Optimized for social networking, texting, and other popular data applications, Microsoft’s Kin 1 and Kin 2 target the youth market.

The rumors are true, as Microsoft has announced its Kin mobile phone. Available in two form factors, the Kin isn’t exactly a smart phone, but it does come close (see the figure). Like the Motorola Cliq, it’s designed for the under-25 crowd, which is into social networking through Facebook and Twitter, video through YouTube, and, of course, texting. 

Article Tools

• 

The Kin 1, which is the smaller device, and the Kin 2 both have touchscreens and slide-out full QWERTY keyboards. The Kin 1 has a 5-Mpixel camera, while the Kin 2 has an 8-Mpixel camera. Both have a bright LED flash. The Kin 1 also boasts 4 Gbytes of memory, and the Kin 2 has 8 Gbytes. The Kin 2 will record video as well.

Both phones are designed and made by Sharp. They use a special version of the Microsoft mobile operating system, not Mobile 7, as the rumors indicated. The phones also have a Zune media player, which is a real plus. The browser doesn’t support Flash or Silverlight, though.

The Kin phones will be available exclusively from Verizon starting in May. No prices have yet been announced. Vodafone will also have the phones in the fall in Germany, Italy, Spain, and the U.K.

Microsoft