Bonum Certa Men Certa

In Face of Linux Threat, Microsoft KIN Abandoned by Developers, Neglected by Young People

Android at Google
Original by Swampyank, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported licence.



Summary: Microsoft is a distant third or worse because UNIX and Linux phones take over the planet, whereas Microsoft's ISV advantage is wiped off this planet; Microsoft tries to turn Android (its worst nightmare) its a patent night mate

REALITY OUGHT to be separated from fiction when it comes to Windows Mobile (which Microsoft is sevenwashing at the moment). Microsoft has introduced something called "KIN", but early reviews of it have been negative if not atrocious [1, 2, 3]. This is an excellent example of how far behind Microsoft has fallen (with Linux/Android leading the way). KIN is a relatively appalling product like Zune and SideKick which it is based on. Combining three failures like Windows Mobile, Zune, and SideKick won't make a success, just as combining Yahoo! and Bong [sic] won't make something better than Google.



As we showed some months ago, Skype and Adobe (among other key vendors of proprietary software and even free/libre ones like Mozilla) had abandoned Windows Mobile. Although it was announced or at least insinuated some months ago, the mainstream press is only now catching up [1, 2] with the fact that Skype works on GNU/Linux and Linux phones but no longer on Windows phones. ITWire's headline says that "Skype is everywhere - except Windows Phone" and The Inquirer says:

VOIP AND CHAT OUTFIT Skype is sending out confusing signals regarding its support, or maybe lack of support, for Windows Phone 7.

Earlier today Dan Neary, Asia Pacific VP and general manager of Skype, said that the firm decided not to support Microsoft's upcoming Windows Phone 7 Series operating system. Neary justified Skype's decision by saying that the operating system had a "lack of user optimisation and partner support."


The KIN will have many other problems, but the mobile chief left the company, which is revealing. There is no real plan for a renaissance and Microsoft can't acquire Palm, either (HP is said to have just elected Palm's Linux-based OS to replace the porky Vista 7). It's truly a messy situation for Microsoft and as I4U puts it, "Microsoft Has No Idea What To Do With The Kin"

Redmond's mobile strategy has never looked more schizophrenic than it does now. Microsoft has no idea what to do with the Kin, or with WP7.


Microsoft has already insisted that it targets a niche with those relatively primitive phones. Microsoft named children as its source of lust here, so these phones were put to the test in the hands of the target audience, namely young people. How did that work? A disaster.

Matthew Miller, usually a fan of Microsoft products, has just published a very long review (Microsoft may have sent him a phone as schwag). He concludes negatively as follows:

I spent very little time myself with the Kin devices so I only have some basic impressions of using them. However, I agree with my middle daughter that the user interface can be a bit confusing and overwhelming at first. The menus and some other options are not always consistent across the devices and this surprised me a bit since the project has been under development for quite some time. With the social networking focus I was disappointed that richer Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter experiences were not present at launch. You can get a better experience with these services on the iPhone, Palm Pre Plus/Pixi Plus, Google Android devices, and other smartphones that are priced similarly to the Kin devices so I have yet to see any compelling reason for someone to buy a Kin.


In other words, the daughter would be better off with Linux.

BusinessWeek, which we've just named for criticism of Vista 7, published IDG's review of KIN (some spell it all uppercase, some do not) and it's not good, either.

These days, it makes much more sense to buy a smartphone that has an SD card slot and allows app downloads. That's especially true since the Kins are going to have to compete with full-fledged smartphones such as theLG Ally, an Android-based smartphone that is being sold by Verizon online at the same price as the Kin Two. Granted, the 8-megapixel video camcorder in the Kin Two is a clear advantage over Ally's 3.2-megapixel camcorder, but that's not saying much, considering that that the Ally brings Android 2.1, with all its apps, to the table.


Once again they name Linux as the better option. Poor Microsoft. It cannot compete with Linux based on technical merit (pricing aside).

"Microsoft Did not Make Progress the Way Gates Intended," says this other news headline which refers to Microsoft/Windows in "smartphone projects".

But to me, nothing was extremely impressive to the extent that my socks would be blown off. At this rate and amidst this level of competition, Microsoft needs to step up on things and stop wasting time. Because sooner or later, someone is going to come up with something better so Microsoft needs to incorporate its ideas into something solid quickly and hit the shelves with a full frontal blow.


Microsoft would just give up if it hadn't resorted to racketeering against Android [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]. Apple follows Microsoft's footsteps here and it's indicative of weakness, not might (more on that later today).

“I have decided that we should not publish these extensions. [...] We can't compete with Lotus and Wordperfect/Novell without this.”

--Bill Gates

Recent Techrights' Posts

99.99% Uptime in First Half of 2025
Since January there was only one noticeable outage
When People Call a Best/Close Friend of Bill Gates a "Serial Rapist"
Good thing that the Linux Foundation keeps the "Linux" trademark ("Linux Mark") clean
Microsoft Bankruptcy in Russia, Shutdown in Pakistan, What Next?
It seems possible that in 2025 alone Microsoft will have laid off over 50,000 workers
What Matters More Than "Market Share"
The goal is freedom, not "market share"
Credit Suisse collapse obfuscated Parreaux, Thiébaud & Partners scandal
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
 
[Meme] 9AM Meeting at Brett Wilson LLP
Brett Wilson LLP in space
Listing as Staff People Who Left the Company More Than Six Years Earlier
There are apparently no laws against that
Brian Fagioli Shovels Up LLM Slop (Plagiarism) Onto Slashdot, Then Uses Slashdot for Affirmation or as Badge of Honour
Notice how some of his latest slop is presented ("as featured on Slashdot")
Social Control Media Productivity
Snapping photos of the bone
The Law Firm SLAPPing Us For the Microsofters Lost 72% of Its Tangible Assets in the Past Year, According to Its Own Reports
That might help explain why they're willing to tolerate serial stranglers from Microsoft as clients
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity.com Slopfarm and Slopfarms Propped Up by Google News
"As LLM slop is foisted onto the WWW in place of knowledge and real content, it now gets ingested and processed by other LLMs, creating a sort of ouroboros of crap."
Links 18/07/2025: Weather Events and Health Hazards
Links for the day
Microsoft's All-Time Low in Finland
Microsoft is in a freefall
Security: Shane Wegner & Debian statement of incompetence
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 17, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, July 17, 2025
Gemini Links 17/07/2025: "Goodreads for Gemini" and Defence of "The Small Web"
Links for the day
Links 17/07/2025: Anger and Morale Issues at Microsoft, Wars and Conflicts Get Digital
Links for the day
CALEA / CALEA2 is the Real Problem, Not Chinese Operatives Exploiting CALEA / CALEA2 (as Any Other Nation Can)
CALEA / CALEA2 is more of a front door than a back door
Nils Torvalds and Anna "Mikke" Torvalds (née Törnqvis) Hopefully Use GNU/Linux by Now
"Torvalds Family Uses Windows, Not Linus’ Linux"
Attack of the Slopfarms
FUD-amplifying bots with slop images, slop text (LLM slop)
Not My Problem, I Don't Care
Context/inspiration: Martin Niemöller
Honest Journalism About the European Patent Office Ceased to Exist After SLAPPs and Bribes to the Media
The EPO is basically a Mafia
Life Became Simpler When I Stopped Driving and I Don't Miss Driving When I See "Modern" Cars
Gee, wonder why car sales have plummeted...
Why I Believe Brett Wilson LLP and Its Microsoft Clients Are All Toast
So far our legal strategy has worked perfectly
EPO Jobs Are Very Toxic and Bad for One's Health
Health first, not monopolies
Response to Ryo Suwito Regarding the Four Freedoms
the point of life isn't to make more money
Microsoft's Morale Circling Down the Drain
Or gutter, toilet etc.
Tech Used to be Fun. To Many of Us It's Still Fun.
You can just watch it from afar and make fun of it all
Links 17/07/2025: "Blog Identity Crisis" and Openwashing by Nvidia
Links for the day
Greffiers and the US Attorney of the Serial Strangler From Microsoft
The lawsuit can help expose extensive corruption in the American court system as well
The People Who Promoted systemd in Debian Also Promote Wayland
This is not politics
UK Media Under Threat: Cannot Report on Data Breach, Cannot Report on Microsoft Staff Strangling Women
The story of super injunction (in the British media this week, years late)
Victims of the Serial Strangler From Microsoft, Alex Balabhadra Graveley, Wanted to Sue Him But Lacked the Funds (He Attacked Their Finances)
Having spoken to victims of the Serial Strangler From Microsoft
Links 17/07/2025: Science, Hardware, and Censorship
Links for the day
Gemini Links 17/07/2025: Staying in the "Small Web" and Back on ICQ
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, July 16, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, July 16, 2025
Under the Guise of "MIT Technology Review Insights" the Site MIT Technology Review Posts Corporate Spam as 'Articles'
Some of the articles aren't even articles but 'hit pieces' against Free software and some are paid advertisements
Brett Wilson LLP Has Track Record in Scam Coin Cases (e.g. Craig Wright and More), Now It Works for 'Crypto' Scam Purveyors
But wait, it gets worse
Exclusive: corruption in Tribunals, Greffiers, from protection rackets to cat whisperers
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Will Brett Wilson LLP Handle Its Own Winding Up Petition or be Struck Off for Overt Abuse of Process?
Today we sue not only the first Microsofter
Links 16/07/2025: Chip Bans and Microsoft’s “Digital Escort” Program
Links for the day
Ubuntu Becomes Microsoft GitHub, Based on Decision Made by British Army Officer
You're hopeless, Canonical
Revolving Doors: One Day You're a Judge, the Next Day You're an Attorney Paying Public Officials and Working for Violent and Dangerous Microsoft Employees
how the US justice system works
Sharing Code and Recipes
It helps explain the triviality of software freedom
Slopwatch: Noise, Plagiarism and Even Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt/Fear-mongering/Dramatisation
What are we meant to do to prevent a false association or misleading connotations? Game the LLMs? No. Boycott slopfarms.
How Many Women Has Microsoft's Alex Balabhadra Graveley Already Strangled and Where Does That End?
If you too are a victim of this man and wish to share information, contact us
Gemini Links 16/07/2025: BaseLibre Numerical System and Simple Web Browsing with TLS
Links for the day
Links 16/07/2025: Fascist Slop Takes "Intelligence" Clothing, New Criminal Case Against MElon
Links for the day
"We Might Save Somebody's Life"
I follow the example of my father
Why I am Suing the Serial Strangler From Microsoft, Alex Balabhadra Graveley, in the UK High Court This Week
Out of respect to the process and to the Court, I shall not share any pertinent details about the case
Links 16/07/2025: China’s Economy Grows Steadily, France Takes Action Regarding Harm to Children by GAFAM and Fentanylware (TikTok)
Links for the day
It is Not About Politics
Beware the people who try to make this about politics
Good Journalism Saves Lives
a shocking number of women die or get seriously hurt every day due to violence from a partner
Recognition of Women's Contributions to Free Software
Being passive is not an option when bad things are happening
Slopfarms Are Going to Perish Because Public Opinion is Changing
Many slopfarms will simply go offline
19 Years of Standing Up for Justice, Equality, and Truth
This week we shall take it up a notch
Gemini Links 16/07/2025: Tmux and OCC25 Working TLS
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, July 15, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, July 15, 2025