Those of you who bought a Kin (all 500 of you) probably liked the Kin Studio. It was likely one of the biggest reasons you bought the phone in the first place, having social networks and life-streaming apps from the cloud in your hands. As of January 31, 2011, the Kin Studio will be no more. Those who have a Kin will be given the option of getting a new phone for free. The phone will continue to work, as will Zune, text messaging, web, and other basic functionality, but the studio itself will be closed. According to WP Central, owners of the Kin will lose: Feed Reader will stop working Search Near me will stop…

Steve Ballmer did not receive his maximum bonus this year because of missteps at Microsoft. The bald sweaty blob received a cash bonus of $670,000 at the end of June, but the payout is 50% less than his potential maximum bonus. Ballmer was apparently slapped on the wrist for failures such as the Kin and Microsoft’s failure to bring an iPad competitor to market. Ironically, despite these failures the blob was still able to raise Microsoft sales 7% to a record high of $62.5 billion. On top of the bonus, Ballmer received a total salary of $1.34 million, a 6% raise from 2009. While Microsoft is apparently…

I’ve written about Windows Phone 7 a few times, usually with some level of surprise at how much I’m looking forward to seeing the device in action and how good it looks. But the KIN has thrown that into doubt for a lot of people. How can we trust Microsoft after a disaster as massive and obvious as KIN? Well, Microsoft has a cunning plan, a devious plan to ensure that more people get a Windows Phone 7 .. um.. phone. They’re giving every single employee a phone at launch. With 88,000 employees this is no small task. Like Apple with the iPhone launch, Microsoft knows that putting phones in their employees’…

Microsoft is currently holding a live media event in San Francisco to unveil a new product, widely believed to be the Pink project, the successor to the Sidekick platform. The product, named Kin picks up where the Sidekick leaves off. Due in May 2010, the device is essentially a phone with a browser and camera built in. The device will launch on Verizon, although no plans or pricing has been announced yet. I’m having a little trouble understanding what sets this product apart from other regular phones or smartphones, but Microsoft notes that the device is capable of streaming media from a Zune, so…