Although Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) has much of the business world wrapped around at least some of its software, the largest software company in the world is mostly known for its consumer products. Names like Windows, Zune, Windows Mobile, Sidekick, and Xbox are household terms (well, in gadget households perhaps).

Still, with all those names, why hasn't Microsoft formed some kind of overall consumer ecosystem so that all these products fit, work, and play together seamlessly?

Looks like Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) is teaming up with South Korean consumer electronics giant LG Electronics. Ole' Softie wants Windows Mobile to supplant Symbian and MacOS as the leading operating system for mobile devices.

We've heard this all before. Although Windows Mobile has a decent market share, Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has taken the mobile world by storm with the iPhone, and Research In Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) keeps bringing out one cool Blackberry after another. Can Microsoft really fend off these two large competitors with a "strategic collaboration" with LG?

Microsoft hopes this partnership will be different, as LG has become a powerful force in the mobile market in the last three years. LG CEO Yong Nam used a standard corporate explanation in explaining the partnership, stating "This agreement between LG and Microsoft will create critical momentum in the industry . . . with this partnership, mobile computing will truly become an everyday reality, and LG and Microsoft will be at the forefront of it."

But Mr. Nam, I have news for you: mobile computing has already become a reality and Microsoft is not in the lead, nor is it creating new markets. It will take a paradigm shift for Microsoft to stand up to the competitive challenge sitting in front of it, not just an enhancement of the same technology that's been around for years. I'll believe the fruits of this partnership's labor when I see it.

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) says it has launched mobile advertising on its MSN Mobile portal optimized for viewing on smartphone and cellphone screens. It's about time -- mobile advertising, as many industry pundits has said for years, is the next frontier of online advertising. Competitor Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) is right there as well, and company CEO Eric Schmidt never misses a chance to say how important mobile web access is to global internet users.

MSN Mobile will now feature miniature banner ads suited specifically for each web browser type and screen size resolution based on the type of device each mobile customer uses to visit MSN Mobile. Microsoft services like Hotmail, MSN Messenger, Live Search and others are all available on the portal. The question is whether customers will use them in increasing fashion. When it comes to mobile web access, Microsoft definitely does not enjoy the monopoly it holds with its desktop software and operating system presence.

But there is more -- MSN Mobile allows movie ticket purchasing, and the downloading of background images and ringtones for any customer who visits. With ad backers Bank of America, Paramount Pictures, and Jaguar, MSN Mobile has some decent partners lined up to begin with. That, of course, does not guarantee success. Google's mobile ad efforts are proceeding along at lightning speed too.

Consumer marketing is a strange fish. Those who love their Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) BlackBerry cellphone/email machines generally are very brand loyal. I know a few people who always want the latest BlackBerry when it's released, regardless of style or function or size. As long as it is the latest, they want it.

Even though a BlackBerry can make work away from the office much easier, the addiction many have to it can be disturbing at times. We already have 24/7 cellphone voice access, and now we have 24/7 email access. Is it healthy? That's been the subject of quite a few psychology papers I'd suspect.

BlackBerry devices are handy for the end consumer because branding and marketing work, regardless of whether half-truths are used to communicate or not. Advertising almost always promises something it can't deliver perfectly, but that does not stop consumers from spending billions to find out.

For the last 24 hours or so, rumors in the air that Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) may be looking to place a bid for Research In Motion, Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) has been floating to the top of the M&A bowl. It's easy to note that rumors about RIM happen every week, but what makes this one so different? Many, many things. Microsoft's recent attention to making its Windows Mobile platform entrenched into the market for handheld Smartphones continues to indicate how highly the company places mobile technology in its future growth strategy.

By now, it's pretty obvious that companies like Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT), Microsoft and Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) all believe that the future of the internet is in the mobile customer's hands. Yes, we'll always have wireless-enabled laptop computers, but for those growing masses who want the office in their pocket, small Smartphones and like devices are just now beginning to see widespread popularity. It will blossom into a huge market from here.

Unless the price is just too high, Microsoft's acquisition of the best-known name in mobile computing would allow it to gain a very loyal customer base almost instantly, but the company could not just dump RIM's exclusive software and email "push" capability in favor of its own. Both RIM and Microsoft now have systems to automatically push received email to customers in the mobile field in real-time. They are direct competitors.

By buying its largest competitor in this space, Microsoft would own the market for Smartphone-based applications and push email, ahead of European-based Symbian. Microsoft's only problem : RIM's market cap is nearly $47 billion. But with rumors fueling Google's entry into the wireless space in full force soon, Microsoft may again be forced to act in the endless arm wrestling with the internet search giant.

Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) has a lot to crow about lately. It overtook rival Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) as the largest PC maker in 2006 and has taken market share from its Texas rival in many computer product categories. It's selling a boatload of PCs in retail channels where Dell is absent (except for Wal-Mart) and after it figured out that although competing with Dell on the direct sales model didn't work, its retail focus sure did. Hewlett-Packard's retail notebook PC systems are arguably more stylish than Dell's competing models, and its overwhelming retail presence has put the Palo Alto, Ca. company back on top.

What else can HP do to stay where it is and even grow more? HP also overtook IBM (NYSE: IBM) this year as the world's largest tech company (by sales) and continued rapid growth could prove more difficult going forward. HP, while having dabbled in the mobile phone market for a while, may be setting itself up to complete more heavily in that space. HP's mobile products, thus far, has been of the "Smartphone" variety that feature the Microsoft Windows Mobile environment. Sales of "Smartphones" are expected to take share away from standard and advanced cellular handsets this year and into 2008. Would HP pass up a chance for getting in on the projected growth here? Nope.

Although HP is looking at launches in international markets first, its phones could come to the U.S. sooner that we all think. The company has even said that the increasing complexity of phones will help it leverage its computing experience to design and deliver the high-functionality phones the market is desiring. Don't count out HP's recent cost-control focus as it does this, either. As consumers come to expect mobile, palm-sized computers from their cell phones, HP looks well poised to capitalize, much to the chagrin of Dell (again).

Although many of us here in the blogosphere have been on hands and knees lusting after the Apple iPhone, launched yesterday to crazed media attention. there's a more pressing topic to examine today.

Now come the inevitable comparisons between what Apple Computer, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs talked about and demonstrated, and the current state of the wireless market. Let's begin with some basic observations, shall we?

The iPhone will be exclusive to Cingular, (which is already taking names, thank you) It may be the largest provider of cell-phone services in the U.S., but that in itself limits Apple's appeal to those existing customers. Now, I fully expect many customers (millions?) to switch to Cingular just to get the iPhone. Do many of them already have iPods? Sure. Visual voicemail? Not so much.