Sorry about the cheesy title .. I couldn’t resist it. CNET recently published a story stating that Microsoft has pulled the plug on KIN. So KIN joins the long list of other projects that never saw the light of day. ( Deepfish, Courier, etc )
“We have made the decision to focus exclusively on Windows Phone 7 and we will not ship KIN in Europe this fall as planned,” the company said. “Additionally, we are integrating our KIN team with the Windows Phone 7 team, incorporating valuable ideas and technologies from KIN into future Windows Phone releases. We will continue to work with Verizon in the U.S. to sell current KIN phones.“
Well the KIN was hardly liked by anyone, most reviews bashed it and sales figures were poor. I think Microsoft is doing the right thing by concentrating on WP7 , now more resources will be available for WP7. So does this mean we will get copy-paste sooner ? I sure hope so :)
Well it was not the best of UI from Microsoft , especially after everyone saw Metro UI on Windows Phone 7, but the KIN UI had its own following in the Market and it did not go un noticed by @wphonehacker. He has created a KIN Theme for Windows Phone. Dont expect all the flare of the original UI but hey at least its on a better looking device ;)
In Matthew Miller’s test KINs with teens, after using the device for a week the teens gave their verdicts about the device. When asked ” Did you like the Kin more than your current phone? Would you switch to the Kin if you were given the choice? ” both answered no.
Neither KIN One or KIN Two phone has the ability to download applications and games, but Microsoft said it plans to allow app downloads in a future version as services are merged with upcoming Windows Phone 7 devices according to PocketNow via pcworld.com. So KIN is a feature phone with apps ?? Now I have a question.. Will all apps from WP7 work on the KIN ?
Now that powerusers have reviewed KIN and did not find it very attractive let us see what Teens think of the device. First Impressions ( Check out the girls face to see what she thinks when see sees the device (2:12 in to the video) ). They seem to like the KIN Two. Keyboard on the device gets the thumbs up. This video only show the early impression. We should see the full review in a few days I think. via WMPU
It looks like you can order KIN online at Verizon Wireless from May 6th and on May 13th, KIN will be available in Verizon Wireless stores. KIN ONE should be available for $49.99. KIN TWO is available for $99.99. Prices for KIN ONE and KIN TWO are after a $100 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement with Verizon Wireless. Verizon’s Nationwide Talk plans begin at $39.99 with monthly access. And their Email and Web for Smartphone plans start at $29.99 for unlimited monthly access.
Microsoft KIN’s were never going to sell with the way they looked and now with reviews like this, no one is even going to look at them…
Engadget summed up their review with the following words “.. there are much better choices for much less money on the market, and Microsoft hasn’t demonstrated to us why you would choose this phone over those. You could argue that the 720p video recording is a hook, but our results weren’t that outstanding, and we don’t know anyone who needs HD video on a phone so desperately that they’re willing to overlook all of these faults. In the end, we’re left with two orphan devices — phones that feel like they should have been killed before they made it to market, but somehow slipped through. It’s clear to us from conversations we’ve had with Microsoft that there are people at the company with good ideas about what phones should and shouldn’t do, but we don’t feel the Kin is representative of those ideas. The execution (or lack thereof) on these products makes us legitimately concerned about what the company will do with Windows Phone 7. We can only hope that the similarities between those devices and the Kin handsets don’t stretch much further than the “Windows Phone” label, because in our estimation, Kin is one side of the family that needs to be disowned…quickly.”
I hope this is not an indication of how Windows Phone 7 is going to be like. May be Microsoft can get it right with KIN Seven.
According to Engadget who got tipped off to an internal Verizon email , it looks like the Kin One and Kin Two will go up for pre-order on May 6th, and they’ll “launch to all channels on May 13th”. My brother actually thinks the Kin two is a great device o_O !!! Do you see yourself getting one of those ?
Nick: Nice work, cool ideas. Now, let’s hope MS has something to say in the joint-venture since B&N is not paying any attention to designers. In some ways, MS Reader was ten times better...
fatfingur: I’m not saying this mockup is legit or real. My only point is that using comic sans does not make you unprofessional. Balsamiq is a professional wireframing tool used by pros....
simphf: One paragraph reads ‘NOOK for Android’. Ha [Posted from the 1800PocketPC app]
Hog: Almost forgot, are you going to enter the Nokia X Challenge for over 2 million in prize money? The info.is at Nokia Conversations and with your IT background. Lots of ideas swirl around in my...
Hog: Very nice. I’m not familiar with the Nook at all for content but I really like your design. I hope the Barnes app is made available for all windows phones also. [Posted from the...
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