Kin is basically a Zune HD inside, can go for a weekend on a charge
In a discussion with Kin product manager Derek Snyder this afternoon, we've confirmed that both the Kin One and Kin Two are built on the same foundation as the Zune HD -- in other words, they're running NVIDIA Tegra silicon, and there's no reason that anything you see on a Zune HD couldn't run just as well on a Kin. Of course, that's a purely theoretical statement at this point since Zune apps don't work on Kin as it stands -- the platform's completely closed, though Microsoft has been insistent that we should keep a close eye on its over-the-air updates after launch as features evolve.
Categories: Mobile Phone, Other Tags: consumption, kin two, launch, microsoft, nvidia-tegra, phone, product-manager, qualcomm, realistically, simplicity, statement, theoretical
T-Mobile lighting up tons of fiber-powered backhaul ‘within the next few weeks’
Realistically, most Americans won't have a chance to enjoy the full spoils of T-Mobile's shiny new 21Mbps HSPA+ network any time soon, but hey, at least they appear to be making solid progress. In a recent chat with GigaOM , T-Mobile's VP of engineering Dave Mayo has said that the requisite software for HSPA+ service is already rolled out to cell sites along the California coast and in major cities between Washington, DC and Boston, but like AT&T , it's not the software that's the concern -- it's the width of the backhaul pipe. The company says that it's got 20Mbps fiber connections to just 7 percent of its cells presently but plans to rapidly expand that to around 25 percent "within the next few weeks." Ultimately, that's going to be the key for every carrier around the world that's deploying 3.75 to 4G networks -- the cells themselves might be easy, but getting enough data piped to them is another story altogether.
Categories: Mobile Phone, Other Tags: backhaul, california, cities, engadget-mobile, Fiber, gigaom, realistically, spoils