Microsoft announced earlier this week on Kin, their new line of phones, which puts the emphasis on social networks, SMS-texting and sharing. In a press conference held this week (Monday), Microsoft has launched their brand new mobile devices which plan to stay ahead of the competition, by appealing to younger audience. According to Microsoft, the whole purpose of the Kins is to make using and interacting with social media sites like Facebook and Twitter convenient and easy. On top of that, they promise a relatively low price.
Microsoft's Kins
The announcement itself comes as no surprise, just a short time after launching the Windows Phone 7 operating system which is intended for Premium mobile devices. Lately Microsoft realized that the cellular market is a cash cow. So now, they seek to grab a bigger bite of this market, by creating quality phones that come along with low prices, designed especially for teenagers who make use of many social networks and texting services. They want to create a device where the users’ entire “digital life” and content comes together into a single a platform, which is exactly what the users want, according to Microsoft.
Microsoft launched two models: Kin1 and Kin2 (how original). Both of these devices look very impressive. In one button click, users can update from the Kin their status on all social networks they are members of. By moving their finger across the screen, users can decide on files that will be shared with their friends as well as decide with which friends exactly, all this- with no clicks. The device knows who are our closest friends, with whom we talk the most and respond to their social networks’ statuses. It also ranks the contacts by the frequency we make conversations with that.
Moreover, they are Microsoft’s first mobile devices which support Zune, including an option of song recommendations and requests by other users and remotely streaming songs. The Kin1 (previously known as the Turtle) is equipped with 5 MP “shooter” with flash, mono speakers, 4 GB of on-board storage, Zune media player, and a small touch screen. On the contrary, the Kin2 is a bit better and packs a 8 MP camera and ability to shoot HD video in a resolution of 720p, 8 GB of storage ,stereo speakers, a tuner, larger sliding keyboard and a larger touch screen. Some of these are quite important when texting all of the time. Because the storage is limited, Microsoft allows backing up all the content into cloud computing- which is a new concept, especially in the cellular world.
The supported social networks include Windows live, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter and using the “Loop” interface (for uploading content) users will be able to upload pictures and videos with no need to use additional software. In addition, Microsoft has just launched www.kin.com, the Internet hub for their new line of phones. The site itself is composed of a time-line with pictures which are attached along it, just like the “story of our life”.
Omer Shachnai
The CEO Game.
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