Items tagged with KIN
Verizon is going to be resurrecting the months-dead KIN One and KIN Two, it appears. Despite the fact that it seems like a truly silly decision, based on the (not even) lukewarm response to the phones, that's what a Verizon roadmap seems to show. First coming from PPCGeeks, it seemed somewhat questionable news, particularly since the site was so excited about the Droid 2 Global and Droid Pro dropping for the holiday season. Whoops, sorry, Verizon announced that a few days ago. However, according to Engadget, they have independently confirmed that indeed, the failed Kin One and Kin Two will be returning to Verizon. However, there will be differences, and that will hopefully address the issues...
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Microsoft never really has had much luck in the phone market. Not the mobile OS market, mind you, the phone market. Recently, Microsoft attempted to reach the "tween" market with the launch of the Kin. The Kin lineup initially consisted of two phones on Verizon, both of which required pricey $30/month data plans just like a proper smartphone. Needless to say, sales were terrible considering the value proposition, and two months into their life, Microsoft pulled the plug. Kin no longer lives, and neither do hopes of Microsoft ever trying again. Or, at least that's the current plan. Tivanka Ellawala, the chief financial officer of the company's Mobile Communications Business, recently told investors...
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There are falls from grace, and there are falls from grace. Microsoft's KIN line is definitely in that more severe category, and it's made even worse by the fact that it's the world's largest software maker taking the hit. This is a company that should have known better than to put an unwanted phone into the market place, but obviously some folks can only learn the hard way. Microsoft already revealed that they were pulling the plug on KIN, but now it looks like Verizon Wireless is doing them the favor ahead of schedule. As of now, consumers can no longer see nor buy a KIN One or KIN Two online, and there are widespread reports that Verizon -- which was the only U.S. carrier to have these phones...
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Wow, gone already? That's surely the case, as Microsoft has suddenly and abruptly pulled the plug on their short-lived KIN efforts. It's easily one of the shortest phone lifespans in the history of mobile phones, with only the Palm Foleo coming to mind as something that lived for an even shorter period of time. But the difference here is that Microsoft actually devoted time, money and effort to marketing the KIN lineup and getting it onto Verizon's airwaves; just a few weeks after first launching (and a few days after the KIN line took to a sharp price drop), KIN as we know it is dead. The cancellation is sudden, but most agree, not shocking. KIN was a strange play from the start; rather than...
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Good news for text messaging teens enamored with Microsoft's Kin phones. Verizon has gone and slashed the prices on both the Kin One and Kin Two, making it easier for social networking addicts to save some of their allowance for the real important things, like Justin Bieber concert tickets. As it turns out, Verizon has had trouble moving the Kin phones off of store shelves, perhaps because everyone has been paying attention to that other smartphone that was recently launched (a little thing called the iPhone 4). Or maybe tweens and social networking hipsters aren't the best demographics for a smartphone. Whatever the reason, the Kin phones aren't as popular as Microsoft (and Verizon) probably...
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The world has known that Microsoft was bringing a motion control system to market for months and months now. We've heard it referred to as "Project Natal" for as long as we can remember, and we were assuming that the company would simply retain the name after all of this time. We should have known better. As E3 begins in California this morning, Microsoft is making that motion system official, and it will go by the name "Kinect." It's impossible to see this name and not think of the Kin, a new feature phone line recently launched by none other than Microsoft. Whether or not the two are connected remains a mystery, but it's hard to imagine that this is a pure coincidence. The company debuted Kinect...
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As if oftentimes the case, where there is smoke, there is fire short behind. Just a few days after the rumor-mill began to suggest that Microsoft's J Allard, who was senior vice president of Design and Development for Entertainment & Devices, would be leaving Microsoft, that is exactly what has become official. But that's not all. Microsoft has this week revealed that J Allard is indeed heading for the exits after 19 years at Microsoft, but rather than heading out for good, he'll be taking "an official role as an advisor in a strategic role for CEO Steve Ballmer and his leadership team." Ballmer had only kind words to say about J when making the announcement, saying that "J has brought a...
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Microsoft may not actually make their own phones (the KIN One and KIN Two are both manufactured by Sharp), but they're stamped through and through as an official Microsoft product. After being introduced in early April in hopes of luring tweens and fans of social networks, the company's newest two featurephones have gone on sale at Verizon Wireless, the company's exclusive launch carrier in the U.S.Both phones are designed to let users "share life as they live it," with each phone being tightly integrated into Twitter, Facebook, etc. Today, both phones are now available to order online from Verizon, with availability in stores set for May 13. The pricing has us a bit stumped, though. The KIN...
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Microsoft took the wraps off of two new mobile phones designed for social network users. Known as the KIN One and KIN Two, the new phones are the result of a partnership with Verizon Wireless, Vodafone, and Sharp. “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...
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Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced it is shipping its high-capacity 64GB DataTraveler® 150 (DT150) USB Flash drive. DT150 offers the largest capacity in Kingston’s entire line of DataTraveler USB drives and allows users the room and flexibility to backup important hard drive contents, and transport and share complete collections of music, videos, photos and documents in one convenient device.“The new 64GB DataTraveler 150 takes transportable storage to the next level with big capacity in a small package,” said Jaja Lin, Flash business development manager, Kingston®. “As file sizes increase with digital media content such...
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Do You Have What it Takes to Beat the Pros? Top 1508MHz Dual Channel DDR2 and win some cash Taipei, Taiwan, GIGABYTE – Wanna win some cash? From November 7TH to Dec 30th, 2008, GIGABYTE would like to invite you to show off your overclocking skills in order to beat the pros and win USD$ 1,500 CASH. Fugger and Vapor (Freestyle Champions of the GIGABYTE Open Overclocking Championship, GO OC 2008) challenge you to beat their record memory frequency overclock of 1508MHz Dual Channel DDR2 on one of GIGABYTE’s latest P45 Ultra Durable 3 motherboards. So tune up your GIGABYTE Ultra Durable 3 motherboard and visit the GIGABYTE website for complete contest details, and get ready to win some...
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You may recall the "Off the Air" Apple ad, which reminded consumers that if necessary, a Mac Genius at an Apple store could transfer their files from their PC to a Mac for them. After all, the ad said, "fear of switching is the foundation of customer loyalty for PCs." Well, now Belkin is adding fuel to the fire with a cable that purportedly eases the transfer of files and settings from XP or Vista to a Mac. Ironically, in 2006, Microsoft touted a cable from Belkin that helped move from XP to Vista, and even gave away the cables as part of its CES press kits. The new cable, the Belkin Switch-to-Mac Cable has an MSRP of $49.99 and reportedly: ... provides a simple way to transfer files, settings,...
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Kingston Technology Launches HyperX T1 Series MemoryHyperX Thermal Xchange Technology at Core of New Look, Taller Heatspreader Fountain Valley, CA -- November 12, 2008 -- Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced it is shipping select DDR3 and DDR2 HyperX® memory modules with new T1 heatspreaders. The taller heatspreaders utilize HyperX Thermal Xchange (HTX) technology to further diffuse heat buildup when overclocking. HTX technology is the latest innovation from Kingston’s engineers who are dedicated to building the fastest memory for enthusiasts who push system performance. “The HyperX T1 Series heatspreaders are made of...
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It’s not everyday that you get a gift that changes your life. This summer, Oprah says she experienced just that. What was the gift, you might ask? Amazon’s Kindle, a wireless eBook reader that is capable of providing instant access to more than 190,000 books, blogs, newspapers, and magazines. The Amazon Kindle can hold about 200 books by itself, but if you pop in a memory card, you will be able to store more than 4,000 books. Every time you buy a book, an archival copy is stored for you at Amazon. Even if you should lose your Kindle or accidentally delete a book, you can get it back anytime you want for free. "Anyone who knows me knows I'm really not a gadget person at all, but I have fallen...
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So, this isn't exactly tech related, but anytime one of the greatest minds of our, or any, generation makes news, I figured you'd want to know. After almost 30 years in his post a Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University, Stephen Hawking plans to finally step down."Famed cosmologist Stephen Hawking will retire from his prestigious post at Cambridge University next year, but intends to continue his exploration of time and space.Hawking, 66, is Lucasian Professor of Mathematics, a title once held by the great 18th-century physicist Isaac Newton.The university said Friday that he would step down at the end of the academic year in September, but would continue...
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Besides being a low-ranking Marvel Comics super-villain, Trapster is a free application that went live on the App Store last Friday, allowing users to share information real-time on speed traps.Besides the iPhone (naturally the highest-profile device in the bunch), the app runs on GPS devices like Garmin and TomTom, as well as on smartphones such including Blackberry, Windows Mobile, and Nokia S60 and N95 and other Java/J2ME phones. How does it work? You click on button in the app or call a toll-free number to report a speed trap. Other user's phones will alert them as they approach the trap. Trapster learns the "credibility" of traps based on how many users agree with the report. Trapster...
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Hawking Technologies Introduces The First Wireless-300N Range Extender Compatible With All 802.11 b/g/n Access Points And Routers HWREN1: Double the Effective Distance of your Wireless 802.11b/g/n Network and Eliminate Wireless Dead Zones IRVINE, CA – Hawking Technologies, Inc., a leading developer of innovative wired and wireless networking solutions for home, workgroup, and corporate users, announced today that it has begun shipping the Hi-Gain Wireless-300N Range Extender. The new, high performance Wireless-300N Range Extender expands Hawking’s award-winning line of Hi-Gain WiFi Range Extending products, which allow users to effectively increase the distance and performance of their wireless...
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Kingston Technology Releases Limited Edition HyperX Modules with Black Heatspreaders -- Available Only at Newegg Fountain Valley, CA – October 6, 2008 – Kingston Technology Co., Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced its popular 1066MHz HyperX DDR2 memory modules are available with limited edition black heatspreaders, exclusively for U.S. customers at online e-tailer Newegg.com. Available for Kingston part # KHX8500AD2K2/4G, the black heatspreaders show off Kingston's enthusiast memory in a new light while guaranteeing the same thermal performance benefits as the famous signature blue heatspreaders. The promotion is for a limited time only and available while supplies...
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Kingston Technology Launches 2GHz HyperX DDR3 MemoryEPP Frequency, Timing Tested Peak-Performing 2000MHz Modules Ready to Enhance Enthusiast PCs, Gaming Rigs Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced the release of 2GHz HyperX DDR3 memory modules, the fastest-performing DDR3 available to date.Shipping immediately in 2GB memory kits, the new HyperX PC3-16000 memory offers gaming enthusiasts top-of-the-line Enhanced Performance Profile (EPP) ready memory with EPP profiles pre-programmed on the modules."Two Gigahertz is now the sweet spot for many benchmarking enthusiasts and Kingston's new 2GHz HyperX DDR3 memory is fully tested at specified...
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As anyone with a teenager knows, text messaging is quite popular among those in that age range. And a recent Nielsen Mobile survey has concluded that not only has text messaging become the most popular form of communication using a cell phone, the group that texts the mosts (go figure) is in the 13 - 17 year range.The study determined that in the period from Q1 2006 - Q2 2008, the number of monthly calls per user has remained stable, at around 200. But the number of text messages have skyrocketed from 65 per month in Q1 2006 to 357 per month in Q2 2008. And take a look at the distribution of text messages per age group:Average Number of Monthly Calls vs. Text Messages Among...
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Kingston Technology First to Launch High Performance Ultra Low-Latency DDR2 Notebook Memory Innovative HyperX SO-DIMMs Infuse More Performance into Laptop Systems--Without Overclocking Fountain Valley, CA -- September 3, 2008 -- Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced it is first to release high performance, ultra low-latency 800MHz notebook memory. Shipping immediately in 4GB memory kits, the HyperX® PC2-6400 CL4 SO-DIMMs offer the additional benefit of Serial Presence Detect (SPD) capabilities to provide performance benefits to a wider array of notebooks. "As more notebook systems standardize on faster 800MHz platforms,...
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A recent survey of IT professionals reveals that just under half of them (45 percent) were either "not confident or only slightly confident" that they were aware of all the endpoints connecting to their organizations' networks. Perhaps not surprisingly, half of the respondents were also concerned that a security breach on their organizations' networks could jeopardize their employment or that of some of their staff. The study was sponsored by Mirage Networks, a Network Access Control (NAC) provider, and included "194 respondents, representing a variety of IT functions and companies that ranged in size from small businesses with less than 100 endpoints to large enterprises with more than 10,000...
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