The Kin platform was heavily influenced by Microsoft's acquisition of Danger, which built the Danger Hiptop/T-Mobile Sidekick, and its architecture has been described as a family of mobile devices running a bespoke operating system as part of a client–server system that is then licenced to mobile carriers.The Kin is based on Windows CE and is distinct from Microsoft'sWindows Mobile and Windows Phone 7 platforms.
Development
Kin evolved from Microsoft's purchase of Danger Hiptop in 2008. In September 2009, a ZDNetsource reported that Kin (then code-named Project Pink) would bring an entirely new software stack and services. Some reports predicted that the new mobile phone platform would be based on the Zune media device.
Kin was developed inside Microsoft's Premium Mobile Experiences (PMX) division by a group that included employees from Danger Inc.. Reports suggest that Kin was originally going to be based on Windows Phone 7. Due to delays with Windows Phone 7, however, Kin is instead based directly upon Windows CE
The Business Insider has criticized Microsoft for having too many phone platforms and failing to focus its efforts on just one.
Unveiling
The unveiling of Microsoft Kin began when the company sent out invitations to select reporters for a mystery event in San Francisco on April 12, 2010. The tagline on the invitation said "It's time to share". However, merely hours later a source confirmed that the event was about Project Pink (the codename for Microsoft Kin, the official name not having been announced yet). The event was held in a night club called Mighty and featured a presentation given by Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's Entertainment and Device division.
Microsoft was criticised for an online video advertisement for Kin that depicted a male teenager putting a Kin under his shirt to photograph his naked chest. He was then shown sending the image to a female teenager. The Consumer Reports group described the Kin advertisement as a "downright creepy sequence," suggesting that it promoted sexting. Microsoft deleted the inappropriate portion of the Kin video.
Features
Microsoft describes Kin devices as "social phones. The devices are feature phones, with an emphasis on social networking and sharing of content.
Social networking
The home screen on Kin is called Loop, and serves as an aggregator for social networking connections from Facebook, Twitter, Windows Live, and MySpace as well as web content from web feeds.
Commentators have highlighted Loop's 15-minute delay for updates, which CNET's Ina Fried described as "odd" and PC World argued was at odds with Microsoft's claim that the phone is "always-connected".Users cannot adjust Kin's 15-minute interval between message updates,however the user can simply hit a refresh button on-screen or "Lock" then "Unlock" the phone.Microsoft cites battery life and immature social networking APIs as reasons for the delay; Engadget speculates that Microsoft may also be using the delayed messaging to encourage Verizon to offer lower-priced data plans, which would be attractive to the platform's teenage target audience.
Kin does not support uploading photos or videos to Twitter. Retweets, direct messages, viewing single person updates, and opening Twitter links from the Loop are also not supported.
Spot is a feature that allows users to add an e-mail address or telephone number to an SMS or MMS, or to attach content (eg text, URLs or photos) to emails.
The Spot is represented as an omnipresent green dot near the bottom center of the screen. To add an address field, the user drags a recipient's photo to the Spot, then clicks on the Spot, and a page will open allowing the user to create a new email, SMS or MMS.
The Spot can also be used to set up e-mail attachments. However, Kin only supports email attachments, and does not support attachments to other media (like MMS). To attach content to an email, the user drags the content to the Spot, then drags the recipient's photo to the Spot, after which an email can be sent containing those attachments.
The Spot cannot be used to send content to social media sites
Cloud storage
Content from the Kin phone, like photos, videos and messages, is automatically synchronized to a cloud service called Kin Studio and is accessible through a browser. The Kin Studio website is written in Silverlight and its appearance is similar to the Kin UI, even including a Spot for sharing content.
Camera
The Kin One features a 5 megapixel camera with standard definition video recording capabilities. The Kin Two includes an 8 megapixel camera with 720p video recording. Photos are automatically geocoded. The handset does not store photos or videos. Instead, every photo and video taken on the Kin is uploaded to Microsoft's server, known as 'Kin Studio'.There is no photo editing software for Kin.
Media playback
For media, Kin devices sync with Zune desktop software. In addition, Kin is compatible with Zune Pass. Much like current Zune devices, Kin can also stream music over a WiFi connection in addition to a 3G on the carriers network For Mac users, Microsoft in collaboration with Mark/Space has provided a media syncing tool that pulls audio and video files from iTunes and photos from iPhoto.Kin does not currently support playing video from sites such as YouTube or Hulu.
Applications
Kin has no app store and no 3rd party apps can be installed on Kin. PC World described this as "baffling".Further, the Kin web browser does not support Flash web applications., and there are no games for Kin. Microsoft has claimed that the Kin and Windows Phone 7 platforms will eventually be merged, and downloadable apps will be available for the combined platform.Matt Hamblen (12 May 2010)."Microsoft, Verizon defend Kin's monthly pricing, noting cloud backup"
Missing features
Reviewers have highlighted a number of notable omissions from Kin's initial feature set
- Kin has no calendar or appointment application, nor any ability to sync with Outlook calendar or Google Calendar. Some commentators have suggested that a social phone should be able to share a social events calendar.
- Kin is unable to Instant Message (IM), or use any IM client,which is considered odd for a phone built for messaging, and aimed at the youth market.
- There is no spelling correction or predictive text input on the Kin.
- There are no MicroSD or memory expansion slots.
- Kin will not sync or transfer contact lists from some non-Microsoft services (eg Gmail and Yahoo! Mail). It only syncs contacts fromWindows Live and Facebook accounts. A workaround is available to sync Gmail contacts via the phone's Exchange functionality.
Network charges
In the United States, cellular telephone provider Verizon Wireless sells Kin with a voice plan costing $39.99 per month. However, this must be joined with an additional standard Verizon smartphone plan for data, costing an additional $29.99 per month.An optional Zune Pass costs $14.99 per month for music access.
The monthly network rate ($70 to $85 per month in the US for a two year contract) for the Kin has drawn criticism from reviewers as being more appropriate for fully-fledged smartphones than for feature phones such as the Kin; Verizon maintains that the charge is warranted due to the large amount of network bandwidth consumed by the automatic backup of video and photos taken by the phone. ZDNet described the contract pricing as "extortionate" and Engadget called it "insulting to consumers".
Relationship to Windows Phone 7
The Microsoft Kin has been described as a "close cousin" to Windows Phone 7. Both have similarities in the interface.
According to Microsoft:
"Both KIN and Windows Phone 7 share common OS components, software and services. We will seek to align around a single platform for both products as well as consistent hardware specifications."
Microsoft said that the underlying fundamentals of Kin and Windows Phone 7 will be held together by similar core technologies. Both Kin and Windows Phone 7 run the same Silverlight platform. Microsoft has stated that over the long-term, Windows Phone 7 would be merged with Kin
Devices
Kin One
- Originally codenamed Turtle
- QWERTY keyboard that slides up and lies on top of the phone
- 2.6" TFT, QVGA (320 x 240) Display
- Capacitive touch screen
- 5 megapixel camera, with LED flash
- 4GB of memory, 256MB DDR RAM
- Mono Speaker
- GPS
- Accelerometer
- Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP
- Wi-Fi
- USB (for charging, syncing with Zune Software)
Kin Two
- Originally codenamed Pure
- Side-sliding QWERTY keyboard
- 3.4" TFT, HVGA (480x320) pixel Display
- Capacitive touch screen
- 8 megapixel camera, with Lumi LED flash
- 720p Video Recording
- 8GB of memory, 256MB DDR RAM
- Stereo Speaker
- GPS
- Accelerometer
- Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP
- Wi-Fi
- USB (for charging, syncing with Zune Software)....Catch Yours Today!!!
Kin Two
0 comments:
Post a Comment