Microsoft Announces Kin One and Kin Two as Social Networking Phones

Posted 04/12/2010 at 2:45pm | by Ryan Whitwam

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After months of speculation, Microsoft has finally taken the wraps off Project Pink. The new phones are officially going to be called the Kin One (previously codenamed Turtle) and Kin Two (previously codenamed Pure). As expected, these will basically be the new Sidekicks, with a slant toward the younger, socially active set. The hardware will be made by Sharp, who made most of Danger's Sidekicks. The Kin One will have a QVGA display, portrait sliding keyboard, 4GB of storage, and a 5MP camera. The Kin Two is a landscape slider with 8GB of storage, and larger HVGA screen. Both phones have 3G connectivity, but no tethering.

The phones will be running a new operating system with a sort of Windows Phone 7 vibe. Microsoft will be integrating an sort of updated cloud content management service similar to the Danger Sidekick service. All content from the phone will be backed up in the user's own unlimited account. The home screen is  called "Loop" and aggregates various social networking services. The so called "Spot" is an always accessible green dot at the bottom of the screen that users can drag content to allowing it to be shared. One important point is that the Kin operating system does not have support for third-party apps. So what Microsoft gives you is what you get. One thing you do get is a fairly nice browser based on the Zune HD version. It supports multi-touch but no Flash or Silverlight.

The Kin phones will be fully integrated with the Zune misuc and video services. However, games appear to be out. There will be a Mac music syncing client that connects with iTunes allowing the use of non-DRMed tracks. The devices will be launching on Verizon in May, and Vodafone in the Fall. No prices are available, but we'd bet on cheap.