First off, Verizon today put up a teaser page on their website for the HTC Incredible This 3.7" multitouch AMOLED phone running Android 2.1 will be available for purchase on April 29th. Essentially, it's a Nexus One on Verizon, but with an 8 megapixel camera and it has HTC's sleek SenseUI. Price wasn't mentioned, but you'll probably be looking at $200 after rebates.
Next up is some very surprising news. This week, Apple finally approved the iPhone version of the Opera Mini browser. The browser is much faster than the standard Safari browser and shows that maybe Apple is moving away from their monopolistic "Only we can make the important stuff!" approach. Yeah, who are we kidding? Especially since they're also now restricting how the developers make their apps, which is just an effort to kill Adobe anyway. What they don't realize is that they owe these developers for their success, and effectively pissing on them will make them look for alternative work. Hello, Android!
And finally, Microsoft unveiled a major product that has been known as Project Pink for quite some time. The new platform is called Kin, and is marketed specifically for socially networked tweens and teens, a group that Microsoft call "Generation Upload". The two phones announced, brilliantly named Kin One and Kin Two, will hit Verizon and Vodaphone. It comes with built in integration with Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and their own Live services, and focus on connecting your digital life with your real world social one. It features the Loop on the main screen, comprised of your texts, friends' statuses and pictures. And unlike the similar feature seen on MOTOBLUR(Motorola's bastardization of the Android software), each person can have an mportance assigned to them, so you see more of your friends' content, and less of that guy you knew in elementary school that you feel awkward about deleting.
The Spot (literally just a little green circle at the bottom of the screen) allows for easy sharing of information. Various elements, including contacts, links, and social networking stuff, can be dragged in, then a simple click will organize the information to make it easy to send what you want to who you want and how you want to send it (via text, MMS, Facebook, etc.). It also automatically saves all pictures and videos in the Kin Studio online, allowing for easy access on any computer, and both have full Zune functionality.
Overall, the Kin system should not be compared with or viewed as a smartphone OS. It lacks an application store, and even an in-phone calendar, it doesn't have a microSD slot and has very limited memory (only 4-8GB). It is made for only those who want an internet heavy phone with social networking as the focus, not an app to download. It definitely isn't for everybody, but I think a lot of operating systems could learn a thing or two about such seemless integration and upload. It could be the perfect in between for a teenager who will eventually go from their basic texting phone to a smartphone.
Ultimately, it shows that Microsoft is indeed going down a very Apple-esque road. They are reducing the amount of control the individual has. Both Kin and Windows Phone 7 have no 3rd party app support, little customization, and are blocking manufacturers from making skins, like HTC's SenseUI and Motorola's MOTOBLUR. And much like Apple developers, Windows Mobile app makers may be turned off by a closed-source multitasking free platform.
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