Kin Studio: The Only Compelling Thing About The Kin Is Being Discontinued

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 working
Posting Photos to social sites will no longer be possible
Most pictures currently on Kin will only appear at thumbnail resolution
Posting to Social Networks will no longer work.
No comments from the loop
Social network contacts will disappear.
Loop will stop to work
Kin Spot will only send to emails.
Social networks only accessed from web browser.

Everyone (other than Apple) stumbles a bit when they launch their first phone. It seems that the concept is a lot easier to grasp than the execution is to initiate. Still, does this mean anything about the success or failure of the Windows Phone 7 or future (if any) phones from Microsoft?

Ballmer Punished For Kin And Lack Of iPad Competitor

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 doing okay, someone somewhere feels that perhaps Microsoft could be more on the ball when it comes to competing in the tech industry.

Perhaps blobby will get his full bonus next year if Windows Phone 7 turns out to be a runaway success, or at least sells for longer than three months.

Microsoft: Windows Phone 7 Won’t Be Like KIN

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’ hands raises the profile of the device and ensures that a core level of geeks and their friends and family get a glimpse of their product.

Of course, this only works if the phone actually lives up to the hype. Gizmodo has a copy of an email from Andy Lees, Microsoft Mobile Senior VP announcing the strategy.

“With all the buzz, a lot of you are asking how you can get your hands on a phone and get more involved. So, I am thrilled to announce that a new Windows Phone 7 will be made available to every Microsoft employee as we launch in each market around the world. The process will vary based on your market, your carrier, and your launch date so stay tuned for more information closer to launch.”

At least with this strategy, more than 503 people will be using it..

Live Event: Microsoft Unveils Pink Thing!

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 U guess there’s some added value for the eight or nine people out there that purchased Zunes.

The Kin is available in two models, the unimaginatively named Kin 1 and Kin 2. Both feature slide out keyboards, the Kin 1 is smaller and rounder while the Kin 2 has a bigger screen with a horizontal keyboard for the hardcore typists.

One major aspect of the Kin that Microsoft is pushing is the Spot feature – by dragging any content you can see on the phone to the Spot you can share it among a number of different social networks.

The look and feel of the interface hints at the previewed Windows Phone Series, with it’s bold, blocky design, but from the brief outline seen in the videoes, appears to fall short on usability.

Kin Studio: The Only Compelling Thing About The Kin Is Being Discontinued

Ballmer Punished For Kin And Lack Of iPad Competitor

Microsoft: Windows Phone 7 Won’t Be Like KIN

Live Event: Microsoft Unveils Pink Thing!

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