I think it's a different segment of the market that is being targeted by this. I think it's a shrinking market though. When the Kin was first released there were a lot more people still opting for the mid-range 'media phone' type devices. Making you use pay for the same data plan that you would for an Android phone however doomed it. There was honestly no reason to look at one of these over the slew of android phones verizon released over the past year, simply because of the recurring costs vs. features that you lose.

Now if these are able to be on plans in the sub $50 range, there might be a market for them if they haven't been dumbed down much further. However, I think a lot of people who were potential buyers have overcome the sticker shock of the data plan. You aren't going to get those people to step back in most cases. Zune pass is nice, but I can do Rhapsody on Android or have the Zune pass on a WP7 device. It's got to have more than that in it, at least a nice facebook/twitter interface and the ability to get email without tacking on an extra fee.

When I had an LG Env2, I could do a lot of what I can today with facebook/twitter or email using either apps or a browser, but it was a bad experience. With my incredible these are either baked in nicely or there are great apps readily available that integrate into the phone well and provide an excellent user experience. A device that does these functions well might still have appeal to people who haven't had a true smart phone yet, but I don't see anyone going backwards, even if they can save 20-30 bucks a month.

I don't think this competes directly with WP7, but it's more of an attempt to grab what's left of the low end market that no one is focusing on anymore. Not necessarily a bad move, but it's a market that's shrinking and probably won't exist 5 years from now.

HTC and Verizon have been good on the Incredible. The second update to the phone in 6 months is set to go next week. This will be a minor update to the Froyo release that went out in August / September I believe. I also expect that we'll see Gingerbread a month or two after it's released.

Verizon currently has the (HTC) Droid Incredible, (Moto) Droid X, Droid 2, Samsung Fascinate (why they didn't 'droid' this one i have no idea) all available today, along with several 'older' Android handsets. Coming in the next month or two are the Samsung Continuum, HTC merge, Droid Pro. You want/hate a physical keyboard? Want a bigger screen, prefer a smaller screen and device size? Want a screen you can read in bright sunlight? Want a phone that's easy to modify? VZW has more choices available than any carrier in the US. How are VZW customers starving for a new smartphone?

Verizon has a brand in Droid that they've built. They were tremendously successful in marketing it last holiday season, and sales of the original Moto Droid, Eris, Incredible, Droid X over the last 3 quarters have been a big reason why Android activations are outpacing iPhone activations, and Android has went from nearly no market share to ~20% this year. I'd expect they want to continue that this holiday season, and adding Windows Phone into the mix at this point would complicate their strategy. They'll be perfectly happy to sit back and see how it does on other carriers and bring it into their offerings next spring as a LTE device with the appropriate marketing behind it.

I don't think what most people saw as the goals for the Nexus one were Google's goals. I know I thought initially they were trying to change the way phones were sold, and push back at the carriers to change the way they do business. I had hoped they would release it at a price point similar to what you can find an iPod touch for instead of the huge markup we see with unlocked cellphones.

But I think it's become clear that wasn't their goal at all. I now think they wanted to push android and their devices forward. Many early android phones were lackluster. It seemed like the OEMs weren't trying in a lot of cases. But I think the threat of google jumping into the phone design game really pushed companies like HTC (even though they built the N1), Motorola and Samsung to improve their designs and make devices that move the platform forward instead of adequate or in some cases sub-standard hardware.

Now there are several phones out there which can go toe-to-toe with the iPhone. Application development is ramping up, and Android is gaining significant marketshare. Android has went from 3.8% of the market share in 11/09 to 13% in 5/10, about the time Google decided that it wasn't going to release the CDMA N1. I'd say that if this was their goal, to push OEMs to improve their hardware and accelerate the adoption of the platform it's been a massive success. Especially since the 13% number comes from before the summer when the Incredible, EVO and DroidX have apparently been very successful.

At the beginning of the year Android was hardly in the game, now they're quickly gaining on Apple for the #2 spot in the smartphone market, and don't be at all surprised if within a year there are more android handsets out there than iPhones and they're looking at unseating RIM.

You're right. There is a lot more to the mobile phone market than the high-end smart phone. Compared to any smart phone these two devices can't compete. But against the EnV, Backflip, etc I'd say they're more than interesting. I think the low to mid end of the mobile phone market is under-served with quality devices, there's a plethora of phones out there, but very few that are any good.

If these phones are executed well, they could definitely fill a gap in the market.

What I find most interesting about them is the ability to use a Zune Pass to download OTA. Either you're into music subscriptions or you're not, but I'm perfectly happy with the model and have used Rhapsody for years now. VZW currently has a rhapsody app for phones, but you can't use your to-go subscription to download songs OTA, and to rub salt in the wound it's something like 1.99 to purchase a song you can buy on your PC for .99. If you can download OTA for 'free' that could really increase the appeal of these phones.

Yeah, the phone is underwhelming if you're looking at it along with Android devices and the iPhone. The thing is, not everyone is, and phones like this are going to have appeal to people who are looking one tier below a smart phone.

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A close second is rimuhosting.com, they are more expensive, but have stellar service, and just are nice guys.

Never choose someone who offers unlimited anything. You want guaranteed resources. Figure out what you need, and find a plan that suits you.

I want a nice sound and alert as I gain a new achievement!

Of course not, because the install would fail and he wouldn't be able to claim it's broken anymore.

If he wasn't able to download it he'd say it's broken because MS doesn't allow him to download software he might want to use elsewhere.

After all, its obvious that some time you may want to use another machine to download a fix. What if there is an issue with your network driver, what if you're trying to fix a machine off the network?

God knows I've had plenty of situations where I had to download something to get a network card running properly... Especially back in the day when many Linux Distro's hardware support was not as robust as it is today.