14 DAY TRIAL // Redmond-based software giant Microsoft announced recently the introduction of a new category of mobile phones, the KIN devices, which offer at all times connectivity to social networking sites, and which are aimed to fit the needs of those who live active social lives. The phones are now available for purchase from Verizon Wireless in the US, which asks customers who will acquire one of the two KIN devices to sign up for a minimum monthly $70 service fee.
The data plan for KIN phones is of $30 (included in the aforementioned fee), and some see these prices as being a little too high, considering the fact that the KIN handsets are not actual smartphones. However, Microsoft and Verizon responded to these claims, stating that the plans are sustained by the features of KIN, especially by its capability to automatically back up videos, pictures and other data into the cloud.
At the moment, Microsoft and Verizon see the KIN devices as social networking phones, and Brenda Raney, a spokeswoman for Verizon, says exactly the same when stating that KIN was “designed ... to be a full-service device [for] the person whose life is about networking,” a recent article on computerworld reads. The phone's cloud-based automatic syncing is expected to generate a lot of Internet traffic, which should be covered with the monthly fee.
Most of the critics against the price plans put in place by Verizon suggest that KIN phones are not smartphones, especially since users cannot download and install applications on them, yet it seems that Microsoft aims at addressing these issues in the future. According to the company, KIN and Windows Phone 7 will merge in a future update, offering the same apps and services for the two solutions.
“Over the longer term, we'll be merging platforms and having downloadable apps,” said Greg Sullivan, senior product manager in Microsoft's mobile communications unit, computerworld reports. “We're introducing a new category that's not exactly a smartphone and certainly more than a high-end feature phone -- a social or cloud phone -- with a rich browsing experience and rich multimedia social networking, where everything I do on the phone is automatically backed up in the Kin Studio,” he continued.