Today, Microsoft announced their intent to acquire Danger, makers of the Hiptop mobile phone operating system and content delivery system, for an undisclosed sum just a few short months after Danger announced their intent to file for an IPO.

"Rub a little salt and lemon into that wound?"

My theory? Danger had a miserable fourth quarter last year- no amount of celebrity endorsements could prevent them from being marred by mediocre reviews and faulty hardware surrounding their Sidekick 4 and Sidekick LX launches and by being completely upstaged by the Apple iPhone launch. To add insult to injury, Apple then dropped the price of the iPhone by $200 and scored symbolic, if not successful, operator wins in major European markets- the UK, Germany, and France- something that took Danger years to accomplish in part (they're in the UK and Germany, but not France). The prospect of having a successful IPO probably seemed dim, and I'll bet selling out seemed like a nice way to ensure a decent return for their institutional investors.

So, what does Microsoft get out of this deal? I think they're interested in acquiring the design team that made the teen-friendly, consumer-oriented Hiptop user interface and content management system. Danger has always prided themselves on creating a mobile phone experience that encouraged significantly higher purchase rates of mobile content- ringtones, wallpapers, games, and applications. While Microsoft will continue to support the current incarnations of the Danger OS, I suspect they will also be looking to create a managed code virtualization layer that will allow them to quickly port the UI and their content delivery system onto a Windows Embedded kernel and ultimately dump the Java-based APIs in favor of C#. Microsoft will be able to leverage their close partnership with HTC and other Taiwanese manufacturers to rapidly develop new and lower-cost hardware (which I'm sure Danger would look forward to after their debacle with dying Motorola).

"Help me, Robot!"

So who's the winner of this deal? Google. Upset by the sell-out, all the best Danger engineers and designers will be scrambling for their exit clauses, especially given the grim chances of Microsoft maintaining and promoting a proprietary Java-based operating system. Google recruiters will be giddy with delight as they welcome them with open arms and bring them into the Android team led by former Danger co-founder Andy Rubin. Meanwhile, Microsoft will do what they do best, which is to create a short-sighted, focus-group driven, committee-designed mobile phone experience that can only hope to try and catch up to what Apple has in the market (not what's percolating in the Apple R&D labs). In other words, the Zune of the consumer smartphone space. Farewell, Danger, your legacy of consumer-oriented email, messaging, and constant Internet-connected experiences will live on and you will be remembered as ahead of your time.