kin_one_1

Since our piece on Wednesday, we’ve had more trusted sources step forward to fill in some blanks and clarify the story behind the amazingly swift fall from grace that Microsoft’s Kin phones have experienced since their launch just a few weeks ago. It’s a fascinating tale, and we wanted to share everything we’ve learned.

Project Pink — the initiative that would ultimately become Kin — began life under the direction of free-spirited exec J Allard even before Microsoft had acquired Danger in early 2008, though the company knew full well that it would ultimately need Danger’s cloud computing expertise to execute on the vision. As it turns out, Danger’s intellectual property was more important to Microsoft than its manpower, which might go a long way toward explaining stories we’ve heard in the past of Danger’s Palo Alto headquarters looking like a ghost town not long after the purchase. Initially, both ODMs and carriers were tripping over each other for the opportunity to be involved and launch the product; ultimately, Sharp and Verizon were selected as the headline partners. Knowing Allard and his track record, the vision was probably grandiose and easy to fall in love with — and needless to say, no one had been quoting a mid-2010 launch back then.

Source: Engadget

iphone vs evo

Hoo boy. This is a tough one, isn’t it? In our years at Engadget, we’ve rarely seen such deafening debate and adulation for a pair of devices. In one corner we have the iPhone 4, coming off a few relatively easy rounds atop the smartphone mind share heap. However, the Droid and its ilk have weakened Apple’s spot, and here comes the HTC EVO 4G in for the kill, sporting a larger screen, 4G data, and all manner of HTC sexy. If the devices themselves weren’t enough, the debate has turned into something larger and metaphorical, with Apple representing tight restrictions and a singular top down vision, while Google’s Android stands for something perhaps a bit more haphazard but democratizing. The gloves come off after the break.

Of course, the easy answer is that they’re both great phones. The truth of the matter is that what might make the EVO the perfect smartphone for one person doesn’t necessarily pop up on another person’s radar. In many cases (like this author’s, for instance), there are many pros and cons on both platforms and devices that makes the decision difficult, almost painful. We’re going to try to lay out the facts, so that you have the best material at your disposal for making the decisions, but we’re not going to call the decision “easy” or “cut and dry” for anybody. This is a road we all eventually walk alone… into an Apple or Sprint store.

Hardware

iphone-vs-evo-hardware

We’ve stacked these two phones up every which way specs-wise. They’re very similar phones when you run down a checklist, but there’s one glaring dissimilarity: the EVO is huge. In fact, many people might find a more direct iPhone competitor in the excellent Droid Incredible, or at least the much thinner Droid X. Outside of lacking of a front facing camera and 4G, they’re virtually the same phone as the EVO, just smaller (in different ways). But we didn’t come here to talk Droids. Here are some of the big ways these two phones compete:

Design

This is the quintessential spot for personal preference, so we won’t linger long. Suffice it to say that these are two companies lauded for their hardware design at the top of their game. The EVO is mostly plastic, the iPhone is glass and metal, EVO has a kickstand, the iPhone is thinner (9.3mm vs. 12.7mm). They both fit fine in a pocket, and are both striking enough visually that you wouldn’t want to hide them in a pocket. It’s hard to tell which would fare better in a drop test, but both are too premium-feeling for us to really enjoy finding out. The heft of the EVO makes it dangerous, and we’ve seen a couple reports of shattered screens. The exposed glass edges on both sides of the iPhone make it look fragile, and while it’s stronger than it looks, it’s certainly not invincible.

Screen

evo vs iphone screen

The EVO 4G’s 4.3-inch screen is amazing and jawdropping, while the iPhone’s 3.5-inch screen looks unchanged until you get up close: and realize it’s just as jawdropping. The EVO scores an obvious win on size, but the iPhone certainly has it on pixel density — approaching that of a printed page — and even resolution (960 x 640 vs. 800 x 480), and we found it to be a brighter, higher quality display as well.

That said, we don’t think most people will suffer one bit with the pixel density of the EVO, and while the iPhone certainly bests it in quality, the EVO is certainly passable for viewing outdoors and wonderful indoors. Coming down to… surprise, surprise, a matter of preference: size vs. quality.

for more information click here…

Source: Engadget

Nokia N9

Whether you want to call this the N98, the N900’s successor, or the N8 plus QWERTY, what you’re looking at above is potentially the visage of Nokia’s next smartphone. It’s being dubbed the N9 by the folks at Negri Electronics, who also inform us it has an 8 megapixel imager on the back, 850 / 1900 3G bands (good for AT&T, Rogers, Telus, and Bell), and “ridiculous screen clarity.” This sort of throws us for a loop, since we’re looking at some straight Symbian action up there, whereas Nokia has told us directly that there’ll be no more Symbian on the N Series after the N8. A clue to what might be going on is provided by the “C0″ label at the upper left corner of this device, suggesting that it could be a future C Series member. All we know is that the thing seems pretty real and it’s headed to a full video review in the next few days. Yay!

phone cube

were disappointed by mophie’s unwillingness to support anything lacking an Apple dock port in its new line of juice packs, here’s an alternative. Primo is launching the Battery Cube, a decidedly non-cube-shaped device that is perhaps a bit chubby but manages compatibility with either micro or miniUSB devices. The $40 battery, which launches on July 12, charges over USB, packs a 1,000mAh cell inside, and sports four LED lights on top to give you an idea of just how many of those milliampere-hours have yet to be served. Oh, and it’s shape, because of its unequal sides it’s actually a cuboid, not a cube. But of course you knew that, you geometry whiz you.

Source: Primo