Not Dead Yet: Microsoft's Kin Devices May Return To Verizon

pulled from store shelves

A purported Verizon Wireless fourth-quarter product roadmap, which was published last week by the blog PPCGeeks.com, lists the Kin One and Kin Two along with several other devices from other handset makers. Verizon describes Kin devices as featuring "impressive hardware not found on other feature phones," but doesn't mention pricing.

Also missing from the document is mention of the $30 monthly data plan requirement that Verizon attached to Kin sales. Kin's lack of basic functions like calendar, combined with a lack of third party application compatibility, apparently made it tough for customers to justify paying essentially the same for a Kin as they'd pay for an actual smartphone.

Verizon couldn't be reached for comment on the document's authenticity. But as Microsoft's exclusive partner for Kin in the U.S, Verizon likely finds itself sitting on a mountain of unsold Kins and is taking one last shot at moving inventory during the holiday season. Pricing will have to be more realistic this time around.

When Verizon began selling Kins in May, it charged $149.99 for Kin One and $199.99 for Kin Two with a two-year service contract. However, chilly sales prompted a subsequent price cut from both Verizon, as well as partner Best Buy, which at one point was giving away the Kin One for free with a two-year contract.

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Kin One and Kin Two were the first mobile devices to carry the Windows Phone brand, and they were also Microsoft's first foray into mobile hardware. But in a bizarre and uniquely Microsoftian twist, the Kin OS is only peripherally related to Windows Phone 7, which became available in the U.S. last week through AT&T and T-Mobile.

Verizon, incidentally, has been vague about its longer-term plans for Windows Phone 7, perhaps because it's doing quite well with Android. Microsoft plans to release a CDMA version of the OS sometime next year that would run on Verizon and Sprint's network.

Kin is believed to have stemmed from Microsoft's $500 million acquisition of Danger in 2008. Despite poor sales, Microsoft learned important lessons from Kin that have been carried over to Windows Phone 7 and the software giant's broader cloud computing strategy. For example, Kin Studio, which replicates all content users create with their devices in the cloud and presents it in a niftily styled Webpage, was a carryover from Danger, which Microsoft has been praised for maintaining.