Microsoft has unveiled two mobile phones that are meant for social networking-savvy teens and those in their 20s to revitalise its mobile business and regain ground on iPhones and BlackBerrys.
The Kin One and Kin Two phones, which both feature touchscreens and slideout keyboards, are being made by Japan's Sharp and will be available in the US through carrier Verizon Wireless next month.
The Kin phones will be sold in Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain in the northern autumn in partnership with Vodafone.Microsoft did not announce prices for the phones, which are aimed at countering devices from rivals such as Apple, Motorola, BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion, Samsung and others.
The US software giant has previously focused on providing Windows operating systems for mobile phones but it was closely involved with Sharp in developing the hardware for the Kin series aimed at the youth market.
"Social networks are the cornerstone of this experience," Derek Snyder, a product manager at Windows Mobile, said at an unveiling event for the new phones in San Francisco.
"We saw an opportunity to design a mobile experience just for this social generation - a phone that makes it easy to share your life moment to moment," said Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division.
The home screen of the Kin phones always remains on as the device brings together feeds from social networks such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.
Videos, photos, text messages, web pages and location and status updates can be shared by dragging them to a place on the phone called the Spot.
The Kin One features a five-megapixel camera, which shoots standard definition video and is smaller and more compact than the Kin Two.
The Kin Two has a larger screen and larger keyboard, more memory and an eight-megapixel higher resolution camera, which can record high-definition video.
The Kin offers online storage of photos and video through a feature called Kin Studio, which also backs up text messages, call history and contacts.
The Kin also allows users to listen to music or watch video from the Zune Marketplace, the online store for Microsoft's Zune MP3 player.
The Kin One has four gigabytes of memory, or room for about 1000 songs, while the Kin Two has eight gigabytes of memory or 2000 songs.
The phones are black and the touchscreen gestures are similar to those used to operate Apple's iPhone.
Microsoft's software has been losing share to Apple and Google, which makes the Android operating software.
Microsoft software ran on 13.1 per cent of smartphones sold in the US last year, according to research firm In-Stat. That put Microsoft in third place after Research In Motion and Apple.
Roz Ho, leader of the Microsoft team behind the Kin, said the company had been working on the Kin devices for several years, trying to create a handset for people who especially want to connect with others over social websites.
The phones are also meant for people who want a handset that works simply, without forcing them to hunt through menus and icons, she said.
That set-up could also present a risk. Unlike most popular smart phones, the Kins won't have access to application stores that let customers download add-on software programs.
Ho said her team studied consumer habits and then built the activities they used most often into the phones.
My critique~
It seems to be more and more competitive for the mobile phone market....Now microsoft has their own mobile phones products which are kin one and kin two to cater the need of the young. there is a trend to combine handphone with computer. we can text sms, call and share our thoughts via our mobile phones now. The mobile phone manufacturers have to be more creative and up to date so that they can continue to stay in the market or hire more productive professionals to invest in R&D...xD
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