Verizon Now Selling Microsoft Kin As Feature Phones

Curiously, Verizon is also slapping the letter 'm' onto the brand names of Kin One and Kin Two. With a two-year contract, the Kin Onem is priced at $20 and the Kin Twom is priced at $50. Without a contract, they're $120 and $220 respectively.

Verizon, Microsoft's exclusive partner for Kin, had a front row seat to the resounding thud the devices made when they arrived on the mobile device market in May. The devices failed to sell in large part due to Verizon's insistence on requiring a $30 monthly data plan, and Microsoft pulled the plug in July amid rumors of dismal sales.

Verizon has now made the data plan optional. But given that Kin devices are content creation beasts with built-in still and video cameras, customers are going to want some sort of data plan, unless they're content with just using the built-in Wi-Fi. Verizon is offering customers a 150-MB data plan for $15 per month and an unlimited plan for $30 per month, or they can pay $2 per MB and consume data in piecemeal fashion.

Microsoft spent a ton of money on marketing Kin, and ambitiously attempted to reach a younger audience than it has in the past. Kin wasn't a total loss, however, and Microsoft has incorporated some of the features into Windows Phone 7

The data plan flexibility may help Verizon move some Kins, but the availability of Windows Phone 7 devices through other carriers could put a crimp on demand. Microsoft has yet to make a CDMA version of Windows Phone 7 available to Verizon and Sprint but says it plans to do so early next year.

Meanwhile, Verizon has been somewhat vague about its plans for Windows Phone 7, but earlier this month offered clearer insight into its plans. "As soon as Microsoft has 'em ready, we're excited to offer Windows 7 mobile devices," a Verizon spokesperson said in a Nov. 8 Tweet.