Microsoft's "Kin" Smartphones Hit Verizon

Filed in archive Mobile on May 7, 2010

Verizon has made it official. The company has kicked off sales of Microsoft's new "Kin" phones, as both companies target the seemingly-invincible Apple by targeting social networking-savvy consumers with emphasis on social networking with their handsets.

The Kin One, the square-shaped phone (shown) that looks like a cosmetics compact, will sell for $50 with a contract. The Kin Two, a larger more traditional rectangular-shaped device, will sell for $100 with a contract.

Both phones include healthy feature sets including touch screen displays, slide-out keyboards and Wi-Fi access. The Kin Two has a larger LCD and an 8.0-megapixel camera that is capable of shooting HD-quality video, while the Kin One's lens captures 5.0-megapixel photos.

Neither handset offers a memory card slot, instead, opting to upload content like photos and videos to an included online storage service to free up the phone's memory.