When I wrote the pro-KIN article back in April I had not used or seen the phone. Still to this day I have not, but I have watched several videos of people using them. I don’t need to say that they suck, because the world already knows that.

Microsoft only sold 8,810 units. Ever. To put that into perspective with other recent releases – iPhone 4 had 600,000 pre-orders and Evo 4G sold 150,000 its first weekend. While the KIN is just a feature phone its all time numbers are nothing compared to the rest of the markets first weekend.

I read about the KIN when it was first announced and I agree that the turtle shaped KIN ONE was garbage, but I did fancy the KIN TWO. That is until I actually saw how slowly it ran. It is slow. Slow slow slow. The status updates looked cool, but not when it takes over 30 seconds to load all the information every time you unlock the phone.

This phone seems great for middle school aged kids. They left out one killer feature for this young market. All the kiddies love AIM! There isn’t an instant messaging client for the KIN! Not even for Microsoft’s Live Messenger. I have no idea what they were thinking.

They did do one thing right though – Zune player. The best mp3 player in my opinion is definitely Zune. Microsoft thought it would be a great idea to add it into KIN. From everything I have seen, it was a flawless implementation. This gives me hope for Windows Phone 7, which also sports Zune’s sexy UI.

To conclude, I made a huge mistake. You live and you learn right? Be sure to let me know what an idiot I was in the comments!

Tags: kin, kin one, kin two, microsoft, sales numbers, wrong

Reviews

A few weeks ago (April 12) Microsoft announced the KIN and it has received much dissension on the internet on tech blogs on user forums. Honestly though what were they expecting? For a long time we have been hearing rumors about Project Pink (Codename for KIN) and they were extremely accurate: a social networking phone targeted at youth.

The KIN is not a useless paperweight, as others would have you believe, but a relatively powerful feature phone. Engadget posted an article confirming that KIN is extremely similar to Zune HD specs wise. The processer is underclocked to 600MHz, which sounds like dial-up compared to the abundance of 1GHz smartphones launching. The iPhone 3GS runs a 600MHz processor as well, so I do not think that anybody will experience speed issues on the KIN.

Microsoft worked very hard to give KIN a good battery life. Their goal was to have it last a weekend on one charge with average use. They claim to have accomplished this. I find this very hard to believe, but I hope that it is true.

MicroSD support is nonexistent. GOOD! I hate removable memory. I do not see the point of it. The argument is that you can upgrade your MicroSD card for more space. Unless the company packages a card with the device, it is just another fee. In addition, removable storage is slower than internal flash storage. Microsoft also wants to keep a lot of your content on the web rendering local storage obsolete.

Have you ever heard of Zune? Well you probably had not before the launch of the Zune HD. KIN has the exact same user experience as the Zune HD for music and videos. Microsoft also shows the KIN as one of the Zune products on the Zune website.

What I love about modern day is the fact that people always have a camera in their pocket. If you do not then your phone is probably five years old… Anyway, the KIN boasts an impressive 5 and 8 MP camera, on the KIN One and KIN Two respectively. Now MPs are not everything, but 8MP means that the KIN Two shoots HD video that can be uploaded to their friends in minutes.

The naysayers’ most logical argument though is very simple… why? Why launch another phone/OS just after announcing the revamped Windows Phone 7? Why not just have KIN be a subset of Windows Phone 7 instead of a different user experience? Why fragment your users before the devices even launch? I do not have answers to any of these questions. Microsoft addressed these questions partly by claiming that they are working on integrating Windows Phone 7 services into the KIN.

There is so much more to be said about these devices, but I think that this is enough for now.

KIN is a bold move by Microsoft. Do you think that it will be a hit or a miss?

Tags: kin, kin one, kin two, microsoft, project pink, Windows Phone, windows phone 7, zune, Zune HD

Previews

Earlier today Microsoft unveiled its latest creation, Windows Phone 7 Series. It is just a newer version of Windows Mobile that has been built from scratch. This was smart on Microsoft’s part because the only way they could ever catch up would be to forget backwards compatibility and just move forward. This could very well be what they have done since there is no word on whether or not any current programs will be compatible with 7 Series.

Microsoft also realized that resistive technology is a way of the past, and not only made it capacitive touch capable, but all devices are required to have capacitive touch support. There are also some more unreleased minimum specs that are required for all phone manufacturers that wish to have this OS on their smartphones. They also noted that physical keyboards are also permitted to use with the software.

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Tags: microsoft, Mobile World Congress, MWC, Windows, windows mobile, Windows Phone, Windows Phone 7 Series

Breaking News

There are three operating systems on computers that deserve any recognition. Microsoft’s Windows is the most popular by far. Microsoft focuses solely on software and lets other manufacturers worry about the hardware. Apple’s Mac OSX is a proprietary operating system installed exclusively on their hardware. Linux is a free alternative that can be installed on any machine.

It seems inevitable that the same thing will happen with cellular devices. Microsoft’s Windows Mobile is bought by companies who manufacture the hardware for the phones. Apple’s iPhone OS is exclusively used on their iPhone and iPod touches. Google’s Android is the free, open source alternative for cell phone manufacturers, much like Linux is on computers.

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Tags: Blackberry, iPhone, microsoft, operating system, os, Palm, RIM, Symbian, webOS, windows mobile

Other

New peak at the Zune HD’s interface. The OLED screen looks very impressive and extremely responsive. Microsoft might just have a chance in the MP3 market now. Looks like we will see what the new iPod Touches will be like later this year. Continue for the video.

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Tags: microsoft, zune, Zune HD

Breaking News

On paper they seem pretty fairly matched with a slight edge to Zune, but in reality iPod has many many times over as many sales. Which one is better for you?

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Tags: Apple, chart, ipod, itunes, microsoft, zune, zune pass

Uncategorized

In the official Zune Insider podcast, the speaker, Matt Akers, confirms the use of a Tegra processor. “So sick, so much better battery life, graphics acceleration. This thing is like a mini laptop in your hand, right, it’s so awesome.” I’m am excited by this news, and I can’t wait to get this in the fall.

Source

Tags: microsoft, Tegra, zune, Zune HD

Breaking News

Ever since the first iPod was released in 2001 Apple has dominated the portable media player market. Microsoft sat back and watched until 2006 when they released their own PMP, Zune. The first generation of Zune only came in one configuration, a hard drive based 30GB player. It had didn’t have a scroll wheel like the iPod, but instead it had a circular D-Pad. The hardware was not exceptionally pretty, especially the brown Zune. The website Hide-a-Pod captures this idea quite well.

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Tags: microsoft, mp3, zune, Zune 120, Zune 16, Zune 30, Zune 4, Zune 8, Zune 80

Reviews, mp3 Player

An Amazon listing for the ZuneHD was recently put up and swiftly taken down, but before it was, all the goodies were written down.

• Bright 3.3-inch OLED touch screen with (480 x 272 resolution) 16:9 widescreen format display
• Integration with the Xbox LIVE network gives you access to millions of videos, TV shows, and games from Xbox LIVE 720p HD video output to your HDTV with optional docking station
• 720p HD video output to your HDTV with optional docking station
• Full-screen Internet browser with multitouch functionality
• Built-in HD Radio receiver; Wi-Fi enabled so you can instantly stream millions of music tracks from the Zune music store

The release date was set for September 8th, 2008. Obviously a typo occured somewhere, but September 8th of 2009 is a Tuesday. Microsoft likes releasing stuff on that special day.

Source

Tags: hd, microsoft, zune, zunehd

Previews