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Not that Verizon really cared much for it anyway, but according to WMExperts, the carrier is preparing to cease sales of the Microsoft’s Kin altogether. As for the fate of the remaining stock, it’s apparently being sent back to, well, somewhere. While a few retail stores we called disavowed any knowledge of such a thing, PhoneArena has a supposed internal screenshot that suggests they may soon change their tone. Either way, Verizon’s not selling Kin online anymore, that’s for sure — quoth the raven, 404.

Verizon halting Kin sales, supply getting returned to sender? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 18 Jul 2010 18:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Since our piece on Wednesday, we’ve had more trusted sources step forward to fill in some blanks and clarify the story behind the amazingly swift fall from grace that Microsoft’s Kin phones have experienced since their launch just a few weeks ago. It’s a fascinating tale, and we wanted to share everything we’ve learned.

Continue reading Life and death of Microsoft Kin: the inside story

Life and death of Microsoft Kin: the inside story originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Jul 2010 16:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/microsoft/What_killed_the_Kin_Engadget’; While the news today that Microsoft has killed its troubled Kin line didn’t come as the craziest of surprises, it’s definitely left a lot of lingering questions about just what happened. Now we may have a little insight into what went wrong — and what might be in store down the road — thanks to a reliable source of ours who’s shared some news on Redmond’s inner turmoil.

Apparently, the troubles started long before the swirling Pink phone rumors (and way before the name Kin was ringing in our ears). According to our source, the birth of these devices began with a decision at Microsoft to create a platform agnostic, cloud-centric featurephone. A featurephone that could be had at a relatively low cost, and sold to a burgeoning market of teens and young adults who had little need for a BlackBerry-level device (or pricing). The first step in the project was acquiring Danger to leverage the work it had done with the Sidekick platform, and aligning with Verizon as a launch partner who could offer attractive pricing plans for the devices to a big pool… and here’s where the trouble begins.

Continue reading What killed the Kin?

What killed the Kin? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Jun 2010 19:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It has been a project shrouded in mystery and speculation that sparked imaginations about just what Microsoft was doing. Its codename was Pink, referring to the premium mobile experience group, and yesterday Microsoft finally revealed its Pink story. It’s called Kin and it’s pretty impressive. At its heart, Kin is centered around two devices called Kin One and Kin Two. Both the hardware and software were designed by Microsoft, and while Kin is a Microsoft brand, Microsoft is still not getting into the phone business. Built in conjunction with carrier partner Verizon, Pink is an extension of the company’s mobile strategy, something that complements and co-exists with its larger ambitions with Windows Phone 7.

In many ways, Kin is the extension and spiritual descendant of the Sidekick (which was a product of Danger, founded by the father of Android, Andy Rubin, and later acquired by Microsoft). At its core, the Kin philosophy is guided by the proposition that one size device doesn’t fit all, and specific demographics have different mobile needs.

Continue reading Entelligence: Think Pink – First take on Microsoft’s Kin

Entelligence: Think Pink – First take on Microsoft’s Kin originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Apr 2010 16:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft Kin notifications have up to fifteen minute delay originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Apr 2010 02:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’ve managed to pull your eyes away from our no-holds-barred liveblog of Microsoft’s Kin announcement, you might’ve noticed that there are videos up on the official Kin site depicting the UI in all its hipster-lite, storytelling glory. Still, in case you’re not a 20 something living in Brooklyn on your parents’ money while pursuing a career in the arts, we’ve turned those motion video picture things into regular stills for your staid perusal. We even added little descriptors below the galleries, which due to your acute lack of ADD you might even find time to read. We upped the videos after the break as well, just in case you wanted to try your hand at the young-and-hip life.

Kin Spot is a little hot spot at the bottom of the screen almost akin the virtual “binding” in Courier. You can drag pictures, addresses, web pages, and other media into it, and then drag the faces of friends who you want to send the stack of stuff to. Once you tap the spot you can preview your message, add some text, and choose from MMS or email to send it out.

Haven’t had enough? Check out our hands-on and the official announce post! Videos and the rest of the features are after the break.

Continue reading Microsoft Kin UI walkthrough

Microsoft Kin UI walkthrough originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 14:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/microsoft/Microsoft_Kin_One_and_Kin_Two_phones_announced’; It’s finally official: Microsoft Pink — the product of Redmond’s acquisition of Danger — has just been unveiled as a pair of handsets sourced from Sharp (which made most of Danger’s Sidekicks) known as the Kin One and Kin Two. The devices are being marketed as Windows Phones, and while they’re ultimately based on most of the same underpinnings of Windows Phone 7, it’s a distinctly and totally different experience — the entire user interface is custom to Kin with a heavy social media slant, a custom browser (we’re told it’s based on the Zune’s browser), and surprisingly, zero support for third-party apps. The displays are capacitive with support for multitouch (yes, you can pinch and zoom in the browser), but there’s no support for in-browser Flash or Silverlight.

Kin One — the phone we’d seen rumored as “Turtle” — is basically a curved square slider with a QVGA display, 4GB of internal storage, 5 megapixel camera with LED flash, and a full QWERTY keyboard. Kin Two, meanwhile, is the phone leaked as the “Pure,” upping the ante with a HVGA display and a more traditional landscape QWERTY slide form factor. It also moves up to an 8 megapixel cam and 8GB of internal storage, but otherwise, the experience is roughly the same as what you get on the One; both phones have WiFi and Bluetooth in addition to their 3G cellular radios. For what it’s worth, Microsoft is emphasizing that internal storage really isn’t a big deal with the Kin phones, because your entire photo and video collection that you capture using the onboard camera is synced seamlessly with your bottomless online storage; you can access the entire collection from your phone at any time by browsing thumbnails, and if you want the full content, you can download it. Kin comes bundled with a desktop web experience that’s entirely based on Silverlight for viewing and sorting just about all of the major stuff that you can see on your phone — contacts, social network status updates, images, and so on — and we’ve got to admit, it looks pretty slick. Keep reading after the break for a lot more info and video!

Continue reading Microsoft Kin One and Kin Two announced: Windows Phone roots with a social slant (updated with video)

Microsoft Kin One and Kin Two announced: Windows Phone roots with a social slant (updated with video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 13:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve been ushered out to lovely San Francisco today (well, actually, not so lovely — the weather is uncharacteristically yucky) to learn all about this mysterious “It’s Time To Share” thing that Microsoft has been cooking up. The popular rumor is that a new line of handsets (Pink? Kin?) are en route. Stay tuned!

Continue reading Live from Microsoft’s ‘It’s Time To Share’ event!

Live from Microsoft’s ‘It’s Time To Share’ event! originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 12:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A rusty short bus isn’t the first thing you expect to find parked — nay, displayed — outside one of Microsoft’s most important events of the year, but alas… here it is.

Josh: “It’s time to share… this gun.”
Chris: “We assure you that the display of an inconvenient, worn-out, inefficient, disabled van isn’t a metaphor for what we’re about to show you.”
Nilay: “Microsoft takes sexting to the next level.”
Joe: “Creepiest ice cream truck ever.”
Richard Lai: “Way to re-use a prop from Zombieland.”
Thomas: “It’s time to share… wives.”
Joanna: “Microsoft Pink: Get on the short bus.”
Don: “Needs more airbrush.”
Paul: “When not selling phones to tweens, Jimmy tours with his post-grunge band and runs an illicit button making operation.”
Ross: “The van of choice for 38-year old life maximizers.”

Caption contest: It’s time to share… an ‘83 GMC Vandura originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What’s this? Two devices apparently of Microsoft origin in Verizon’s database prefixed by MSONE and MSTWO on the eve of Microsoft’s big presser — an event widely thought (and even announced) to be the unveiling of Project Pink. We’re also seeing Sharp, the Sidekick manufacturer named on the Turtle and Pure looking handsets that passed through the FCC. Really though, “One” and “Two?” Surely those words are just placeholders awaiting today’s event before getting properly named, right? Who knows… when you’re believed to be launching a competing platform against your own Windows Phone 7 OS while simultaneously keeping the WinMo 6.x dreams alive for businesses, hell, anything goes.

Update: 9 to 5 Mac is suggesting that the actual retail names of the devices will be Kin. As in next of, as in family. Since the company has an event in just a few hours, we’ll obviously know for certain very soon, but it does look likely given the use of Kin in the listing above.

Microsoft One and Two Project Pink phones appear in Verizon database? (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 06:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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