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May 6 is here, which means the Microsoft Kin One and Kin Two phones are now available for sale on Verizon.The Kin One packs a 2.6″ QVGA touchscreen, GPS, 3G, Wi-Fi, a 5 megapixel camera with flash, and 4 GB of internal storage, while the Kin Two kicks things up a notch with an HVGA display, 8 megapixel camera, and 8 GB of storage. A cloud service is available on both that backs up and shares your pictures instantly, which is especially great since it will keep the full-sized pictures off your phone, so you’ll have plenty of room to play around with. If you have a Zune Pass, you can get access to your tunes on the Kin handsets as well – likely the first of much future integration in Windows Phone 7. The two main distinctionctive features of the Windows Phone-based OS is The Loop, a home screen which shows a slightly-delayed look at your friends’ updates on various social networkers, and The Spot, which is the little green thing at the bottom that lets you quickly and easily share a variety of content. Check out Kin One and Kin Two hands-on videos for a closer look at the custom social networking-focussed operating system.
While I might not use one of these, the Kin phones are a good step in making dumbphones smarter, and bringing high-quality smartphone-esque services to the masses. The clincher for many folks will be the requirement of a $29.99 monthly data plan at minimum. For something that isn’t properly a smartphone, that’s asking a lot, but the hipster kids who will be attracted to Kin probably won’t know any better. The numbered names indicate we’re going to be seeing a lot of these in the future, so if the design doesn’t catch your fancy, hold out because a Kin Three is likely on the way. If you are diggin’ it though, go to Verizon and order the Kin One for $49.99 on contract, and the Kin Two for $99.99 on contract. If you’d like to dive into the specs, take a look at our shiny new phone widgets below.
About The Author
Simon Sage
Simon Sage’s education largely surrounded writing, technology and online community, leading him to begin his blogging career at www.BlackBerryCool.com and to quickly discover a vibrant and active community surrounding BlackBerry and mobile technology. In exploring RIM’s platform, he has learned what enterprises are looking for in mobility as well as what makes the innocuous BlackBerry so appealing to them. Recently Simon’s been covering RIM’s gradual move into an already-crowded consumer market, and the impact of burgeoning challengers, such as the iPhone, as well as long-time leaders, like Nokia, on BlackBerry’s advancement. With plenty of content under his belt, Simon will be branching off a bit to see what other smartphone manufacturers are working on while still using BlackBerry as a barometer. At IntoMobile, you can count on his posts being even-handed, well-informed and thought-out.
