Kin One and Two Get Terrible Reviews Across the Board

by dave on May 10th, 2010 / No Comment

Category: Editorial

microsoft_verizon_vodafone_sharp_kin_2_fail Some early reviews are in on Microsoft’s new feature phones, the Kin One and Kin Two, and they’re not good! PhoneScoop and Engadget have put up scathing reviews of the Kin Phones, saying the “execution falls far, far short of what others have been able to accomplish” and that “Kin is one side of the family that needs to be disowned… quickly.

Both reviews talk about mediocre hardware – which was pretty expected – and less-than-satisfactory UI experiences. The PhoneScoop review was less harsh than the Engadget review:

“While using the One and Two we found ourselves consistently confused or surprised by how many bad little interface problems there are. Not only does the phone make it hard to do simple tasks — and not only are the social networking features poorly implemented — but the handsets are often sluggish, hiccupy, and downright crash-prone. We were told by the devices on more than one occasion that we needed to restart (while performing basic tasks), and often it would just throw us a blank screen while we waited for the device to come back from whatever tragic internal situation was occurring. It would be wonderful to say more good about the phone’s UI — but we just can’t.”

One positive thing that seems to come out of these Kin reviews is the Kin Studio, which syncs your phone activities (texts, calls, emails, pictures, videos, RSS, contacts, etc) with your online account. I previously speculated that this could be the future of MyPhone, but we’ll have to wait and see I guess.

One thing that comes across in both reviews and another piece over at WindowsPhoneThoughts is that Microsoft and Verizon have missed the mark on pricing. The Kin One and Kin Two are designed to be the new low-end feature phones and should have been free and $50, respectively. Not only are the devices $49 and $99 (after rebates), but Verizon is insisting on a minimum voice plan of $39.99 per month and both phones require a smartphone data plan at $29.99 per month – that’s $70 per month for a dumb phone!

Sorry, Microsoft, this isn’t looking good!

Microsoft Grins as Apple Set to Fragment their Userbase

by dave on April 15th, 2010 / No Comment

Category: Editorial

apple_iphone_google_android_fragmentationI read an interesting post over at PocketNow in which Chuong Nguyen looks at the likelihood of the new iPhone OS4 starting a fragmentation of the iPhone market. I say ‘Yay!’

Since iPhone OS3-and-under iPhones and iPod Touches won’t be upgradeable to iPhone OS4, Apple will inevitably end up with iPhone users wanting to run apps their devices don’t support, and possibly unable to re-install their OS or legacy apps after a crash or a hard reset. Chuong goes on to compare this to the fragmentation troubles that Android now finds itself facing and from which Windows Mobile has long suffered.

He correctly points out that the schism in Apple’s case comes from a software update, not hardware differences. In Android-land, the fragmentation comes not only by way of software updates (from both Google and the open-source community) but also from hardware differences between devices, like strange screen resolutions, differing CPUs, GPUs and form factors, touchscreen/not touchscreen, etc.

And Microsoft?

more…

Did Microsoft Miss the Mark with Dumb Kin Phones?

by dave on April 13th, 2010 / 2 Comments

Category: News

Microsoft insists on releasing dumb phone without apps? We were thinking and thinking and the only explanation is: extreme incompetence.

Edward from MSMobiles.recently posted about a survey showing teens want iPhones and extrapolated that this means they won’t want the app-less Kin devices. As I posted earlier, my teenage daughter was gushing over the Kin One as I was watching some videos on it yesterday – the phone is cool and focuses on the features that are important to her (taking pictures of herself and putting them up on facebook mainly).

The whole world is app-happy these days, but I really like Microsoft’s push away from the app and towards the experience-centric model that we see in Windows Phone 7. I may sound like an Apple fanboy here, but do we really care which app we’re using to do all the basic functions we expect from a smartphone? When I take a picture on the skihill, do I want to fiddle around with different apps to get that pic to my Facebook account, up to Twitter, then to MMS it to my brother to rub it in? No – I want to click a button and have it done quickly and easily… just like my kid wants.

I do want to be able to install new apps to extend the functionality of my device, but I does my teenage daughter? Not really. I watch her data usage on her BlackBerry like a hawk, and she only uses a few megs/month – all Facebook and social network updates. These new Kin devices are targeted at her and her contemporaries… and I think Microsoft has aimed just right.

Windows Marketplace an "Epic Fail"?

by dave on November 10th, 2009 / No Comment

Category: Marketplace

fail_fI just read a recent post at msmobiles in which Edward JR reposts a blistering anonymous blog post from a user at MSDN. The submission, which I’ve pasted after the jump, outlines very clearly some serious problems with the Marketplace from the developer’s point of view.

From problems with the rating system not working or erasing all an app’s votes after an update is published, to credit card authentication problems outside the US, to limitations on the number of updates a publisher can put out, this guy just rails Microsoft’s app store

Comments like these, and another post I saw claiming that the Microsoft Marketplace for Mobile had a whopping 248 applications for sale as of November 1st (so few that he counted them one by one), plus many other complaints I’ve seen, really don’t bode well for poor Microsoft.

Time is running short: they’ve got about a year to go before Windows Mobile 7 launches and quite likely makes or breaks Microsoft’s mobile strategy for the next long while, if not forever. Recent moves like outsourcing Windows Mobile OEM licensing and the raft of complaints about the Marketplace, not to mention its lackluster support from developers, don’t point to a new era close contact with the end-user any time soon.

Microsoft: you’ve got to learn from its competitors and watch the vertical market/customer experience closely. You may have won the battle of the desktop by bullying your way into the offices of an unsophisticated population through the 80’s and 90’s, but the world’s changed, big guy.

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Microsoft Outsources Windows Mobile Licensing

by dave on November 9th, 2009 / No Comment

Category: News

windows_phone_logoOne step forward, two steps back? Microsoft has just announced a deal with Bsquare wherein Microsoft gives Bsquare the rights for all Windows Mobile licensing. What does this mean? Microsoft has contracted Bsquare to handle Windows Mobile relationships with OEM, as well as “provide reference designs, communication stacks, technical support, training, testing and the like” to the OEMs.

Is a good or bad decision on Microsoft’s part? As Long Zheng points out over at istartedsomething.com:

… delegating the responsibility to what could be potentially many license distributors might fuel competition in the ecosystem to develop higher quality devices as testing and certification improves. This would also allow Microsoft to focus solely on the task of developing the operating system and not spend as much time supporting the relationship with each OEM.

Solid point. Others, Chen included, think that this might add yet another layer of detachment between Microsoft and the end-user. Microsoft hasn’t exactly been responsive or ahead of the curve lately, and the seem at times totally out of sync with what the consumer is looking for (when I tell people I also write for a Zune site, they invariably say ” a what, now?”).

Micromanaged carefully, this could work out for MS. Apparently over 30 OEMs have already been switched over to Bsquare as their contracts expired, and the Windows Mobile camp has been brimming with excitement for several months now, even as the long slow march to Windows Mobile 7 seems so far away still. Early signs of success?

Windows Mobile 6.5 Helping Drive Sales

by dave on November 9th, 2009 / No Comment

Category: News

peter_chou_htc_ceoIs Windows Mobile 6.5 is helping to drive sales of HTC Windows Phones? According to HTC CEO Peter Chou:

HTC is currently cooperating with a number of carriers in Europe, including T-Mobile, Orange and Vodafone, to promote the sales of HTC HD2 and demand from those carriers is outpacing supply, Chou indicated.

Digitimes and HTCPedia read this as evidence that WinMo 6.5 is helping to sell devices, but you’ve got to wonder: HTC makes excellent quality devices, has completely replaced the Windows Mobile interface with TouchFlo, TouchFlo 3D, and now Sense and just re-branded themselves and launched a new, expanded marketing campaign… so is this demand for their devices thanks to Windows Mobile 6.5 or in spite of it?

Anyone care to hazard a guess?

Review: Line Rider Mobile

by dave on April 9th, 2009 / No Comment

Category: Editorial, Reviews

screenshot160Amazing! Line Rider Mobile, The Internet phenomenon is now available for your phones and PDAs!

Line Rider Mobile brings all the fun of the Internet phenomenon to your mobile phone or PDA. Grab the pencil tool and construct tracks filled with ramps, hills, and jumps, and then send your virtual sledder down the route. Play the addictive Puzzles mode to test your mastery of the lines, share your creations with other fans and publish them on the Line Rider official Web site.

  • Choose “Create Tracks” from the main menu to start your track from scratch, or to open and play preloaded tracks.
  • Choose “Puzzles” from the main menu to complete the various challenges available inside the game.
  • Choose “Shared Tracks” from the main menu to send your own creations to other Line Rider fans, or to retrieve tracks drawn by other fans.

Review: Line Rider Mobile including plenty of screen shots!

Editorial: RIP HTC TyTN

by dave on April 6th, 2009 / No Comment

Category: Editorial, Spotlight

cellOver the weekend my HTC TyTN (aka Hermes) suffered an untimely death.

I felt the phone vibrate and took it out of my pocket to check my new text message when I noticed that the screen was white and unresponsive. I turned the phone on and off again… nothing. I rebooted the phone… nothing. Pulled out the keyboard and pushed it back in again… still nothing. I put it back in my pocket and anxiously tried to ignore it but that didn’t seem to fix it either. Twenty minutes later I pulled it out of my pocket again and – voila! It worked. But as I was replying to my text message, the screen faded to white again.

A quick search of Google later, I discovered that this is a common cause of death among the TyTNs. Apparently there are often problems with the ribbon connector from the mainboard to the screen. I tried several of the non-intrusive tricks I found online — tightening the screws on the back of the screen, loosening the screws on the back of the screen. Nothing. There are several suggestions that one can strip it down gently, clean the connectors and re-attach cables with new tape to better secure the ribbon, but since I am technically still under warranty, I’ll avoid that one. I will bring my phone to Rogers and see if they can resurrect her.

Tell me all about your experiences with untimely phone death! What did you do? How did it happen?

And be sure to read my follow up report, hopefully entitled “How Rogers made my day by resurrecting my HTC TyTN!”

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