Microsoft KIN Social Networking Phones Launched  Microsoft KIN Phones |
Microsoft has launched two new smartphones under KIN brand that are designed around social networking platform.
The so called social networking phones, KIN One and Two, have touch screens with gesture control, a hard QWERTY keyboard and an operating system that offers networking applications like Facebook, MySpace, Windows Live and Twitter.
“We built KIN for people who live to be connected, share, express and relate to their friends and family,” said Robbie Bach, president of the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft.
“This social generation wants and needs more from their phone. KIN is the one place to get the stuff you care about to the people you care about most,” he said.
The KIN One handset boasts of a 2.1 inch display along with features like 4GB of storage, a 5MP camera and a mono speaker.
The next in the series, the KIN Two has a bigger display of 3.5 inch with 8GB of memory,8MP camera and stereo speakers.
Both the handset are manufactured by Sharp and are incorporated with regular features like FM radios, 3G connections and music and content software from Microsoft's Zune. The sets run with Windows Phone 7 OS and have an interface for social networking events. The sets have been provided with a drag-to point called the Spot in order to publish content on the user's feeds instantly.
However, there is no removable storage on the handsets but there is a safe way of restoring content where content synchronizes automatically to a password protected web site via Microsoft Cloud services. No calendar application is there with the handsets.
Verizon Wireless will bring the new handsets in the US in May. Similarly, the European countries like Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom would get this set in autumn via Vodafone. However, the other details including the pricing and the release date have not been disclosed till now.
“Mobile social networking is increasingly having strong appeal for our customers. KIN has a unique and intuitive way of engaging with the user, enabling them easily to share experiences and stay in touch with their friends,” said Patrick Chomet, Group Director of Terminals at Vodafone.
“Our aim is to provide our customers with the widest choice of attractive smartphones and the best-in-class experience of new services through Vodafone’s high-speed mobile broadband network. This announcement continues to deliver on our ambition to be the strongest provider of data-centric mobile experiences across platforms and operating systems,” Chomet added.
