Despite Microsoft’s disaffirmation, rumor has it that Microsoft has finally chosen the McCann Erickson ad agency to build up a campaign for the company’s “Pink Project,” a code name for a Microsoft-branded phone. It is also said that the branding of the rumored device could be somehow similar to the T-Mobile G1 and other Google branded Android smartphones wherein the wordings would more likely be tagged as something like “Motorola Pink, powered by Microsoft” or the like.

To date, McCann Erickson is responsible for the company’s current Windows Mobile ad campaign.

Charter Equity Research’s Edward Snyder analyses that Palm has sold over 300,000 Palm Pre smartphones. The analysis was reported to be based on conversations with insiders from the mobile phone manufacturing industry. Snyder also anticipates that over 15,000 Palm Pre are being manufactured each day and that over a million Palm Pre handset will be distributed in the first quarter of production.

Being a well known pessimist, Edward Snyder’s analysis on the Palm Pre could be considered very remarkable according to the New York Times. Meanwhile, other analysts estimate that about 150,000 Palm Pre were sold, a figure that is 50% short of Snyder’s.

A new innovation from Research in Motion is soon to be unveiled via Verizon Wireless. The gadget is labeled as the BlackBerry Tour, a smartphone that boasts of global roaming, a complete qwerty keyboard, entry to Verizon’s high-speed CDMA network, and 3G UMTS and GSM networks support.

The BlackBerry Tour also features a 3.2 megapixel camera, an external microSD cards, and a 480 x 340 pixel display. It will be available July 12 for $199.99 with a two-year customer agreement.

The Motorola Karma QA1 is now available from AT&T. To recap, the handset is a slider phone that offers a complete qwerty and a 2.5 inch QVGA display as well as a 2 megapixel camera. The Motorola Karma also provides access to different applications such as instant messaging. Other features included in the Motorola Karma are the aGPS technology that supports AT&T Navigator for turn-by-turn directions, Bluetooth support with A2DP(INFO) for hands-free headsets or wireless stereo headphones.

The Motorola Karma QA1 is available for $79.99 with a two-year customer agreement, after mail-in rebate.

Boost Mobile is set to sell the new Motorola i465 Clutch, a rugged smartphone with a QWERTY keyboard and a push-to-talk technology, very soon. Having passed the military standards, the Moto Clutch can go against low pressure, high and low temperatures, dust, shock, vibration, and solar radiation.

The Motorola i465 Clutch will be available to customers for US$39.99 with a 2 year agreement, after $70 worth of instant and mail-in rebates. Customers can sign up to be notified when the Clutch is available at www.sprint.com/clutch.