Microsoft Kin is dead
By Chris Ziegler 
posted June 30th 2010 4:54PM
posted June 30th 2010 4:54PM
Interestingly, CNET is reporting that Roz Ho -- the exec who masterminded Kin under the codename "Pink" following Microsoft's acquisition of Danger -- will "oversee" her team's move over to Windows Phone 7 before taking a to-be-determined role elsewhere in the company. For what it's worth, we didn't think much of the Kin when we reviewed it -- to be fair, we're not the product's target demographic, but it certainly seems as though the phones got no love from the tweens, teens, and twentysomethings it sought to win over, either. It's hard to say how the Kin's untimely (or is it timely?) death ties into Robbie Bach and J Allard's departure, but since Lees has his hands more closely wrapped around this project than he had in the past, it stands to reason that there's a link there. After all, just how bad do sales have to be to kill a project mere weeks into its retail launch? And for NVIDIA, what does it mean that they've yet to release even a single blockbuster, wildly successful Tegra device?"We have made the decision to focus exclusively on Windows Phone 7 and we will not ship KIN in Europe this fall as planned. Additionally, we are integrating our KIN team with the Windows Phone 7 team, incorporating valuable ideas and technologies from KIN into future Windows Phone releases. We will continue to work with Verizon in the U.S. to sell current KIN phones."
Update: What killed the Kin?
I'm confused.
@marsel
,,, Stay tuned
-- Steve Jobs
@marsel
It should never have launched.
@marsel Didn't Michael Gartenberg bet Joshua Topolsky that they would sell a ton of these?
@marsel Confused? About what? It was diskintinued.
@SolidSnake
I agree with you! People here argued that it was for kids or teenagers but teenagers nowadays go for cool looking phones, a la droids, iPhone and BB. So I don't know what they were thinking about when they designed this thing. Make Zune a phone and you'll have limitless adoring fans! So long kin, I hardly cared about ya!
@SolidSnake
The mobile gadget community lost one of their kin today.
@marsel who woulda guessed this?
Only way this phone would have worked is for it to have cost almost nothing, and for Verizon to not be stupid enough to charge smartphone pricing for data.
@bob1000 and they will (to junkyards as a recycling material with all those cans and bottels).
@marsel I was more confused at launch than I am now.
Where else besides Engadget can Colonel Sanders and Solid Snake, two of my biggest heros, post in the same thread? That is why I love coming here.
@marsel
Transfer the Cloud features to Windows Phone 7!
@webdevmike
I see what you did there..
It failed to Kinnect with Europe
@bob1000
What did he bet? A New York bagel?
@marsel
No one saw that one coming...
@marsel hahaha, that was fast.
@marsel
Please, somebody notify the next of kin!
@DeFlanko
They simply couldnt Kinect with their desired audience
@bob1000 that's "entelligance" for ya...
@marsel You're not the only one. Microsoft better pull a rabbit out of their asses with Windows Phone 7 because this disaster is making them look pathetic.
@marsel
Everyone knows the blackberry is the hipsters bible. What was Microsoft thinking?
Epic Fail ever since WinMO 6.5
@treats
ditto. they got one part right, the other was a fail.
@marsel
not me, $30 a month data plan when you can easily get a iphone or android phone just spells failure for your product.
@marsel
sales are shit because this phone costs the same per month as a droid. it was dumb for the carriers to try and milk $30 data plans from these phones designed for tweens.
i saw this coming.
@marsel LOL WUT.
MicroFail.
MSLOL!
No, seriously, *everyone* knew this was a bad idea from day one.
OK, everyone but Microsoft...
Microsoft's dream of ruling over a KINgdom is dead...
lol @ social networking phone that shipped WITHOUT standard instant messaging protocol support...
@SamTatr I suppose they are going to giv out the dead kin batteries free of charge?
@marsel
"This is Steve Ballmer. He's on a mission to destroy Microsoft and he's armed with Kin. The first ever Windows Phone to invoke the gag reflex."
it's because the antenna worked to good so apple bought it out..
@marsel Pound for pound, you can't compete with Nokia in the lower end of the market. Mid to Low end Symbian devices do a lot more than what the kin does for less money.
And the Kin didnt come with an IM app or even a Youtube app and you couldnt comment on another persons FB comment, which the tweens care about, making the phone hardly the communication device that it was touted to be. I am more than likely getting a WP7 phone next( Dell Lightning or any HTC version) and I hope it doesnt come with the many missing features as Kin, especially Youtube!
@marsel
The Kin is DEAD, long live the Kin!
@marsel kin gets canned?
@marsel Why are you confused?
A collective "I SAID IT FIRST" is echoing throughout the blogosphere. This thing was a massive fail on launch. Their "extensive research" seems to be a bit flawed.
I'd expect the same research mechanics to have gone into WP7, which will only succeed because it's MS's only option in the mobile space, unlike the Kins.
@SolidSnake - Exactly! And it makes Microsoft look like a bunch of "FICKLED WHORES"!. They should have been focusing on WP7 all along instead of jumping from knob to knob while their mobile market share slide!
@primetime4
I used to see them all the time when playing CS!
@marsel
The funniest part about this is bagel dwarf guy said the Kin would be successful...LMFAO...I knew it was a POS from day one...dumbphone with smartphone data plan $$ = fail!
@marsel
What the hell am I suppose to do about this Kin tattoo?
@DoctarPeppar
Now is the time to buy them.
I wonder if they'll be worth a alot in a few years time.
And here I thought the Kin was aborted at birth.
@hero785 No milestones (uk droids) where I live. A few iPhones and a lot of blackberries and blackberry style phones and a lot of iPod touches and lg cookies
@doubleu true. in fact, Windows Phone 7 doesn't have Windows Live Messenger (very popular outside the US, including here in Brazil), but MS launched a WLM app for iOS.
WLM also works on dumbphones, Windows Mobile 6, BlackBerry and Symbian. why not WP7?
@marsel : it's as if millions of ...oh wait. :)
@marsel
It's ok though. They're going to sell off the exist phones, and that'll take years. Don't worry, Kin ain't going anywhere.
@marsel Didn't even last as long as BOB… congratulations, Microsoft, you've set the bar to a new low.
@marsel
All these bad puns are akin to something my gran could come up with.
@michaelwub
And don't forget about that delicious cup of coffee dwarfed only by the size of his...