to Microsoft" reached out to George Hotz aka Geohot. It's a lure to bring him into the WP7 fold.
Microsoft has seriously fallen behind Apple in the mobile phone market, if they were ever a real contender in the first place. Watson says his aim is to get Microsoft's developer mojo back. Though Geohot is most famous for being able to crack hardware devices, so I have to wonder what Microsoft is expecting out of him on a software front. Yes he did it with a software app, but it is slightly different to create original content or at least the kind that it seems Microsoft is offering him the chance to make. On the other hand with Apple getting so much attention they could be doing it in an effort to steal some spotlight for themselves. What would steal even more spotlight…if their plan succeeded and they got something real good out of the deal. And maybe, just a really out there from left field maybe this could be some sort of dig at Sony, their competitor in another tech field.
No word yet on whether Geohot has accepted or even responded to the offer yet, but then one has to expect he may be a little more than bit preoccupied.
