Microsoft Kin mobile phone review
After have manufactured more smartphones for the enterprise users in many years, Microsoft finally launched own-brand Kin (Kin.com) for consumers, and released Kin tow and Kin two models. These two mobile phones by Verizon Wireless exclusive sales finally published on May 13. With stripped-down interfaces, deep social networking integration, and a focus on very particular type of user, Microsoft is aiming for something altogether different with Kin. Now, below is a brief introduction about them.
Display
The Kin One and Two should look a little familiar -- they come off like mutated cousins of the Palm Pre. The One is short and squat, sort of disc shaped, with a smaller display that slides down into the center of the handset; the Two, meanwhile, is a larger, elongated device with a wide landscape keyboard. Both devices feature capacitive touchscreen displays (a 2.6-inch, 320 x 240 QVGA screen on the One and a 3.4-inch, 480 x 320 HVGA version for the Two) with thick, plastic coatings. Around the sides, the phones both feature the same complement of buttons: volume rockers, a dedicated camera key, a sleep / power button, plus a "back" button on the lower faces of the devices. The phones use a standard 3.5mm headphone jack, take micro-USB cables, and have cameras equipped with LED flashes on their backs.
Internals
Both the One and the Two sport the Tegra APX2600 CPU -- the same as in the Zune HD, so you've got plenty of horsepower -- and have 256MB of DDR RAM on-board. The One has a paltry 4GB of storage for your pics, music, and video, while the Two ups the game to 8GB... Neither of the devices support microSD. The devices have light and proximity sensors, an accelerometer, and GPS chips inside, along with 802.11b/g, EvDO Rev. A, and Bluetooth 2.1 (which supports A2DP and AVRCP profiles).
Camera
Now Microsoft has been making a big deal out of the cameras on these phones, having equipped the One with a 5 megapixel shooter, and the Two with an 8 megapixel version that does wait for it... 720p video. For starters, just the act of trying to take a photo with the hardware buttons on these phones is really quite uncomfortable; somehow, both the One and Two seem to force your hand into a position where you're blocking the lens with a finger or two. On the One, it's usually good for taking a picture after a firm press, but sometimes there's no reaction at all, while on the Two, it tends to focus in and out and then never snap a photo. Both the One and Two are equipped with autofocus lenses, though the One seemed to struggle much less with focusing in on subjects. On the other hand, its images looked more washed out to us. To sum up, taking still photos with both Kin devices was a frustrating, unrewarding affair that yielded more bad than good.
On the video aspect, as we mentioned, it's capable of shooting 720p video. With a Zune Pass subscription and Zune software on your PC, you can listen to millions of songs from Zune Marketplace on your KIN while on the go, or load from your personal collection. What is worth mentioning, Kin One and Kin Two become the first mobile phones support Zune player in global. But what should I do, if I don’t have Zune videos? I search this question on Google and I find good software –Nidesoft video converter which could convert video or audio files between all popular formats to convert AVI file to MPEG-4 format. Detailed process is as follows:
Firstly, you could free download and install Nidesoft Video Converter from: http://www.nidesoft.com/downloads/video-converter.exe.
When you finished the download process, run the .exe file to install it.
Step 1: Click “Add File” button to import your videos from your computer.
Tips: Click a file in the list and you could use the preview control buttons to play the file.
Step 2: Click "Format" combo box to select the output format, such as to “Zune Video –MPEG Format (*.mp4)” for Zuen.
Step 3: Click “Convert” button to start conversion. The conversion will be completed in a short time.
Ok, now you have converted your video files to some formats which Zune player supports and you may use it more convenient. Another I also find Nidesoft DVD Ripper could rip DVD to multimedia phones’ video and music: 3GP, AVI, WMV, MP4, WMA etc. So, it is not a problem to watch your favorite DVD on mobile phone. I think these two Nidesoft software are necessary additional software for mobile phone users.
Software
Kins are labeled as a Windows Phone, but bear little resemblance to Windows Phone 7, and none at all to Windows Mobile. The interface is heavily paneled, but the panels can be all kinds of things. Feeds! Shortcuts! Twitter, MySpace and Facebook items! Contacts! Throw your screen from side to side and you move between a homescreen with links to obvious functionality, The Loop, which is a collection of social networking feeds combined with RSS feeds, and you’re Favorites. In addition, the Kins are messaging phones centered not on texts, but around the services young people actually use nowadays. It prompts you to sync with Twitter, Facebook and Myspace immediately, which it (fairly) intelligently gleans for contact information. (It's like WebOS in this respect.) Once you've got everything loaded up, your entire phone is basically overrun with social chaff, be it Twitter updates, friends' Facebook albums, or items from the surprisingly competent RSS feed reader. And beyond the features you can see and interact with on the handset itself, there's the Kin's killer app: Studio. It's basically a blown-up version of your phone, with all its contents, accessible via a web interface. Uploads are automatic and nearly constant, so when you log on, your stuff is just there.
Battery life
Microsoft told us that its goal was for users to be able to take off for a weekend road trip with these things and leave their chargers behind. In particular, the One was left off the charger quite a bit, yet still managed to go for more than two days with sporadic use.
Conclusion
Microsoft finally introduced own-brand mobile phone, which means it has position in the aspects of hardware and software. The two Kin series of phone looks very small, no good spot, but we can see Microsoft for mobile phones and music market value, and the two mobile operators will bind sales, service and mobile terminal market price don’t so high, also fit young consumers' demand. Just feel strange, Microsoft's first mobile didn't use WP7 operating systems, even the two Kin series are not smartphone. Why do Microsoft? We can only continue to focus on its further development.
DisplayThe Kin One and Two should look a little familiar -- they come off like mutated cousins of the Palm Pre. The One is short and squat, sort of disc shaped, with a smaller display that slides down into the center of the handset; the Two, meanwhile, is a larger, elongated device with a wide landscape keyboard. Both devices feature capacitive touchscreen displays (a 2.6-inch, 320 x 240 QVGA screen on the One and a 3.4-inch, 480 x 320 HVGA version for the Two) with thick, plastic coatings. Around the sides, the phones both feature the same complement of buttons: volume rockers, a dedicated camera key, a sleep / power button, plus a "back" button on the lower faces of the devices. The phones use a standard 3.5mm headphone jack, take micro-USB cables, and have cameras equipped with LED flashes on their backs.
Internals
Both the One and the Two sport the Tegra APX2600 CPU -- the same as in the Zune HD, so you've got plenty of horsepower -- and have 256MB of DDR RAM on-board. The One has a paltry 4GB of storage for your pics, music, and video, while the Two ups the game to 8GB... Neither of the devices support microSD. The devices have light and proximity sensors, an accelerometer, and GPS chips inside, along with 802.11b/g, EvDO Rev. A, and Bluetooth 2.1 (which supports A2DP and AVRCP profiles).
Camera
Now Microsoft has been making a big deal out of the cameras on these phones, having equipped the One with a 5 megapixel shooter, and the Two with an 8 megapixel version that does wait for it... 720p video. For starters, just the act of trying to take a photo with the hardware buttons on these phones is really quite uncomfortable; somehow, both the One and Two seem to force your hand into a position where you're blocking the lens with a finger or two. On the One, it's usually good for taking a picture after a firm press, but sometimes there's no reaction at all, while on the Two, it tends to focus in and out and then never snap a photo. Both the One and Two are equipped with autofocus lenses, though the One seemed to struggle much less with focusing in on subjects. On the other hand, its images looked more washed out to us. To sum up, taking still photos with both Kin devices was a frustrating, unrewarding affair that yielded more bad than good.
On the video aspect, as we mentioned, it's capable of shooting 720p video. With a Zune Pass subscription and Zune software on your PC, you can listen to millions of songs from Zune Marketplace on your KIN while on the go, or load from your personal collection. What is worth mentioning, Kin One and Kin Two become the first mobile phones support Zune player in global. But what should I do, if I don’t have Zune videos? I search this question on Google and I find good software –Nidesoft video converter which could convert video or audio files between all popular formats to convert AVI file to MPEG-4 format. Detailed process is as follows:
Firstly, you could free download and install Nidesoft Video Converter from: http://www.nidesoft.com/downloads/video-converter.exe.
When you finished the download process, run the .exe file to install it.
Step 1: Click “Add File” button to import your videos from your computer.
Tips: Click a file in the list and you could use the preview control buttons to play the file.Step 2: Click "Format" combo box to select the output format, such as to “Zune Video –MPEG Format (*.mp4)” for Zuen.
Step 3: Click “Convert” button to start conversion. The conversion will be completed in a short time.
Ok, now you have converted your video files to some formats which Zune player supports and you may use it more convenient. Another I also find Nidesoft DVD Ripper could rip DVD to multimedia phones’ video and music: 3GP, AVI, WMV, MP4, WMA etc. So, it is not a problem to watch your favorite DVD on mobile phone. I think these two Nidesoft software are necessary additional software for mobile phone users.
Software
Kins are labeled as a Windows Phone, but bear little resemblance to Windows Phone 7, and none at all to Windows Mobile. The interface is heavily paneled, but the panels can be all kinds of things. Feeds! Shortcuts! Twitter, MySpace and Facebook items! Contacts! Throw your screen from side to side and you move between a homescreen with links to obvious functionality, The Loop, which is a collection of social networking feeds combined with RSS feeds, and you’re Favorites. In addition, the Kins are messaging phones centered not on texts, but around the services young people actually use nowadays. It prompts you to sync with Twitter, Facebook and Myspace immediately, which it (fairly) intelligently gleans for contact information. (It's like WebOS in this respect.) Once you've got everything loaded up, your entire phone is basically overrun with social chaff, be it Twitter updates, friends' Facebook albums, or items from the surprisingly competent RSS feed reader. And beyond the features you can see and interact with on the handset itself, there's the Kin's killer app: Studio. It's basically a blown-up version of your phone, with all its contents, accessible via a web interface. Uploads are automatic and nearly constant, so when you log on, your stuff is just there.
Battery life
Microsoft told us that its goal was for users to be able to take off for a weekend road trip with these things and leave their chargers behind. In particular, the One was left off the charger quite a bit, yet still managed to go for more than two days with sporadic use.
Conclusion
Microsoft finally introduced own-brand mobile phone, which means it has position in the aspects of hardware and software. The two Kin series of phone looks very small, no good spot, but we can see Microsoft for mobile phones and music market value, and the two mobile operators will bind sales, service and mobile terminal market price don’t so high, also fit young consumers' demand. Just feel strange, Microsoft's first mobile didn't use WP7 operating systems, even the two Kin series are not smartphone. Why do Microsoft? We can only continue to focus on its further development.
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