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...
Read more...
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...
Read more...
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...
Read more...
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...
Read more...
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...
Read more...
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...
Read more...
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...
Read more...
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...
Read more...
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...
Read more...
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...
Read more...
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...
Read more...
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,...
Read more...
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...
Read more...
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...
Read more...
