Microsoft has unveiled a new line of Windows phones that are focused on social networking features and are tailored for young consumers.
The two new models Kin One and Kin Two, developed in partnership with Sharp, feature a simple interface, touch screen and slide-out keyboard. Kin One is small and compact, while Two has a larger screen and keyboard, in addition to more memory, a higher resolution camera, and the ability to record high-definition video.
Kin One and Two feature 5 megapixel and 8 megapixel cameras, respectively and are designed for use in low light with image stabilisation and a bright LumiLED flash. The new phones feature an interface called Kin Loop and automatically brings together feeds from Microsoft and third-party services such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter all in one place, the company said.
According to Microsoft, the new phones also come with Kin Spot that allows users to share videos, photos, text messages, web pages, location and status updates by dragging them to a single place on the phone. The KIN Studio automatically backs up texts, call history, photos, videos and contacts, and populates a personalised digital journal.
In addition, Kin will be the first Windows phone to feature Zune including music, video, FM radio and podcast playback. With a Zune Pass subscription, customers using Zune software on their PC can listen to songs from Zune Marketplace on their KIN while on the go, or load their personal collection.
The new Kin phones also include a browser with the ability to share pieces of the web, local and web search by Bing, and an RSS feed reader to pull down information from the web.
Robbie Bach, president of the entertainment and devices division at Microsoft, said: “Working closely with our partners, 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.
“We built KIN for people who live to be connected, share, express and relate to their friends and family. 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.”
The new KIN touch-screen phones will be exclusively available from Verizon Wireless in the US beginning in May and from Vodafone this autumn in Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK.
