Kin Consumer Phones Unveiled

A new line of smartphones focused on younger users interested in social networking and digital media will begin shipping in May 2010. Kin phones, manufactured by Sharp and carried exclusively by Verizon in the United States and Vodafone in Europe, are not based on Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 platform, won’t support third-party applications at launch, and are not intended for business users. The announcement, coming close on the heels of the Windows Phone 7 unveiling, further complicates Microsoft’s mobile strategy, which is in the midst of a major platform transition.

Not a Platform

In early 2008, Microsoft revamped its mobile strategy to compete more effectively with Apple’s iPhone and to keep up with consumer-oriented improvements from Nokia, Research In Motion, and other mobile vendors. Around that time, mobile phone platform development at Microsoft split into parallel tracks.

The reorganized Windows Mobile team came up with a platform called Windows Phone 7. (“Series” has been dropped from the end of the brand name.) Announced in Feb. 2010, Windows Phone 7 is a break from previous versions of Windows Mobile, with a new interface, more restrictive hardware specifications, and a different application platform. However, as with earlier versions of Windows Mobile, Microsoft will license Windows Phone 7 to multiple handset makers, who will sell the resulting phones through multiple wireless carriers, and it has a developer-accessible platform on which third parties can build and sell applications. Windows Phone 7 also has functions for business users, such as mobile versions of Office and Outlook, as well as connectivity to SharePoint Server. The first Windows Phone 7 devices are expected to ship by late 2010.