Kin Studio closing January 31st, Verizon offers free phones to affected customers
Though the final nail in the Microsoft Kin coffin has yet to be tapped into place, the software that made the pair of ill-fated handsets strangely compelling will soon get the axe. Come January 31st, Kin Studio will be no more, effectively neutering existing Kin phones by removing them from the cloud. They'll still be able to make calls, send SMS, email, browse the web and even stream music via Zune Pass, but their formerly live homescreens will become lifeless, stripped of social networking functionality -- and will actually remain stuck on their very last status update, much like a broken clock
Categories: Mobile Phone Tags: from-the-cloud, kin, music, phone, phones, sms, studio, Transition, vzw
Kin ONEm and Kin TWOm back at Verizon
That's no typo, folks, Microsoft's own-brand pseudo-smartphones are back at Verizon , this time sporting an "m" appendage to their names and what looks like better pricing across the board. The Kin ONEm will set you back a cent under $20 with a two-year contract, whereas the TWOm costs just under $50 but is also subject to a Buy One Get One Free offer (the free phone being an LG Ally ). We've spotted Zune Pass is still present on the pair, though it's on a "WiFi and sideload only" basis, seemingly forbidding 3G streaming.
Categories: Mobile Phone Tags: ally, appendage, better-pricing, costs, engadget, kin, kin one, kin onem, kintwom, onem, wifi
Kin listed as at least $240 million writeoff in Microsoft earnings report
Here's a tidbit in today's Microsoft quarterly earnings that we previously overlooked: a $240 million cost of revenue "primarily... resulting from the discontinuation of the Kin phone, offset in part by decreased Xbox 360 console costs." In other words, the company took at least a quarter billion hit due to manufacturing, distribution, and support costs of the Kin (according to Microsoft's definition of "cost of revenue"). We don't know how much Xbox 360 offset, unfortunately, but we can add this figure to the $500 million Danger acquisition and the full marketing cost for the product (which we also don't know, but anecdotally, it was on par with other major campaigns) to reach..
Categories: Mobile Phone, Other Tags: 360-console, cost, discontinuation, earnings report, kin, microsoft, microsoft kin, microsoftkin, product, words
Confirmed: Verizon discontinues Kin
We guess this doesn't come as a surprise to anyone, but we have confirmation directly from Verizon this morning that it will no longer offer the Kin One or Two .
Categories: Mobile Phone Tags: formality, Heart, kin, kin one, microsoft, morning, result, verizon, verizonwireless
Life and death of Microsoft Kin: the inside story
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 EST.
Categories: Mobile Phone Tags: amazingly, entry, fri, kin, launch, life, microsoft, microsoft kin, pink, result, some-blanks, step-forward, trusted-sources, wednesday
How would you change Microsoft’s Kin One and Two?
Hey! Microsoft debuted two new phones earlier this year! Remember that? Okay, so there's a fair chance that Microsoft actually moved fewer Kin One / Two handsets than Fusion Garage did JooJoo tablets, but we're pretty confident that a few of you fell for the whole "my life is so social, so I'm buying in" thing. We're still personally trying to figure out why the full Windows Phone 7 wasn't used here instead of an OS that'll likely be forgotten by the time you finish reading this, but enough of our rambling -- this space is all about you
Categories: Mobile Phone, Other Tags: engadget, facebook, fri, hwyc, kin, life, price, rambling, smartphone, verizon-wireless, verizonwireless, windows phone 7
Kin skin for Windows Mobile 6.5 leads to more questions than answers
How would we like to replace the UI on our Windows Mobile 6.5 phone with the Kin UI? Well, we never really thought about it, we suppose...
Categories: Mobile Phone Tags: carnage, cold, Distance, fri, kin, mobile, more-questions, rather-enjoy, safe, video, windows, windows mobile 6.5, windows-mobile, windowsmobile6.5, winmo 6.5
Kin starts getting all social on Best Buy locations
In the event that you've got a Best Buy a click closer to you than a Verizon store -- and you just happen to have a hankering to check out Microsoft's Kin devices -- well, you're in luck, because the phones are showing up. Of course, offering a device like this that requires a $30 data plan under the roof of a building alleging to be a "Best Buy" seems a tad disingenuous, but who are we to judge?
Categories: Mobile Phone Tags: engadget-mobile, event, hankering, kin, kin one, kin two, kintwo, microsoft, mobile, social-on-best, starts-getting, under-the-roof, verizon
Microsoft Kin specs update: 600MHz processors, ambient sensors
Surfing Facebook for Kin info ? That's so last year.
Categories: Mobile Phone Tags: ambient-sensors, exchange, files, kin, microsoft, microsoft kin one, microsoftkintwo, processor, processors, Profiles, verizon
Microsoft Germany’s Facebook page solidifies Kin specs
Nothing here we didn't already know , but it's nice to have some final, official confirmation: Microsoft Germany's just posted the specs for the Kin One and Kin Two on its Facebook page, and they line right up with that original, Google cached leak. As originally foretold, the Kin One will sport a 2.6-inch capacitive TFT LCD screen at 320 x 240 resolution, a 5 megapixel CMOS camera, 4GB of flash memory and a 1240 mAh battery, while the Kin Two ups its game with a 3.4-inch 480 x 320 screen, an 8 megapixel CMOS HDR shooter by Omnivision with a LumiLED flash , 8GB of solid state memory and 1390 mAh of juice
Categories: Mobile Phone Tags: 240-resolution, facebook, flash-memory, gps, kin, kin one, microsoft, omnivision, screen-at-320, tegra