News to know: Microsoft Kin, Google Atmosphere, Opera Mini, Palm

Microsoft's new Kin phones, Google Atmosphere, Opera Mini for the iPhone and Palm on the market lead today’s themes. You can get the day’s rolling postsvia Twitter,RSS, oremail.

Here are the key themes for Tuesday, April 13, 2010:

Microsoft's release of a new set of phones - called Kin - are targeted at the youth market (aka "Guppies") but they pack the power of a smartphone.

Make no mistake, though. This is a social phone - that is, deeply integrated with social networks. But this wasn't much of an announcement, when you consider that the company is still keeping quite a bit to itself, including pricing. So, how big of a deal is this release as part of Microsoft's overall mobile strategy? Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is wondering if Microsoft even has a strategy. You be the judge.

Also: Five surprising things about Microsoft's Kin

• 23 minute video walk thru and Q&A about the KIN Windows Phone
• Microsoft KIN: Unboxing and hands-on with the KIN ONE and KIN TWO

Over at the Googleplex, the company unveiled a new and improved Google Docs - one that helps to bridge the gap between Google Apps and Microsoft Office by adding standard tools and improving the import/export feature. But it also raises the bar with new collaboration tools, such as chat. The news kicked off the second Google Atmosphere, a daylong event targeted at CIOs to debate - and sell - the idea of cloud computing in the enterprise. Among those speaking: Google's Chief Internet Evangelist Vint Cerf and cloud computing advocate Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce.com.

It was the headline that no one expected: Opera Mini web browser approved by Apple for the iPhone. After a 20-day review process, Apple approved the first third-party Web browser as an alternative to its own pre-installed Safari browser.

It comes as no surprise to hear that Palm is soliciting bids for the company. The competitive smartphone arena is tough now - and only destined to get tougher. Wall Street, which rallied around Palm on rumors of acquisitions last week, appears to be ready and Palm's investors are probably right there with them by now. It's not official yet - but Larry Dignan has already put together a cheat sheet of sorts to examine the best case scenarios.

For all of AT&T's whining about the iPhone causing the data usage on its network to increase, a report found that Sprint and Verizon - not AT&T - accounted for 63 percent of of the mobile data traffic in the U.S.

Finally, if nothing else, Microsoft's new phones are easy on the eyes. Take a look at some pics to see for yourself.