

Microsoft Kin One and Two review - aschobel
http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/05/kin-one-and-two-review/

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snprbob86
Friday was my last day at Microsoft. I was working on the gaming story of the
ill-fated Windows Phone 7. I've seen some depressing things from the phone
teams, but I wanted to give the Kin team the benefit of the doubt for their
unique approach. However, this review makes me genuinely embarrassed to say I
used to work there. How do you even get a "Try again after restarting your
phone" error message past a code review? My team certainly would not have
allowed that.

~~~
lunchbox
What do you mean by "ill-fated"?

~~~
snprbob86
I didn't mean to imply it is going to die. I mean that it is walking into a
hostile environment: reviewers, carriers, developers, everything is against it
and it hasn't even come out yet. Never mind the huge internal pressures. It's
a scary place to be, even for a big team at a big company. I guess I choose
the wrong phrase. I'm not sure how to describe it succinctly.

~~~
guelo
I second pclark's request.

What I don't understand about Windows Mobile is how they squandered such a
huge lead. I used to absolutely love my Windows Mobile 5 HTC phone back in
2005, there was nothing even close in terms of functionality, apps, hardware.
In the 5 years since, while Apple and Google built entire new systems from the
ground up, all Microsoft could come up with were some minor updates. What have
they been doing all this time? Were they resting on their laurels thinking
they had won the market?

~~~
bvi
> Were they resting on their laurels thinking they had won the market?

Absolutely. Microsoft has totally stagnated, and only now are they going "oh
crap..." and realizing that the market has moved on. Nobody thinks of
Microsoft products as being truly innovative or groundbreaking. It's an
unfortunate consequence/abuse of the clout that they've had in the technology
space in the past few decades. Grow too big for your own good and blanket the
marketplace with mediocre products.

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jsz0
The gaming/Xbox tie-in seems so obvious. I think we all expected to see this
on the Zune HD and that's still mostly a work-in-progress. I can't decide if
Microsoft is scared to leverage the Xbox brand or scared to delude it. As far
as the price goes clearly these devices were conceived at a time when
SmartPhones were $200+ and there may have been a bigger market for limited
functionality devices at a lower price point. The one thing that stands out to
me is the Kin Studio. I would like to have a similar feature on my iPhone.

~~~
snprbob86
Xbox/gaming is a primary pillar of the Windows Phone 7 effort:
[http://www.intomobile.com/2010/03/15/a-look-at-windows-
phone...](http://www.intomobile.com/2010/03/15/a-look-at-windows-phone-7-xbox-
live-gaming-hub.html) (random article, I didn't read it, but you can find many
like it).

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jrockway
If only Microsoft knew that the only people that use their products are those
that get paid to. No outlook integration? No chance.

~~~
mhansen
You're not the target audience

~~~
jrockway
I don't want outlook integration. I'm just saying that's their market, not
kids that want Twitter.

~~~
catch23
I'm not sure if that's their market... They're rolling out XBox and Zune
integration. It feels like they're trying to appeal to gamers.

~~~
megablast
Or kids with facebook/myspace/twitter accounts.

It looks like it replaces the Sidekick.

~~~
jrockway
Kids have $80/month to spend on an inferior product? If they have that kind of
money, they should just get an Android phone.

~~~
catch23
Kids don't have $80/month, but their parents do -- and anyone who has visited
your average high school will see that it's all about haves & have-nots. You
think those kids in high school driving around in a mustang actually paid for
the car?

