Microsoft has finally taken the plunge, it has now entered the mobile phone market. Sure, in some way, it has been a part of it with its Windows Mobile Operating System, but this is the first time a handheld mobile phone got Microsoft’s seal of approval.
Last April, Microsoft unveiled Project Pink and introduced two new phones, the Kin One and the Kin Two, that are targeted for the younger demographic. These phones featured support for today’s ever popular social networks. Although the phone was not designed with everyone in mind, it still have its upsides that is worth looking at. You can see how it might appeal to teens and tweens with its fun user interface and instant access to favorite friends and a constant connection to them through the tight social-networking integration.
Going straight to it, of the two Kin phones, the Kin One has the more interesting look. It’s squarish in shape with rounded edges. Looks similar to a woman’s compact – the one they use for powdering their faces. The front section of the slider phone is smaller than the back part, which adds to its unique look. All in all, its not ugly, not even beautiful, only different.
The device is small, compact, and lightweight measuring 3.25 inches tall by 2.5 inches wide by 0.75 inch deep and weighing 3.9 ounces. It fits nicely in the hand and feels solid overall, and the soft-touch finish on back prevents it from feeling completely slick and becoming a smudge magnet like the front of the device.
Given the small size of this device, one would assume that its QWERTY keyboard will be difficult to use. But that’s not the case, its not that bad. The layout is slightly cramped, so users with larger thumbs may need time to acclimate; and even though the keys are raised above the phone’s surface, they’re slightly stiff to press. Still, the oval buttons aren’t too small and there’s a decent amount of spacing between them, so that cuts down on incorrect presses. There are even shortcut keys on the bottom row for the phone app, search, and emoticons.
The display though, is a different matter. The 2.6-inch QVGA capacitive touch screen is pretty cramped, especially with all the information that’s populated on the Loop home screen. It also makes it less than ideal for viewing movies and Web pages, though for the latter you at least get pinch-to-zoom support. With a QVGA resolution, it’s the not the sharpest display on the block, but its sufficiently bright and clear for reading messages and viewing images. There’s an ambient light sensor that will automatically adjust the screen’s brightness depending on the environment, but the screen still washed out in bright sunlight.
There’s a 3.5mm headphone jack on top. In the upper left corner there’s a volume rocker, and there’s a camera activation/capture key and power button in the upper right corner.
The Kin One and Two are very identical. Even their user interface is virtually the same. The software on both devices was created on the core elements of Windows Phone 7, but the user experience is designed completely around social communication, with the Loop home screen at the center of it all. The Loop, by the way, displays all your contacts’ updates and tweets from Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and Windows Live, and will also pull in any content from your subscribed news feeds. It retains a bit of the look and feel of Windows Phone 7 with the tile layout, and you can tap each tile to either read the full story or comment on a person’s status. Information is shown in chronological order with the most recent news up top; as more updates and stories come in, stories are pushed down. Information is downloaded in 15-minute increments, not real time. Your status and image, however, always remain at the top, where you can instantly update your MySpace or Facebook status or send out a tweet by simply tapping the screen.
At the left part of the screen, you will find all the phone’s apps, such as e-mail, music and videos, phone, browser, settings, and so forth. When you swipe to the right you’ll find all your favorite contacts. You can have up to 51 favorites and adding contacts is simple. You can’t change the size of the tiles, but you can rearrange them, as well as apps, by doing a two-finger tap on the screen.
Yes, the Kin One and Two has social networking as its main feature, but its not just that. It is still a phone, so standard phone features are available. There are several voice features that is quite useful. Voice features include a speakerphone, conference calling, a proximity sensor, text and multimedia messaging, 3G support, and stereo Bluetooth. Wi-Fi is also onboard as well as a full HTML Web browser.
The handsets’ address book is limited only by the available memory; each contact card offers room for multiple numbers, e-mail addresses, custom ringtones, and photos, birthdays, and more. If an individual has a Facebook or MySpace page, you can open up an individual entry and then swipe to the right to view any contact info that’s been pulled from those sites. It’s also possible to link and unlink duplicate contact cards.
E-mail support on the Kin One and Two includes POP3/IMAP accounts as well as Exchange with push delivery. It’s not up to par with business phones such as Blackberrys or the iPhone, but its serviceable. The Kin doesn’t offer a unified in-box, but rather something reminiscent of the Windows Phone 7 hubs that you can swipe to the right and left to view your various in-boxes.
Among the several unique features that the Kin One has to offer is a media player that is anything but standard. Along with the Kin Two, this stout slider is the first Windows phone to come with a fully integrated Zune HD interface, which is a considerable step up from the Windows Media Player app found on previous products.
Those who are familiar with the Zune HD will be extremely comfortable browsing media on the Kin One. As on the standalone player, navigation is handled entirely via the touch screen and the tactile back button, and it’s a very smooth process despite the Kin One’s significantly smaller screen. Media is also organized in the Zune HD manner, with the main screen dedicated to five categories: music, videos, radio, Zune Pass, and settings.
Another distinctive feature of the Kin devices is the Web-based Kin Studio service. This is a bit like Microsoft’s My Phone service for Windows Mobile, as it automatically backs up your phone’s contacts, text messages, and multimedia files to a secure Web site for free. When you log on to the Kin Studio Web site and enter your Windows Live ID and password, all your information will be there, including a current version of your Loop screen, any news feeds, and call logs. There’s also a Timeline feature, which is pretty awesome, as it opens up all the photos, all the people you’ve been in touch with, and all the messages you’ve received for a designated time period and places them in a timeline.
The Kin is powered by the 600MHz Tegra APX2600. The Kin One features a 1,240mAh lithium ion battery with a rated standby time of up to 8.75 days.
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Microsoft Kin One Review
