We told you about this before, where Seattle Times reports that Aaron Woodman, Director for Mobile Communications Business at Microsoft, indicated that KIN Studio-like features may make its way to Windows Phone Live. Today Mary Jo Foley posted information about an upcoming new service called "Windows Phone Mobile Studio" via a Microsoft job posting:
Help us change the way people think about mobile phones. The Mobile Studio will redefine the mobile phone for millions of everyday users around the world. We are looking for an intuitive and driven User Interface Designer with the ability to conceptualize and lead the design of features built for mobile phones.
While this job posting doesn’t tell us much about what Mobile Studio really is, WMPowerUser.com was able to dig a few more LinkedIn profiles of a few Softies who have worked on this upcoming new product. First we have Jon Arnett, who is had been a Senior UX Design Lead for Windows Phone Mobile Studio at Microsoft since April 2010:
I am currently serving as Senior UX Design Lead with Microsoft’s Mobile Design Studio, working on connected companion experiences for Windows Phone. I am leading a team of designers on the creation, development and refinement of innovative and compelling user interface solutions across multiple screens and devices, extending the Windows Phone product and service experience. Exploring and implementing a wide range of user behaviors and interaction models for both near and long term products
Next we also have Sean Lazo, who used to work as an User Experience Designer at Microsoft for both the Windows Phone Mobile Studio and KIN Studio:
Experience designer that has served as both interaction and visual designer for the KIN™ Mobile and KIN™ Studio platforms. Roles include mobile concept UI design to visual language development. Led the interaction and visual direction of the Kin™ Studio, a desktop interface (management tool) for the Kin™ mobile operating system. Drove the experience and led a small team of designers through concept, design, and production. Cloud/Services concept design for Windows Live Mobile Connector for Windows Phone 7.
Given the cryptic clues above, the Mobile Studio is definitely a cloud-connected service, somewhat related to the discontinued KIN Studio, and may even be available "across multiple screens and devices" (i.e. PC, Windows Phones, and Xbox). Of course, consistent with the current Windows Phone Live service, the new Mobile Studio may become a part of Windows Live. Who knows – this "Windows Live Mobile Connector/Studio" might even be the next Zune software we speculated about.