The KIN One is a portrait slider with a 5 megapixel camera, 4 GB internal storage and can shoot SD video. It comes equipt with a super-bright LumiLED flash.
Author: Surur
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Project Pink – KIN’s the name
Press Release: Microsoft Corp. today announced KIN, a new Windows®Phone designed specifically for people who are actively navigating their social lives. Brought to life through partnerships with Verizon Wireless, Vodafone and Sharp Corporation, KIN is designed to be the ultimate social experience that blends the phone, online services and the PC with breakthrough new experiences called the Loop, Spot and Studio. KIN will be exclusively available from Verizon Wireless in the U.S. beginning in May and from Vodafone this autumn in Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom.KIN is a new social experience from Microsoft Corp. that combines the phone, online services and the PC.
“Working closely with our partners, we saw an opportunity to design a mobile experience just for this social generation — a phone that makes it easy to share your life moment to moment,” said Robbie Bach, president of the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft. “We built KIN for people who live to be connected, share, express and relate to their friends and family. This social generation wants and needs more from their phone. KIN is the one place to get the stuff you care about to the people you care about most.”
A New Kind of Social Phone
With KIN, social networking is built into the fabric of the phone. KIN has a fun, simple interface, which is designed to help people publish the magazine of their life by making the people and stuff they love the focus rather than menus and icons. The unique hardware design was developed in partnership with Sharp to create a new kind of social phone. There are two models called KIN ONE and KIN TWO. Both phones feature a touch screen and slide-out keyboard. ONE is small and compact, making it a perfect fit for a pocket and to operate with one hand. TWO has a larger screen and keyboard, in addition to more memory, a higher resolution camera, and the ability to record high-definition video. The 5 and 8 megapixel cameras in ONE and TWO, respectively, are designed for use in low light with image stabilization and a bright LumiLED flash.
The New Way to Share
The home screen of the phone is called the KIN Loop, which is always up to date and always on, showing all the things happening in someone’s social world. KIN automatically brings together feeds from leading Microsoft and third-party services such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter all in one place, making it easier to stay connected. Customers can also select their favorite people, and KIN will automatically prioritize their status updates, messages, feeds and photos. Another unique feature, the KIN Spot is a new way for people to share what’s going on in their world. It lets them focus first on the people and stuff they want to share rather than the specific application they want to use. Videos, photos, text messages, Web pages, location and status updates are shared by simply dragging them to a single place on the phone called the Spot. Once all the people and content are in the Spot to share, the consumer can choose how to share, and start broadcasting.
Your Phone, on the Web
KIN Studio is your phone online. Almost everything created on the phone is available in the cloud from any Web browser. Photos and videos are freed from the confines of the phone and presented in an online visual timeline so they are easy to view and share. The KIN Studio automatically backs up texts, call history, photos, videos and contacts, and populates a personalized digital journal so it’s easy to go back in time to relive a crazy weekend or recent birthday. And the KIN Studio gives customers tons of storage to keep all those photos, videos, contacts and texts so they’ll never run out of space on their phone and lose a memory.
Music and More
KIN will be the first Windows Phone to feature a Zune experience — including music, video, FM radio and podcast playback. With a Zune Pass subscription, customers using Zune software on their PC can listen to millions of songs from Zune Marketplace on their KIN while on the go, or load their personal collection. KIN also has other features customers want in a phone including a rich browser with the ability to share pieces of the Web, local and Web search by Bing, and an RSS feed reader to pull down information on people and stories from the Web.
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Project Pink Live stream – watch and comment here!
Watch the Project Pink Live Stream here, and comment on the presentation below.
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F1 Pocket 2010 for Windows Mobile reviewed
F1 Pocket 2010 is a simple app that brings all the stats and fixtures from Formula One in to the palm of your hand on windows mobile. To day we take a closer look at the app and see if the app is worth the download.
Read the full review at BestWindowsMobileApps.com here.
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Project Pink – MSOne and MSTwo handsets show up in Verizon’s inventory system
PhoneArena has managed to spot two new handsets labelled MSOne and MSTwo in Verizon’s inventory system. The handsets are manufactured by Sharp, leading inexorably to the conclusion that these are Microsoft’s much ballyhooed Pure and Turtle handsets, who’s announcement is expected in about 6 hours time at 10 am PST.
Everything should become clear soon – keep an eye on WMPoweruser.com for more coverage.
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For Developers: Visual Studio 2010 and Silverlight 4.0 launches, brings improved Windows Phone 7 developer tools
Over the weekend Microsoft has launched the latest iteration of their Visual Studio product, Visual Studio 2010. Silverlight 4.0 will also be released later this week to the web for download.The combination brings further improved tools to developers, such as multi-monitor support and better debugging tools.
Windows Phone 7 developers specifically can however expect the ability to more easily create good-looking applications with the built-in integrated phone design surfaces.
Silverlight 4, of which elements exists in the current Windows Phone 7 build, delivers media and business application capabilities that enable developers to deliver application experiences on or off the Web. New features in Silverlight 4 include extended out-of-browser capabilities, enhancements for enterprise application developers, and more than 60 customizable pre-written controls to quickly build rich, interactive applications.
“We’re excited to celebrate the launch of Visual Studio 2010 with developers around the world today,” said Bob Muglia, president of the Server and Tools Business at Microsoft, in a statement. “Customer and partner feedback was instrumental in shaping this release. The functionality of Visual Studio 2010, .NET Framework 4 and Silverlight 4 creates a powerful and unique combination, opening up new opportunities for developers to build applications that take advantage of new and existing devices, as well as emerging platforms like cloud services.”
Eddie Amos, general manager of developer platform and tools marketing at Microsoft told eWEEK a key theme for VS2010 was simplicity. "We wanted to be able to allow developers to keep it simple, but dream big," he said, noting that the Microsoft tools story has been consistent for many years. That consistency enables the company to deliver tools and development platforms for developers that allow developers to use what they are familiar with to create applications that can run across a variety of environments — from the cloud to mobile devices.
"A lot of the same components are in place, so developers can leverage the skills they have to build web applications and other types of applications from within Visual Studio," Amos said. "We can enable them to optimize their code for the different platforms."
Microsoft is kicking off a global launch of its flagship application development environment, with more than 150 developer-focused events around the world today.
Read more at eWeek here.
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Bloomberg confirms Palm up for sale, HTC interested
Bloomberg has managed to confirm speculation that Palm is looking for a bidder. Their sources told them the company is working with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Frank Quattrone’s Qatalyst Partners to seek buyers, and that Lenovo, who recently re-entered the handset market, and HTC were interested. Dell has apparently already taken a pass on the offer.As before, all parties involved declined to comment, but Bloomberg’s sources suggest the process may start as early as this week.
The two different buyers likely offer two very different fates for the Sunnyvale company. Under Lenovo its likely most of the company structure will remain intact, and the operating system will see wider distribution on more handsets, as Lenovo uses the company’s carrier relations and smartphone expertise to seek a foothold in the western market.
On the other hand the Palm company itself does not have much to offer HTC, which already has great expertise in both hardware and software, and better carrier relationships than Palm. Even the value of Palm’s brand name has suffered recently, after a disastrous advertising campaign last year.
While many would like the webOS to live on under HTC, the likelihood is that HTC is buying the company mainly as an insurance policy against being sued to competitors for patent infringement. While some may say that this move is rather expensive at the likely sales price of $1 billion, half of HTC’s $4.55 billion 2009 revenue came from USA, and the company would suffer greatly if it sales were blocked there.
WebOS handsets have also been poorly received in the market, with more than 1 million handsets believed to be sitting on shelves waiting for buyers. The company has not seen a profit for more than 11 quarters, and is expected to burn through $150 to $200 million during its current quarter, between $1.5 to $2 million dollars per day. Keeping the company going as a viable entity will therefore likely be a case of throwing good money after bad and be much more expensive even in the short term.
Do our readers think a Palm acquisition by HTC would be a good idea? Let us know below.
Via Engadget.com
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Turtle leaked, this time by Microsoft
Microsoft is not the best at keeping secrets, and this time, on the eve of their big announcement, they let slip another picture of the Project Pink Turtle handset.The picture, which is on the site where they will be live streaming the announcement from (at 10 am PT), shows a typical hipster holding a square vertical slider we are pretty familiar with already.
Read our post here for as much detail as we have at present on the expected announcement tomorrow.
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HTC HD Mini overview – part 2
Coolsmartphone have published part of their HTC HD2 video review. In many ways the device is just a smaller, less powerful HD2, so if the size of the later device was your main issue this may be the device for you.
Read more at Coolsmartphone here.
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Microsoft promises to fix many Windows Phone 7 limitations “in future releases”
Tweakers.net have published a lengthy interview with Charlie Kindel, conducted at the Dutch DevDay event recently.We have distilled a few salient points from there, but reading the whole interview will add a lot more.
Charlie called the cellphone the “new personal computer ", however also mentioned Microsoft still planned to integrate the device with the desktop as part of the “3 screen and a cloud” strategy, which will involve wide synchronization between the 3.
"Much of the activity takes place on the server side. Also applications make extensive use of the server, such as notifications. Most of the features that matter most on the device would require the server. This can also work for saving the battery. "
On Xbox gaming he noted that developers will be able to create Xbox games with Windows Phone 7 versions that could be sold together. "Whether they do is up to game developers. We are only providing the possibility."
He re-iterated that the user interface will not be widely customizable by OEMs or users, saying Microsoft intended to invest heavily in advertising this brand.
He also said Microsoft intended to release updates itself. “We want everyone the same version of the OS. It is not like thirty versions of your operating system in circulation." he said.
Smaller updates will be over the air, and larger updates will be using the Zune software.
"We will do that through the Zune desktop software or over the air , "said Kindel. "Whichever way we use depends on the size of the update." In practice it will mean that major updates will be installed via the desktop, while the smaller updates are sent directly to your phone.
He noted Windows Phone 7 Release will not be ‘feature complete’: many features will be added later. This is a conscious choice, Kindel said. "What we do, we do extremely well. This is a change from earlier Windows Mobile versions, where we strove for as much possible functionality. Now, some things are missing at launch but the important thing for us is user experience. Everything must work equally well for the unit to work properly. Then we will look at how we can extend that functionality. "
Surprisingly one of the features that will not be available at launch is the ability to extend the hubs.
"In time you can, but for now we focus on other issues," said Kindel.
Despite this (or possibly because of it) he noted that Microsoft is still on track for a release late this year. "When I see where we are today in terms of speed and stability of the OS, I am sure that we get it."
He noted many manufacturers were working on Windows Phone 7 devices, including HTC, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, LG and Asus.
On applications he again reitterated that these will only be available via Marketplace, but that in future releases facilities will be made available for companies to distribute vertical applications.
"We have in planning for future releases, we are initially concentrating on other matters."
Regarding the managed code sandbox, he noted that over time this will become less and less strict, and that access to native code will just be in very special cases, like with Adobe Flash.
He also noted that multi-tasking is reserved for native app, but that undesirable effects such as losing GPS navigation on a phone call will be addressed in future releases.
"For example if you have an application in the background a GPS position to other applications, can pass, it is required that the application can run in the background. For such scenarios, we build multi-tasking again."
He did not however say when this would be.
He also mentioned nice feature not demonstrated earlier. If when in another application the volume button is pressed, a Zune widget will appear on screen with a Play / Pause button and buttons to move to the previous or next track.
He also revealed while the basic development tools was free there was a more advanced version which was for charge.
One interesting feature of the OS which will help sell applications is carrier billing. Charlie noted this was advantage over the iPhone and even Android, which required the use of credit cards, which in some countries such as the Netherlands, were not very prevalent.
He conceded that Microsoft appeared to be copying Apple in many ways.
"That’s right, in many cases we are following in Apple’s line. We found the user experience provided by Windows Phone 7 required sharp choices. It may be true that some of these choices match those of Apple. At the end of the day it is us both about the user experience of smartphones.
He however was still confident what Windows Phone 7 will quickly gain market share.
"In the past it often happened that we were the underdog in a given market and how to become leaders." He noted "We have a lot of positive feedback from manufacturers, providers and developers. We hope Windows 7 Phone a successful new path."
He would not comment on Microsoft’s response if this turned out not to be the case.
"We believe the mobile market is very important. I can not comment on these questions. Therefore it is too early." Microsoft expects very much of its new mobile OS, says Kindel.
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For Developers: Multi-touch features of Windows Phone 7 emulator shown off
With the absence of any hardware to test on the importance of an accurate emulator is clearly very important.
In this video Joel Ivory Johnson, recently crowned Microsoft MVP, shows of the multi-touch features of the Windows Phone 7 emulator, which hooks into the multi-touch features of Windows Phone 7.
That does not help as much with other sensors, such as accelerometers, but Bill Reiss has a solution for that, using a Nintendo Wiimote over bluetooth and freely available desktop libraries to read the data and transmit it via http to the Windows Phone 7 emulator.
Read more about the multi-touch features and Wiimote hack here.
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Sony Ericsson Xperia X2 MR1 update a disaster?
We received this very interesting e-mail from Dominik telling us about his woes with the new Sony Ericsson Xperia X2 MR1 update, which has been lauded for being comprehensive, with many improvements and has even been called “the best update ever”.
It seems everyone spoke well too soon.
Dominik writes:
Few days after X2 upgrade this is a disaster.
This device is a biggest shame I’ve seen in my life.
Basically this is unpredictable, unstable, unfinished and not proper piece of “crap”. Things randomly keep stopping working, device freezing constantly without any reason. The device has BASIC operation problems like camera not working, memory card not seen by the device – all needing soft resets.
Current behaviour of X2 is like a first firmwares I’ve seen on P990, few years back.
After upgrade I’ve had like 10 freezes through 48 hours.
Freezing without any reason – just with normal, ordinary actions I d, switching panels etc..
The software is completely not optimized at all, looks like a not finished.
I was a fan of SE smartphones (used P800, P910, P990, P1, X1). All of them served well.
As regarding X1 people experiences were very different, but generally feedback was good and deserved.
X2 has huge negative feedback right now and I’m not alone.
What is strange, the device did not behave this way before the update.
Please observe the issue. I think if SE will react ASAP, The information should be widely spread around.
You have to agree – this is just completely unacceptable from such a company!
A quick look at the update thread on Sony Ericsson’s blog, which started of rather optimistically, shows that Dominik is far from alone.
Even with MR1 applied, this phone is useless with this low level of stability and speed. I’m sorry Sony Ericsson but the Software quality of your products is a shame.
Schaotan on XDA-Developers write:
Like many others, I’m disappointed by the upgrade.
Phone is faster, surely, but random freezes are still occurring. I’m trying to troubleshoot, adapt my phone usage habits to prevent freezes, but its really bothersome and of little to no use.
Probably a brilliant strategy by Sony to get me to spend even more upgrading to the X10. Though why i let myself be repeatedly suckered by Sony is beyond me.It appears that the MR1 update, while late, was still rushed out without proper testing. leaving even formerly satisfied users very unhappy indeed.
Have any of our readers applied the update? Let us know your experience below.
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Another HTC HD2 mini unboxing
Coolsmartphone have published this hands-on video of the HTC HD mini, unboxed as traditional for that blog either in the car or in the kitchen.
Does anyone else feel the smartphone could have done with a little bit less bezel (or at least a D-pad) at the bottom? Let us know below.
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Gigabyte GSmart S1205 coming to Russia
It seems Russia is one of the last hold-outs for Windows Mobile smartphones, with Gigabyte recently shipping their low-end GSmart 1205 handset into that market.The WQVGA handset does however have a reasonable feature set, including dual SIM support, WIFI and GPS, and a 3 month trial of the iDa navigation system with Russian NAVTEQ maps, which are tightly integrated with Google Search.
The full list of specs include:
* Operating system Windows Mobile 6.5
* Processor MT6516, 416 MHz
* Memory (ROM / RAM) 256 MB / 128 MB
* Memory card slot, microSDHC (up to 16 GB)
* Cellular GSM / GPRS / EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)
* Wireless protocols WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1
* 3.2-inch resistive display with a resolution of 240×400 pixels
* 3 megapixel camera (FF)
* GPS Module
* FM radio
* Lithium-polymer battery 1300 mAh
* Dimensions – 111 x 55 x 13,1 mm
* Weight – 114 gramsThe smartphones comes bundled with a SIM from Russian operator Megafon which includes 15 MB of data.
The recommended retail price is 8 990 rubbles, which at around $310 makes it one of the cheapest dual SIM smartphones. The handset will be available from around April 10.
More at it-chuiko.com.
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Project Pink rumour roundup
Computerworld.com has pulled together the various rumours for Microsoft’s new social networking device. Speaking to various sources that have been briefed on the handsets, they note the devices will come in 2 form factors, a clamshell that twists open and a candy-bar shape and several lively colours. The handsets will be exclusive to Verizon, and will range in price between $100 and $150.
The device will run some elements of the announced Windows Phone 7 Series operating system, but not the entire OS. It will also include elements of the Sidekick, designed by Danger Inc., which was later acquired by Microsoft, and the Zune media player. It will have a tile-based user interface that is said to be rather smooth and attractive.Like the Sidekick the handset will be manufactured by Sharp, but only feature Microsoft and Verizon branding.
Both models are fashioned to please the young social-networking crowd and will emphasize social networking functions rather than heavy-duty browsing as some smartphones do, meaning it will provide tools to reach contacts through Facebook and other social networks, as well as GPS and location-based applications to help find friends.
"It’s for the social networking crowd, including men and women in their twenties," the source added.
To add our own collection of rumours, leaks and inferences, we note the device has recently been shown to come with a charging dock. Analysis of a leaked ROM shows the device to be packed with sensors, including a 3 axis digital compass, proximity and light sensors, possibly HD Radio support and powered by a Nvidia Tegra chipset. The screen resolution will be Half-VGA for the slider and QVGA for the portrait device. Despite being on Verizon, the handset will fortunately also have WIFI support. It will support microSD cards, unlike Windows Phone 7.
There will be GSM versions called the Pure and Pride, these will likely run on the Vodafone network.
It will feature a marketplace, but that will owe more to the Zune marketplace than the Windows Mobile or Windows Phone 7 version, without free access to developers. It will not be able to run applications for either of those OS’s. The user interface will however still use XNA and possibly Silverlight.
Is there a place for a feature-phone-type device such as this when several smartphones on the same Verizon network, with similar features, such as the Palm Pre and Droid Eris, are selling for the same price or even cheaper? Let us know below.
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HTC Tera passing through FCC
MobileCowboys.nl has noticed this HTC handset, the PB65100, passing through the FCC, and based on the size and shape have concluded the device is the Windows Mobile 6.5 HTC Tera. The HTC Tera is a low-end successor to the HTC Touch Pro 2 and has only a low resolution 3 inch WQVGA screen, so is unlikely to excite our readers.
See the full specs in this post here.
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ZuneHD 64 GB now available
Now may be a bit of an odd time to buy one, given the arrival of Windows Phone 7 in around 6 months, but if you prefer a pretty nice media player that is regularly updated with new features, and have a massive library and music, this 64 GB ZuneHD is now available for purchase.
Selling for $349.99 at the Zunestore, the 64 GB device comes preloaded with the latest 4.5 version of its software, which brings better features on TV-out and expanded video codecs. The smaller capacity 16 GB and 32 GB models have seen corresponding reductions in price to $200 and $270 respectively.
Are any of our readers interested? Let us know below.
Via Engadget.com
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Is this the Project Pink Turtle?
Excitement must be running pretty high for this single photo, unnecessarily turned into a video, to be considered newsworthy by Engadget, but they claim that the above device, caught in a coffee shop is the Turtle, the portrait slider by Microsoft set to replace the side-kick. The device appears to be cradled and seem pretty slim in form factor and possibly a bit too nondescript in appearance to excite the teens.
Pop over to Engadget to read (a tiny amount) more.
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Funny fan made video shows other mobile OS’s also have issues
A disgruntled Nokia fan has made a video showing the gap between marketing fantasy and the smartphone reality and while the video is pretty amusing, I am sure the issues will resonate with many Windows Mobile users, and to me largely illustrates that if you are looking for issues, you can find it in any mobile OS.
Via NewMobile.com
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More Courier-like concept video (or why Microsoft Research should run the company)
Long Zheng from the istartedsomething blog drew out attention to this Microsoft Research video showing a natural user interface based on a combination of pen and finger to enable a variety of interactions which would be much more difficult with either alone.
The features are being demoed on a Microsoft Surface, using an infra-red pen, but I imagine these features would work just as well on the elusive and mythical Microsoft Courier tablet or even some of the newer Windows 7 tablets.
See Bill Buxton, Microsoft Research’s main Natural User Interface evangelists and Principle Researcher, explain what its all about in a second video after the break, using a variety of Windows Mobile devices.
