That didn't take long.

After only a few weeks, Microsoft has decided to lay it's KIN project to rest. It's not completely official yet of course.. Verizon still has product to move. Here's the closest thing to official word on the subject;

"We have made the decision to focus exclusively on Windows Phone 7 and we will not ship KIN in Europe this fall as planned. Additionally, we are integrating our KIN team with the Windows Phone 7 team, incorporating valuable ideas and technologies from KIN into future Windows Phone releases. We will continue to work with Verizon in the U.S. to sell current KIN phones."

Source(s): Engadget Gizmodo Boy Genius Report

Apple today announced that the iPhone 4 is the most successful product launch in their history selling 1.7 million of the sold out devices in only three days. 

Read the press release here.

Macworld just did a pretty exhaustive comparison of the iPhone4's new 5-megapixel camera and the rest of the latest super phones including the DroidX and EVO 4G. It's a pretty comprehensive run-down and features photographic evidence in addition to opinion. (The shot above, for example, is the EVO 4G's 8-megapixel camera to the left and the iPhone4 to the right).

"The iPhone 4 had, by a healthy margin, the best exposure and color scores of the entire bunch, beating out even the point-and-shoot cameras."

Read the full article here.

The word over at Engadget is that Verizon Wireless may be getting a visual make-over shortly. I, for one think it's long overdue. I really never liked the logo.. it looked dated when it was introduced and the line work has always looked awkward.

Good Riddance.

The quote that really summarizes things is simply: "We're not going to beat around the bush -- in our approximation, the iPhone 4 is the best smartphone on the market right now."

Let me just say that at this point in time.. we can't wait until tomorrow...

Read the full review(s) here:

Engadget - They Loved it.

Gizmodo - (reviewed by 'you')

AllThingsD - Loved the phone, not so keen on AT&T...

Rest in Peace Eris.

It appears that the far superior Droid Incredible has taken the wind out of the sails of the Droid Eris, and is being phased out by America's favorite mobile phone provider. 

It's unclear as to whether or not Froyo will ever officially make it's way to the Eris now (thanks to its Sense UI trappings and less-than-cutting-edge internals) but for those of you who opted for the Eris hope remains so long as you're willing to put the work in.

Found at phanroid

If you're waiting for an iPhone4 to arrive... your wait may be shortened by a day or so.. I just got this email (I pre-ordered the iPhone on the 15th).. it appears that the iPhone may be arriving a full day early.. despite what FedEx says. 

It's definitely not earth-shaking.. but it's decidedly non-Apple, isn't it?!

Ever wonder what the MP3 player, laptop, handheld gaming device or mobile phone would have looked like if they were introduced in an Atari-esque 1977 alternate universe? Neither did I until I came across this amazing-looking project. Behold! ALT/1977

There are two big releases for Apple this week. Naturally the iPhone 4 is landing on doorsteps and retail shops on Thursday, but the other, arguably much more important, launch happened a few hours ago. 

iOS4 is here and not only is it responsible for many of the iPhone 4's new bullet points; Multi-tasking, folders, unified inbox and iBooks just to name a few, it's also going to bring the iPhone 3G, 3GS and iPod Touch up to speed.

If you're wondering what 25,000 Barrels looks like, you're in luck. Prepare to be in a Physics (or PhysX as the case may be) - induced trance as the barrels come crashing down. neat.

If you've got questions about iPhone OS4 (now known as iOS4) you need look no further than this amazingly comprehensive document by Rene Ritchie. It covers essentially everything from device compatibility to what new wallpaper graphics are included.

(found over at Daring Fireball)

If you're a car fan and have a Playstation, you're likely intimately familiar with the Gran Turismo series. You're also likely growing impatient waiting for the next full installment - Gran Turismo 5, a title which has been in the works for years, and has thus far produced nothing but a few isolated tech demos and screenshots.

E3 2010 brings some hope, however, in the form of a release date (November 2010) and a handful of gorgeous screenshots. There's also some amazing shots of the Top Gear test track - which will be fully simulated in the upcoming title.

For a moment it seemed like Motorola's new Droid X was going to bring Sprint's new found EVO 4G-based party to an early close. Verizon teased the similar device on its site this morning with a nice little caption advertising a 720P Screen. That's a resolution of 1280x720 and would have come pretty close to leap-frogging Apple's Retina Display.

Alas, it was not to be, as it was a misprint.. Evidently the phone is capable of capturing 720P video and the resolution is the same as the current Droid model at 854x480, though the larger screen means the pixel density will have dropped somewhat.

OnLive - the virtual gaming platform which allows users to play games that are hosted on remote servers, gave a demo to TouchArcade at E3 2010. The controls looks a bit awkward, but the tech appears pretty solid. My guess is that this is better suited for RTS games and the like and not for FPS titles which require super fast reactions.

If you wanted an iPhone 4 and had the right mix of luck and patience yesterday, consider yourself one of the chosen few. Apple and AT&T could barely keep their sites functioning yesterday and yet managed to set a new record. 600,000 phones. Pre-sold.

"Yesterday Apple and its carrier partners took pre-orders for more than 600,000 of Apple's new iPhone 4. It was the largest number of pre-orders Apple has ever taken in a single day and was far higher than we anticipated, resulting in many order and approval system malfunctions. Many customers were turned away or abandoned the process in frustration. We apologize to everyone who encountered difficulties, and hope that they will try again or visit an Apple or carrier store once the iPhone 4 is in stock." (Apple PR)

Gizmodo's got the story of everyone's favorite wireless carrier randomly logging users into another account. Fun.

"This is how it happens: A customer tries to log into their AT&T account to order a new iPhone 4 upgrade. Despite entering their username and password, the AT&T system would take them to another user account. This gives access to all kinds of private information about the mistaken customer: Addresses, phone calls, and bills, along with the rest of private information, becomes exposed to random strangers."

via Gizmodo

Well if there was any doubt as to whether or not the iPhone 4 would usher in an onslaught of upgraders, there isn't any more. AT&T's site was taken down quickly on pre-order day, and since checking upgrade eligibility with AT&T is required in order to secure a new iPhone, there's been a nice little ripple effect.. crippling Apple's web store and new Apple Store App in the process.

How could this have been avoided? Either by forcing a cue up front (similar to what file sharing services have done in the past) so that the system isn't overwhelmed by excessive concurrent requests or by allowing the user to skip the upgrade eligibility check and reserve a phone at full price initially.. and then modify the order on a later date or when they pick up the phone.

In any case, it just leaves one wondering.. at what point is Apple going to grow tired of relying on a single carrier in the US?

Quantcast's May mobile OS numbers are out and while Apple's iOS definitely continues to dominate, there's a rather prominent trend line forming towards Android. The data is compiled based on a share of pageviews, or as they say;

"This is share of pageviews from mobile devices based on the billions of mobile originated pageviews we observe each month through Quantcast Measurement. This is not the same as the number of devices, however we believe that the ability to easily browse the web is a key leading indicator of the long term position of the various platforms."

The data includes all of the iOS devices except the iPad, so that may also have something to do with the numbers, but the reality is that even with the iPad added into the mix, it's clear that Android has solidified itself as a solid, widely-accepted mobile OS.

More chart goodness is over at Quantcast

Gizmodo has got a pretty good plea worked up regarding the need to standardize video chat software standards. Really, this ought to be a no-brainer, but it seems that like nearly every other emerging communication standard, the initial market must begin in a fragmented state. 

To that end, we've got Skype, Fring, FaceTime and now Vidoe Kinect, and there really isn't a good reason why these services shouldn't entertain cross-compatibility via an open standard -- in this case, Apple seems to be leading the charge.

Read the whole thing over at Gizmodo

Starbucks has tweeted the news that as of July 1st, Wi-Fi will become totally free and without registration at their US locations. No word on time caps, but suffice it to say that there will be a quite a few more laptops hanging around in your neighborhood Starbucks.

Over at NeoGAF they've found an overseas ad for a new slim version of the Xbox 360.. Just ahead of E3 2010. In addition to the aggressive (tacky?) styling, this new Xbox 360 will supposedly sport integrated WiFi, a 250 GB HDD and support for 'Kinect' (i.e. Project Natal)

Found over at GiantBomb

Wondering what that fancy new retina display might actually look like up close and personal? @Scobelizer has got a nice high-resolution image to show you just how detailed 326 ppi can look. Hint: it's pretty impressive.

Found over at 9to5mac

Over at Discover Magazine they've got a pretty interesting break down of what the new iPhone's retina display actually equates to. There was a little bit of controversy as to whether or not the limit of a human eye to discern individual pixels is indeed ~300 pixels per inch and now that claim has been further explained.

Cue up the Top Gun soundtrack! This image captured by the Royal Australian Air Force shows an F/A-18E Super Hornet criss-crossing the landscape in a hyper-speed fashion. The image above is pretty cool to be sure, but check out the high-res version as well.

Found over at Gizmodo