Microsoft Kin Unboxing & First Look

As you watch me unbox the Microsoft Kin Two from Verizon Wireless, my first impressions of this phone are that it's a cool new way to network on Twitter, Faceook, etc. It's a new form factor and a new OS, which will be put to the test.

Stay tuned for more coverage on the Microsoft Kin Two.

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This Week in Phones #2 - The KIN Phones

Microsoft’s newest entries into the cell phone market are the KIN phones: Kin 1 and Kin 2. Today these phones became available on Verizon Wireless’s online store only, but will soon be available in their retail stores. When these phones were announced, many bloggers criticized the KIN, saying this phone would fail soon after it came out. In this article, I would like to share with you some of the specs of the KIN.

First off, Microsoft makes two KINs: One with a vertical sliding QWERTY keyboard and one with a vertical sliding keyboard. Both phones have a touchscreen and an impressive camera. The Kin 1 has a 2.6” inch touchscreen and the Kin 2 has a 3.4” inch touchscreen. The Kin 1 has a 5 megapixel camera and the Kin 2 has an 8 megapixel camera. Both phones have Wi-Fi and a custom Windows OS. On paper that sounds like a good phone, but the phone does have some short comings.

Both Kins have 8GB of unexpandable memory, which is unfortunate. The second short coming is the price. The phones are technically “smart phones” and are priced competitively. Microsoft claims these phones are smart phones, but are aimed at teens and early 20’s users. That means you need to have a data plan, which starts at $30 per month. So if you’re a teen buying this phone, convincing your parents to pay $30 per month for data might be kind of tough for some people.

In conclusion, this phone should really be marketed as a multimedia phone since they’re trying to go after young people. I am interested to see where this phone goes. I think it has an interesting design and feature set, so I’m really interested to see what owners do with their Kins and whether they’ll like it or not.

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Overview: Microsoft Kin 1 and Kin 2

Microsoft announced Monday that they would be releasing two new phones to the Verizon network. The two phones are named the Kin 1 and Kin 2. Both of these phones were designed for primary use with social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace.

The Kin 1 is designed in the shape of a beefy hockey puck that slides up to reveal a hidden QWERTY keyboard. The Kin 1 also features 4GB of Memory, QVGA Display, and an astounding 5 Megapixel Camera that includes an LED Flash.

However, the Kin 2 is oval shaped with well rounded edges. This device features 8GB of Memory, full QWERTY keyboard, QVGA Display, and an even more amazing 8 Megapixel Camera including LED Flash.

Again, both devices are aimed at providing a new experience to "Social Media" by allowing users to stream to the homepage of social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and Myspace.

To wrap up, both the Kin 1, and 2 are very ergonomic in both design and functionality. They both have easy to use keyboards, texting, and calling features. Additionally, they are mixed with a big camera, LED flash, Bluetooth, WiFi, and large internal memory.