Steve Ballmer: Kin ‘defocused activity from Windows Phone’
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has been willing to admit some of the company's missteps in the past, and he's just done so again in addressing the now infamous Kin . Speaking with The Seattle Times , Ballmer said that the "No. 1 message from Kin is a message of focus," and that ultimately, "it just defocused activity from Windows Phone." Not exactly a huge surprise by any means, but it's still pretty notable to hear straight from the top, especially considering how much it cost Microsoft to learn that message
Categories: Mobile Phone Tags: interview, microsoft, microsoftkin, much-it-cost, seattle, source, steve-ballmer, windows-phone
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
Microsoft says Kin software update is scheduled for mid-summer
We'd already heard some talk that Microsoft's Kin One and Kin Two phones might be in store for an update , and it looks like the phones will indeed be getting one sooner rather than later. While it remains to be seen if it will include those rumored IM improvements, a Kin support moderator has confirmed on the Microsoft Answers forum that an update is scheduled for "mid-summer," and that it will address "many" of the concerns laid out in the post that prompted the response. That included complaints about battery issues, a suggestion for improvements to the Twitter client (including replies and re-tweets), and a plea for YouTube support
Categories: Mobile Phone Tags: engadget, firmware-update, kintwo, microsoft, microsoftkin, response, result, software-update, twitter
Microsoft Kin One and Two review
Make no mistake: the Kin One and Two are coming into the world as the black sheep of the phone industry, and Microsoft would have it no other way.
Categories: Mobile Phone, Other Tags: engadget, kin two, microsoft, microsoft kin one, microsoft kin two, microsoftkin, partnerships, smartphone, windows, windows-phone, windowsphone, windowsphones
Day in the Life: Kin-less
If you were near an internet display terminal yesterday, you might've tragically stumbled upon one of Microsoft's Kin promo videos. Sure, the product might be slightly condescending to its supposed target market, but the promotional videos are outright MTV-gone-bad, full of hipster shorthand and fake "reality" bits
Categories: Mobile Phone Tags: engadget, facial, girlfriends, mementos, microsoftkin, product, target, windows-mobile