Hasta La Gadget!

The Kin may be dead and buried, but you can bet that the legacy of Microsoft’s biggest failure in the phone market will live long in the minds of technophiles. What you probably wouldn’t bet, however, is how it’ll also live long in the mind of famed Roots drummer Questlove. You heard right — the same beat maker that was caught FaceTiming with our own Josh Topolsky during a recent sit-down on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon has a special place in his heart for the fallen phone series, and he’s taken the time to pen a memoir detailing the reasons why. Undoubtedly an avid visitor of the (temporarily down) Kin R.I.P. web memorial, Questlove was recently held up behind a team of brats at the airport. As the story goes, even arriving 75 minutes early to his flight wasn’t enough to clear through on a flight to Canada, leaving him in quite the pickle. If he didn’t hop on this bird, his band mates would be struggling to please fans sans a drummer. As is so often the case these days, Quest ran into a particularly perturbed airline agent who wasn’t about to bend in order to get him onboard; rather than name-dropping himself, he simply agreed to have his photo taken with a smattering of fans who just happened to waltz by during his pleading.

Suddenly, the light popped on in the mind of the agent: “OMG! You are the guy in the Kin commercial… I see that commercial all the time!” Needless to say, Quest’s ego took a serious hit, but he did manage to catch his flight and make the show in the Great White North. He told his manager that it was the “Kin commercial he almost passed on” that got him to the show, and closed with a simple remark: “R.I.P. Kin.” Hit those source links for the full skinny — it’s a compelling read, we assure you. Oh, and that aforesaid ad is embedded just past the break.

Continue reading Microsoft’s Kin saves a Roots show: a touching recollection by Questlove

Microsoft’s Kin saves a Roots show: a touching recollection by Questlove originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Jul 2010 14:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Eldar Murtazin has a pretty decent track record when it comes to smartphone whispers, but his Android 3.0 Gingerbread morsels yesterday are now at odds with someone a bit closer to the dough — namely, Dan Morrill, Android’s Open Source and Compatibility Tech Lead (yeah, that’s a bit of a mouth full). Here are a few highlights from his Twitter feed tonight: “I love it when people just make stuff up” (sarcasm, obviously), “rumors are not official announcements,” and so on. Sure, he could just be playing coy here, but for now, this is more or less the final word on the matter — until either Google or the rumor mill heat up again, of course. Guess that’s how the, erm, cookie crumbles.

Android team’s Morrill discounts Gingerbread rumors originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Jul 2010 21:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hey! Microsoft debuted two new phones earlier this year! Remember that? Okay, so there’s a fair chance that Microsoft actually moved fewer Kin One / Two handsets than Fusion Garage did JooJoo tablets, but we’re pretty confident that a few of you fell for the whole “my life is so social, so I’m buying in” thing. We’re still personally trying to figure out why the full Windows Phone 7 wasn’t used here instead of an OS that’ll likely be forgotten by the time you finish reading this, but enough of our rambling — this space is all about you. Did you pick up one of the Kin brothers? How’s the experience? Are you still kosher with paying the same data plan price as future Droid X users? Have you gained more friends than you know what to do with? Starred in your own commercial? Tell us below, tweeps.

How would you change Microsoft’s Kin One and Two? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Jun 2010 22:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It was only two weeks ago that we blogged about ex-Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama’s resignation tweet. Now, as a regular politician, he has resumed his micro-communiques…Or has he?

Hacking was suspected when a tweet he made yesterday at first glance thanked everyone for letting him “dance naked” (私に『裸踊り』をさせて下さったみなさん、有り難う)!

We all suspected some cyber pranksters to be at work (but then who knows with “loopy Hatoyama“). After confusion and controversy raged across the net for much of this morning all was clarified with another tweet: it seems he was referring metaphorically to the “leader lessons” gleamed from this Sasquatch Festival 2009 reveler. Glad we cleared that one up, then!

Comcast’s Plaxo acquisition has borne fruit beyond its social media address book roots with Tunerfish, aimed at pulling social networking features and TV into one website. Currently in closed alpha, it lets TV watchers note what they’re watching and share with others, Foursquare style. No word on what being “mayor” of Chuck gets you (if it’s not a discount at Subway we’ll be disappointed) but the idea is to be able to keep an eye on what’s trending amongst the larger pool of viewers or just your friends (who, presumably, have similar tastes. Of course there’s Facebook and Twitter integration, and an iPhone app will be available when the beta launches in the next few weeks. Notably absent at this time is any Comcast branding, so it should be wide open no matter where you get your TV broadcasts from, but given the company’s interests in bringing together internet and TV we wouldn’t be surprised to see some Xfinity labeling work its way in sooner or later. Check out an epic 35-minute video interview with Robert Scoble (embedded after the break, demo starts about 10 minutes in) for more info, or just go ahead and sign up for the latest updates on the official site. It’s like we always say — if your followers & friends didn’t want to know what you were doing every second of every day, then why did they add you in the first place?

Continue reading Comcast’s Tunerfish adds social media check-ins to your TV watching

Comcast’s Tunerfish adds social media check-ins to your TV watching originally appeared on Engadget HD on Mon, 24 May 2010 20:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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