Microsoft Kin canceled already: whatever it was, it didn’t last long

Whatever the Microsoft Kin was, it didn’t last long. The new phone, which Microsoft sent to market seemingly just days ago, has already been end of life’d as a separate product and instead folded into Microsoft’s Windows 7 phone team, which has been a long-running failure itself. The bizarre part is that the end of the Kin has come even as its initial run of television advertisements introducing the product to the public is still airing. And that’s before one considers the name “Kin” itself which was a beyond bizarre choice when one considers the popularity of Amazon’s Kindle.

When the Kin was first introduced, Daring Fireball’s John Gruber prophetically wrote “Microsoft Announces Kin, Its Next Two Failed Phones” – yet one has to wonder if even he expected it to disappear this quickly.

iPhone 4G imminent? iPhone 3G reportedly no longer shipping

Apple has stopped shipping the iPhone 3G model to AT&T Stores, according to a report. The move, if indeed accurate, suggests that the iPhone 4G will not only be introduced in early June, but will also begin shipping shortly thereafter. The report points to the $99 iPhone 3G model specifically, and not the $199 or $299 iPhone 3GS model, which suggests that the 3GS could remain in place as the new $99 model. While we won’t know anything until Apple makes an official announcement, the report suggests that the iPhone 4G will be in the hands of consumers soon rather than later.

First generation iPhone model still in wide use

With Apple likely on the verge of releasing its fourth generation iPhone this summer, the common assumption might be that relatively few iPhone users are still touting the original model which hit the market in mid 2007 and was discontinued in 2008. However, a recent study shows that nearly two million of the six million first-generation iPhones sold are still in use. The revelation is perhaps not surprising when one considers that most of Apple’s App Store apps are compatible with the long discontinued model, and that not all iPhone users place a priority on features like the speed of the 3G network – or even necessarily live in an area where 3G is yet available. Furthermore, early iPhone adopters who’ve since upgraded to a newer model are less likely to toss the old one in a drawer or a trash can and more likely to instead pass it on to someone who isn’t in a position to afford a newer model. In that light it’s perhaps more surprising that four million of the original iPhone units have disappeared off the radar; it’s seemingly unlikely that two-thirds of the iPhones sold in late 2007 and early 2008 have already succumbed to mechanical failures or accidental demise.

There may be a shift in this usage pattern when Apple releases its iPhone 4.0 operating system, seen as the first truly major overhaul of the iPhone’s on screen interface since the device first launched – an operating system which will not run on the original iPhone model. However, hand me down users are likely to keep the original iPhone alive as a platform for as long as the aging units continue to function.