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KIN, Windows Phone 7 a lot closer than we thought

Categories: Convergence, Windows Phone
By: , IntoMobile
Wednesday, May 12th, 2010 at 12:01 PM

When I reviewed the Kin One, I was ultimately disappointed by the artificial limitations of the “super feature phone,” especially when you consider there will definitely be Windows Phone 7 devices that won’t cost much more. Well, it looks like there won’t be much of a distinction between the two operating systems in the future.

“Over the longer term, we’ll be merging [Kin and Windows Phone 7] platforms and having downloadable apps,” Greg Sullivan, senior product manager in Microsoft’s mobile communications unit, told Computerworld.

This is good news for soon-to-be Kin owners because I do like the software’s ambitions but quickly ran into the boundaries. Yes, Microsoft, the social-networking generation wants to be able to share content anywhere but they also want to download apps and games. Hopefully, this will be addressed sooner, rather than later.

Sometimes, executives shoot their mouths off and phrase things in the wrong way, but it looks like Microsoft is backing up Sullivan’s statements.

“Both Kin and Windows Phone 7 share common OS components, software and services,” Microsoft said in an e-mail to PhoneScoop. “We will seek to align around a single platform for both products as well as consistent hardware specifications, so we can drive our ecosystem at scale and strength across all products.”

The Kin phones are clearly branded as “Windows Phones” so this makes a whole lot of sense but I’m just concerned that it will take too long for original Kin owners to really take advantage. If you go out and buy these devices tomorrow (or have already pre-ordered the handsets), I’d expect it could take up to a year before Windows Marketplace for Mobile features are implemented. That’s a long time for the I-want-it-now generation the Kin is after and I would have much preferred an app store, even a limited one like the Zune HD, from the beginning.

[Via Computerworld, PhoneScoop]

About The Author

Marin Perez

Marin Perez has torture tested cell phones and smartphones for industry leaders like CNET and InformationWeek. He remembers when 4G was just a screen on PowerPoint presentations and is fascinated with the amount of innovation out there. Marin has spent a lot of time with BlackBerry and Android but he finally broke down a bought an iPhone to see what all the hype's about. He also has too many tablets.

  • Robo

    Both of these handsets require a 29.99 data plan on with Verizon, that coupled with a 39.99 voice plan plus state sales tax and government fees come out to around $85.00 per month.
    With the Droid and iPhone going strong and getting stronger I can't help but wonder what is Microsoft thinking with KIN? I love the interface and am obsessed with Windows y Phone- if you check the WIndows 7 Phone website the demo up there is awesome and if the final product is like that it will be very hard for me not to buy that phone. If Microsoft made the KIN phones for the younger social networking crowd I don't get their pricing! I think this is Verizon however and not Microsoft. Today I noticed that a non-smartphone Casio phone now requires a 9.99 data plan while just yesterday it did not require a data plan at all. All this does for me is to keep me stubborn so I will keep my plain old 'basic' phone.

  • marinperez

    Agreed Robo. The KINs are data-intensive devices but they're not good enough to compete against a full-fledged smartphone, which is what you have to compare it to with that data plan.