Just six weeks after launch, Microsoft's Kin, the social phone we wanted to love, is dead. Microsoft is ending its short life, sources close to Microsoft tell us. There won't be a separate Kin product anymore. Effective immediately, Andy Lees is shoving the entire Kin team into the core Windows Phone 7 team, so there will just be one big group to focus on Windows Phone 7.

The major reason? Sales. Microsoft never confirmed (or denied) that only 500 Kins were sold, but it's clear that the response has been completely underwhelming. Otherwise, why kill a project that was in development for years after just a few weeks? (And cost millions.)

A major reason it bombed, besides the weird, non-specific faux hipster marketing? Price. Verizon priced Kin's monthly service like a smartphone, even though it wasn't one. Even cutting the device price drastically didn't alleviate the high cost of the monthly plan. (The confusing Kin, a Windows Phone 7 Phone by Microsoft flustercluck branding didn't help.)

The few people that did buy a Kin will still get support from Microsoft, but the future of promised software updates is up in the air. It seems safe to say, though, Kin isn't going to evolve into the things we hoped it would. At best, we have to hope the things we did love—Kin Studio—will make it into Windows Phone in some guise.

Microsoft's official statement on the matter, for what it's worth, is vague but telling:

"We have made the decision to focus on our Windows Phone 7 launch 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." [emphasis mine]

It's not the first major innovative E&D project Microsoft's slaughtered in recent months, but it's the first that's actually made it to market before being gutted. Verizon, for the record, says "The phone is still an important part of our portfolio."

All in all, still kind of astounding.

Today is the grand opening of the Microsoft Store in Fashion Valley Mall in San Diego, California. The San Diego store marks Microsoft’s fourth foray into the retail space and opens later this morning at 10 a.m. PST.The Microsoft Store is just yards away from the Apple Store (), which means it’s competing for attention with the massively long line of people hoping to get their hands on the new iPhone 4.

The grand opening event has been heavily promoted on local radio stations and will feature a performance by Demi Lovato this coming Saturday, June 26. In an effort to draw a crowd, Microsoft is giving away tickets to a meet and greet with Demi Lovato to the first 100 people in line today. The first 1,000 people get “VIP treatment” for Saturday’s show.

In addition, professional skateboarder Rob Dyrdek is signing autographs with his Street League cohorts at the store today. Microsoft Store employees are also raffling off electronic devices like the Microsoft Zune, the new Flip camera, miscellaneous laptops and gadgets, and giving away gift cards.

I stopped by prior to the store opening to take photos and videos of the crowd, as well as capture the Apple versus Microsoft commotion. While Apple’s line far surpasses that of Microsoft’s, there’s definitely a sizable showing at the Microsoft Store. It doesn’t hurt that Microsoft employees are using megaphones to drown out the noise from a few doors down.

In the video below I spoke with Nicole Barnhart who — despite gushing over my iPhone 4 — has been in the Microsoft Store line since 12:00 a.m. PST. She tells me that she was approximately the 50th person in line and that the majority of the crowd is waiting to get their hands on the Demi Lovato tickets.

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Apple Inc. has sold more than 3 million iPads just 80 days after the tablet computer's launch in the United States.

The touch-screen iPad blew past analysts' expectations even in its first month when it sold 1 million, and Monday's 3-million mark signaled that it was not losing any steam.

"People are loving iPad as it becomes a part of their daily lives," Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs said in a statement. "We're working hard to get this magical product into the hands of even more people around the world, including those in nine more countries next month."

The news came as the prices of iPad's e-reader competitors — Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle and Barnes & Noble Inc.'s Nook — were slashed Monday to under $200. The iPad starts at $499.

But it seems price isn't an issue when it comes to some of the hottest, and coolest, pieces of technology on the market, said Richard Doherty, analyst at Envisioneering Group.

"It's fashionable and it's 'in' and it's less geeky than a keyboard," he said. "It's the new definition of 'it.' "

Doherty said that at this rate he expected iPad sales to far surpass his original prediction of 5 million to 8 million within a year. And if there's anyone who has returned an iPad, he'd like to meet them, he said.

According to Reuters, the iPad also is sold in Canada, Japan, Australia, Italy, France and Germany.

     The iPhone 4 is no small thing to review. As most readers of Engadget are well aware, in the gadget world a new piece of Apple hardware is a major event, preceded by rumors, speculation, an over-the-top announcement, and finally days, weeks, or months of anticipation from an ever-widening fan base. The iPhone 4 is certainly no exception -- in fact, it may be Apple's most successful launch yet, despite some bumps on the road. We've already seen Apple and AT&T's servers overloaded on the first day of pre-orders, the ship date for the next set of phones pushed back due to high demand, and die-hard fans in line outside of Apple locations a week before the phone is actually available. It's a lot to live up to, and the iPhone 4 is doing its best -- with features like a super-fast A4 CPU, a new front-facing camera and five megapixel shooter on the back, a completely new industrial design, and that outrageous Retina Display, no one would argue that Apple has been asleep at the wheel. So the question turns to whether or not the iPhone 4 can live up to the intense hype. Can it deliver on the promises Steve Jobs made at WWDC, and can it cement Apple's position in the marketplace in the face of mounting competition from the likes of Google and Microsoft? We have the answers to those questions -- and many more -- in our full review, so read on to find out!

Perhaps the most notable change with the new iPhone is the drastic industrial design overhaul -- Apple seems to have completely rethought its strategy on how the phone should look and feel, and the results are nothing if not striking.

In his WWDC keynote, Steve Jobs likened the design of the iPhone 4 to that of a "beautiful, old Leica camera," and as we've said before, he wasn't off the mark. Instead of hewing to the curved, plasticky, silver-bezeled look of the iPhone 3G and 3GS, the company has turned the casing and face of the device into something decidedly more detailed and sophisticated. From the design aesthetic through to the actual build process, Jony Ive and his team have reset what we expect in an iPhone, coming up with something that clearly harkens back to the retro-future Braun designs of Dieter Rams. The iPhone 4 is made up of three basic parts: two pieces of smooth, strengthened glass, and a stainless steel band which wraps around the sides, top, and bottom of the phone. The effect is clean but not simple, and Apple has added little details, like altered volume buttons (what used to be a rocker is now separated into circular clickers labeled + and -), and notches in that metal band which serve to improve radio connections (more on that in a minute). The phone is noticeably thinner than the 3GS at .37 inches compared to .48 inches, but it weighs the same 4.8 ounces, making the whole package seem tighter and denser. It feels great in your hand, with good heft, although it might take a little time to get used to the lack of a rounded back if you're coming from the 3G or 3GS.

We can't overstate how high-end the design of the iPhone 4 is. The 3GS now feels cheap and chubby by comparison, and even a phone like the HTC Droid Incredible -- which just came out -- seems last-generation.

As we said, there are three main pieces of the phone, which together create an effect not wildly dissimilar to that of an ice cream sandwich. You know, but far pricier... and not edible. The face of the device is made up of extremely strong glass which Jony Ive says is "comparable in strength to sapphire crystal, but about 30 times harder than plastic." A small slit for the earpiece and the front-facing camera are embedded in the glass above the display, with the familiar home button towards the bottom -- a button we should note feels much clickier than on our 3GS. On the left side of the phone you've got the new volume buttons, a redesigned mute switch, and a small notch towards the base of the unit. On the right side is the Micro SIM slot and another notch in the band at the bottom, and up top there's the power / sleep button, headphone jack, another notch, and new noise-canceling microphone. Along the bottom is a speaker, microphone, and the 30-pin dock connector port. The backside of the phone is made from the same kind of ultra-strong glass as the front, interrupted only by the new five megapixel camera, its LED flash companion and, of course, the Apple logo.

We're not going to beat around the bush -- in our approximation, the iPhone 4 is the best smartphone on the market right now. The combination of gorgeous new hardware, that amazing display, upgraded cameras, and major improvements to the operating system make this an extremely formidable package. Yes, there are still pain points that we want to see Apple fix, and yes, there are some amazing alternatives to the iPhone 4 out there. But when it comes to the total package -- fit and finish in both software and hardware, performance, app selection, and all of the little details that make a device like this what it is -- we think it's the cream of the current crop. We won't argue that a lot of this is a matter of taste -- some people will just prefer the way Android or Symbian works to the iPhone, and others will be on the lookout for a hardware keyboard or a particular asset that the iPhone 4 lacks -- but in terms of the total picture, it's tough to deny that Apple has moved one step past the competition with this phone. Of course, in the hyper-accelerated smartphone market where the Next Big Thing seems to always be just around the corner, it's anyone's guess how long they keep that edge.

Hot of the heels of the U.K. getting unlocked iPhones, Engadget notes that Canadians will get to share the same privilege. iPhone 4 in Canada will be available on Rogers, Bell, and Telus and this allows users to choose any carrier they like. The iPhone 4 is an international phone so the no-committment pricing allows you to throw in a SIM anywhere you are in the world as well. Just like in the U.K. and U.S. special carrier pricing with a contract will be made available for those who don't want to shell out in return the flexibility of an unlocked phone.

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