Right Science Technology and Health

After a short existence it appears Microsoft has pulled the plug on it’s KIN line of phones. The phones were targeted at a “hip” generation of young people, and even got a series of commercials produced that highlighted the product. When it was released, there were many questions raised about whether the product would be successful.

With Windows Phone 7 on the near horizon, the KIN phones were almost destined for failure. Now that the KIN is dead, Europe is no longer expected to get it in the fall. It shouldn’t really come as a surprise that Microsoft is moving their internal KIN team to work on Windows Phone 7. So another product is a dismal failure and here is Microsoft’s response.

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As far as rumors go, Hulu’s subscription service has been a long time coming. Today they finally announced they are bringing streaming support to devices without Flash capability by paying a monthly subscription fee of $9.99 a month. Hulu Plus invites are required at the moment to preview the new service, and the app for iOS devices like the iPad and iPhone has just been approved by Apple.

They will also be supporting for a range of TVs and Blu-ray players from Samsung, Sony, and Vizio. There are also plans for PS3 and 360 support, allowing Hulu to be streamed to the living room. All of this for only $9.99 a month, and sadly you will still get advertisements.

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Apple has just updated the Mac Mini with a completely new design and added the ability for do it yourself memory upgrades. Previously there was no easy way to upgrade the memory, but now it’s very possible with a new removable bottom panel.

By detaching the panel, you get full access to the memory slots. In addition, the new aluminum unibody design includes an integrated power supply, which means there is no need for an external power brick, it’s just one plug that goes right into the wall.

The processor has gotten a bump up to 2.4GHz, although it is still a Core 2 Duo. The graphics similarly got a boost with the new Nvidia GeForce 320M chip. That makes it the fastest Mac Mini to date, and about on par with the lower end MacBook. Apple is also getting cozy with people who like to pair their Mac Mini with an HDTV by adding HDMI output.

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It is sad to see this day come but AT&T has announced that they will stop offering unlimited data for new plans started after June 7. The wireless company has introduced new tiered rates to replace the existing $30 unlimited data plans, including ones used by the iPad 3G.

The new plans start at $15 per month for the “DataPlus” plan with 200MB of data, which leads to $15 for another 200MB if you run out before 30 days. The more expensive “DataPro” plan offers 2GB of data for $25 a month, and another $10 per GB after that. AT&T claims that only 2% of it’s smartphone customers use over 2GB of data in one month. They have also finally announced tethering for the iPhone, which will cost $20 a month on top of the “DataPro” plan.

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