How would you change Microsoft's Kin One and Two?

Hey! Microsoft debuted two new phones earlier this year! Remember that? Okay, so there's a fair chance that Microsoft actually moved fewer Kin One / Two handsets than Fusion Garage did JooJoo tablets, but we're pretty confident that a few of you fell for the whole "my life is so social, so I'm buying in" thing. We're still personally trying to figure out why the full Windows Phone 7 wasn't used here instead of an OS that'll likely be forgotten by the time you finish reading this, but enough of our rambling -- this space is all about you. Did you pick up one of the Kin brothers? How's the experience? Are you still kosher with paying the same data plan price as future Droid X users? Have you gained more friends than you know what to do with? Starred in your own commercial? Tell us below, tweeps.

[engadget fanboy Posted Jun 26th 2010 4:25PM]

I think the best plan would be to completely disassemble every last bit of hardware and then use it to build a good phone with a real smartphone OS. The Kin OS looks worst then Symbian.

[derricob Posted Jun 26th 2010 5:04PM]

I would've came out with them in 2008 or early 2009, Made the kin one's screen bigger, and Then put a real os on them

[s2k Posted Jun 26th 2010 5:32PM]

Make it good enough for Paul Miller to use without grimacing.

[ceesnutz Posted Jun 26th 2010 5:57PM]

I just have to say that the picture for this is sooo funny! Hipster Paul looks sad.

[dboobis Posted Jun 26th 2010 6:39PM]

Just out of curiosity, do you actually have any sales numbers or are you just mocking it because you don't see the need? Until someone can prove to me that the target market (i.e. not us) hasn't fallen for this phone, articles like this are totally pointless.

[hill60 Posted Jun 26th 2010 7:08PM]

How much did Microsoft pay for Danger before they re-released the Hiptop?

[peluso72 Posted Jun 26th 2010 8:14PM]

The problem with the KIN isn't the design of the phone, it's that the data plan and partner are not in line with the customer base. Having many young teens on my block I can see where the KIN is the perfect phone for them as it truly meets their needs..

Unfortunately phones and plans go together very tightly and the KIN on verizon is like 1/2 of a phone because Verizon's program offerings simply doesn't click with the user base..

So what are the recomended solutions:
1st: Get the phone onto a prepaid network.. possibly Walmart's low priced solution. Too many young teens have parents who don't have regular phone plans. The unglamerous (ie, not smartphone) growth segment of the mobile phone business is prepaid, and KIN needs to be there in a big way.

2nd: Offer free texting for life and subsidize the texting service by delivering an ad with every text. That business alone should make the product profitable. Also, even when the kids don't have the money for the data plan card, they still keep their KIN with them as the texting makes the KIN invaluable.

3rd: Drive alternative revenue streams through the phone, ie, applications, music, advertising, revenue producing games, etc.. Makes sure that the points cards, and prepaid game cards are available everywhere.. every convenience store, every walmart, every streetside vendor.

4th: seed the heck out of the market by a major promotion ala, the Xbox 360 win it before you can buy it promotion. Maybe a tie in with someone like a soda manufacturer or a movie chain.. where many of the phones are seeded into the market.. what ever the product tie-in is, make sure it's something used heavily by the target market.

5th: Colors and personalization.. as the KIN market grows.. make sure there are many ways to personalize the product.. different Colors for the KIN1 is a start.. but there is much that can be done here both on the devices and the web interface.

By driving very high perceived value with ad supported Texting, having alternative revenue streams for profitabity, ubiquitous availability via a prepaid provider, and personalization the KIN can be taken from a half baked concept to a smash hit.

[Jayratch Posted Jun 27th 2010 12:30AM]

Kin: It's like MS Bob, but 17 years later.

Clearly, the improvement is to replace it with Windows 95.

[zeblonite Posted Jun 27th 2010 2:23AM]

Sincere question here: do you actually use IM? I see lots of people saying how ridiculous it is that there's no IM app on the KIN, but do you actually use IM? I'll bet it's been 2 years or more since I last got an IM. At least in my social circle, texting has 100% taken the place of IM. Texts for one-on-one communication, facebook for group communication. Are other people's usage patterns really that different from mine? Is an IM client really the least bit relevant today?

[isprobi Posted Jun 27th 2010 2:28AM]

I'm going to Best Buy tomorrow to return my Sprint EVO because it got 0-1 bars at work while my 2 year old AT&T Blackberry Bold 9000 had 3-5 bars. Maybe I'll try a Kin and see just how crappy they are. The keyboard on the Kin 2 doesn't look too bad but I don't see much else I like. I am beginning to think that Microsoft will have a very hard time replacing WinMo 6.5 just like they had with Windows XP. I have not heard of any top notch developers racing to write applications for WinMo 7?

[SmDFrylock Posted Jun 27th 2010 8:05PM]

Give a free Zune pass as long as the phone has service with verizon.

[Dogcowsaysmoof Posted Jun 28th 2010 11:45AM]

Turn them into kindling.

[Kingchese26 Posted Aug 8th 2010 5:40PM]

@Extinction Really? Social networking IS (was) the kin. Getting rid of the social networking 'crap' would make this already-horrible phone absolutely worthless.