Microsoft to buy phone maker Danger

Microsoft apparently is serious about the consumer cell phone business.
Microsoft said on Monday that it is acquiring Danger, the Palo Alto, Calif.-based maker of the T-Mobile Sidekick for an undisclosed amount.
"The addition of Danger serves as a perfect complement to our existing software and services, and also strengthens our dedication to improving mobile experiences centered around individuals and what they like," Microsoft entertainment unit president Robbie Bach said in a statement.
Danger's Sidekick brings many of the same abilities as business-oriented smartphones--Web browsing, e-mail, and instant messaging--but it does so in a way that has been more popular with executives' kids than with businesspeople themselves.
The challenge for Microsoft, though, is that Danger has its own operating system, distinct from Windows Mobile, as well as completely different way of doing business than Microsoft.
Although both companies use others to manufacture their devices, Danger gets its money primarily by getting a cut of the monthly service for its phones, while Microsoft gets its money licensing the operating system to phone makers.
Danger was started by Andy Rubin, who later left the company to launch another mobile start-up, which was acquired by Google. Since then, Rubin has been leading the development of Google's Android open-source mobile platform, which is gaining attention at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, this week.
On the plus side, Danger actually is agreeing to be bought by Microsoft, unlike Yahoo, which formally rebuffed Microsoft's bid Monday.
Microsoft's acquisition brings a halt to Danger's plans to go public. In December, the privately held company had filed its preliminary paperwork for an initial public offering.