Microsoft Kin

In trying to keep my blog relevant, I wanted to mention that tomorrow Microsoft is releasing its entry into the social networking world with the release of the Kin and Kin Two phones.  The phones will retail through Verizon for $50 and $100 respectively.

These are not "smart phones" but rather social phones giving access to Facebook, Twitter, and Microsoft's social site "The Studio".  The Studio will feature a timeline approach where users can view their friends activities and posts on a day-by-day basis.  Since these are not a smart phone, there is no App Store and relatively few software packages beyond the things I've already mentioned.

Both models feature a physical keyboard with Kin having a Blackberry style look and the Kin Two having a slide out Motorola Droid look.  The Kin Two has double the memory at 8GB and features an HD capable camera where the base model has a regular def camera.

You can see these devices at http://www.kin.com/ and as I said they'll be released tomorrow.  While geared at teens, this product might also be good for people who want to check social media on the go but don't need the featuers of a full blown smart phone at nearly double the price.

On a minor footnote, HTC has also released the Incredible which is their more direct competitor to the Motorola Droid.  No slide out keyboard but it features a 3.7" screen, 1GHz processor, 8GB memory, and Android 2.1 OS.