Kin, short for “kindred”, is a phone by Microsoft that targets a young, messaging audience.  Designed for use on the Verizon network, the Kin is available in two flavors, neither of which supports removable memory cards or Windows7 mobile apps.  The Kin doesn’t even use Microsoft’s own mobile platform but instead a proprietary OS from Sharp.

We don’t think Apple is in the least bit worried.

RipCode, based in texas, has developed a cloud-based, on-the-fly, transcoder to allow Flash support on the Apple iPad.

Adobe and Apple have been butting heads regard Flash support on the iPod devices for quite some time.  Will RipCode’s transcoder work on the 3GS?  Or the upcoming 3GS replacement?  Stay tuned.

RipCode’s website seems to be suffering the slashdot effect at the moment.  We’re not surprised!

Ultimate Electronics recently emerged from bankruptcy and recently opened a 33,000- sqft store in Massachusetts, which was formerly a Circuit City.  Ultimate Electronics, as mentioned by Denver Business Journal, has inked a lease on a second location in Albany, NY, also a former Circuit City store.

Broadening its offerings to PCs, major appliances, and even billiard tables has allowed Ultimate Electronics to reach TWICE’s 33rd place among top CE retailers of 2009.

Apple ships 0.5 million iPads and, citing a short supply, delays international release.

New Jersey-based A/V specialty and custom-installation chain, Sixth Avenue Electronics, is adding PC departments to 17 stores.

Following a recent expansion, the family-run business will soon begin rolling out dedicated, 2,000-square-foot PC departments system-wide.

Walmart’s early holiday sales begins this Saturday with a week-long CE sales event.  It is the first of several planned CE sales events prior to the holiday.

Deals of interest:

• 42-inch Sharp 1080p/120Hz LCD TV for $498;
• $298 Hewlett-Packard notebook;
• Sony BDP-S360 Blu-ray Disc player,  $148
• Xbox 360 Arcade Console and a $100 Walmart gift card for $199

“Each holiday season we focus on delivering a better price on quality entertainment and electronics, and this season is no different… We’re excited about our electronics event that starts Saturday. It will be evident through the coming weeks that this year Walmart will offer more opportunities for our customers to save than ever before,” said Gary Severson, Walmart’s entertainment senior VP.

Tomorrow, November 6, Verizon Wireless unleases the DROID ERIS  across the United States.  The DROIS ERIS, by HTC, is based on the Android platform aiming squarely at Apple’s ubiquitous iPhone.

Toshiba will debut its prototype 50-inch Cell Regza 55X1 FullHD LCD TV in December.  This prototype features a hard disk drive capable of recording up to eight channels of digital terrestrial broadcasts simultaneously. The display features a dynamic contrast ratio of 5,000,000:1 and LED backlighting divided into 512 zones yielding a brightness of 2.5X over typical models.

NASDAQ warned Sirius XM of a potential delisting from the stock exchange as their stock traded below $1.00 for 30 consecutive days.

Jim Thiel, 61, co-founder and co-owner of Thiel Audio, recently passed away.   A generous and genuine man, Jim’s speaker designs won many awards and customers.  He will be missed.