Today in Mobile

on May 5, 2010

The Microsoft Kins launch with Verizon Wireless tomorrow, and it looks like the nation’s largest carrier isn’t going to help Redmond sell many units. Verizon is categorizing the gadgets as smartphones and requiring users to pay the $30 monthly data plan it sells with high-end units. That’s going to price the Kins out of the market for the data-hungry young users Microsoft is taking aim at with its new phones. But given the difficulty carriers are having when it comes to fully monetizing high-end users, maybe Verizon’s strategy isn’t really ill-conceived at all.

Hands-on First Impressions of Microsoft’s Kin Phones

Om Malik on April 12, 2010

Microsoft today announced two new phones targeting teens and tweens. Taking a page from Motorola’s playbook, Redmond is betting that aggregation of social services will help it overcome the twin threat of Apple-Android. A quick hands-on review of the devices and my very early impressions.

Microsoft Aims New Kin Handsets at Twittering Teens

Kevin C. Tofel on April 12, 2010

Microsoft today launched its Kin line of handsets — web-enabled touchscreen phones built around social networking features, messaging, video sharing and the company’s Zune music offering. The new line is aimed squarely at the pre-smartphone demographic — a group that few competitors are targeting.