Hasta La Gadget!

There’s no way to watch Microsoft’s keynote address at CTIA Wireless today without hearing “iPhone. Apple. iPhone. Apple,” like the whispering voices in the background on Lost. Of course, Microsof’t’s Robbie Bach and Jim Wilson never mentioned either of those words during their keynote presentation, as they demoed a mobile OS whose navigation and interface work almost identical to the iPhone’s.

Wilson kept a straight face while showing the finger-swiping, double tap to zoom, and Start button on the Windows Mobile 6.5 interface. Bach played it straight while talking about how Microsoft is building a consumer tech ecosystem that involves a user’s PC, TV, phone, and syncing service, and when talking about how excited he was that EA Mobile’s Sim City was coming to Windows Mobile.

The only overt mention of Apple came when Bach showed a Windows commercial in which an attractive young girl goes laptop shopping and decides she’s “not cool enough to be an Apple user.”

I’m a Windows Mobile expatriate who defected to the iPhone, so maybe this is all in my head, but the entire keynote presentation appeared to be Microsoft talking up all the features they’d cribbed from Apple, knowing full well that the audience was in on it.

If I were better at video editing, I’d splice the clips of Bach and Smith demoing iPhone-esque features and put together a mock Apple commercial for YouTube.

Anyway, sorry for the diversion. Now go back to reading Sascha’s excellent CTIA coverage.