Some surprises just don't seem like surprises, do they?

If we are all waiting for the iPhone (well, maybe not all), then why shouldn't Microsoft follow Apple's lead and launch a ZunePhone?

And why shouldn't Microsoft take the same route as Apple again by denying that they are working on a product of the mobile phone type?

So, despite denials from Microsoft about the ZP existence, don't be too surprised if we see that product later this year -- and most likely after the iPhone (just in case there are any cool features that can be "added" to the ZunePhone).

According to this report, Microsoft has filed a whole bunch of patents -- speech enhancement/filtering, an on-screen keyboard, capacitance touch slider, contact display, health monitoring, clamshell form factor and remote control of playback on a remote device.

Anybody interested?