4 ms·
Microsoft Kin One and Two review
- jrockway 16y agoIf only Microsoft knew that the only people that use their products are those that get paid to. No outlook integration? No chance.
- mhansen 16y agoYou're not the target audience
- jrockway 16y agoI don't want outlook integration. I'm just saying that's their market, not kids that want Twitter.
- catch23 16y agoI'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 16y agoOr kids with facebook/myspace/twitter accounts. It looks like it replaces the Sidekick.
- jrockway 16y agoKids have $80/month to spend on an inferior product? If they have that kind of money, they should just get an Android phone.
- cakesy 16y agoNo, that is what one of the big complaints are. And while kids have parents, a lot of parents aren't that stupid. But, do you really think kids know about android?
- catch23 16y agoKids 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?
- jsz0 16y agoThe 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 16y agoXbox/gaming is a primary pillar of the Windows Phone 7 effort: http://www.intomobile.com/2010/03/15/a-look-at-windows-phone-7-xbox-live-gaming-hub.html http://www.intomobile.com/2010/03/15/a-look-at-windows-phone... (random article, I didn't read it, but you can find many like it).
- houseabsolute 16y agodilute
- snprbob86 16y agoFriday 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 16y agoWhat do you mean by "ill-fated"?
- snprbob86 16y agoI 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.
- pclark 16y agoi'd love to hear more about your experiences. blog? reddit AMA?
- snprbob86 16y agoI plan to write a bit about Microsoft on my blog: http://blog.brandonbloom.name/ http://blog.brandonbloom.name/ However, I am going to stay far, far away from specifics. I've still got a lot of friends there. Most people work very hard and really care about their product. I wouldn't want to cause any trouble for me or for them.
- guelo 16y agoI 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?