KIN – Microsoft’s New Social Focused Device

Robbie Bach took the stage in San Francisco for Microsoft to announce a new phone and a new way of connecting with friends through social media. This new phone is the result of talking with thousands of people about how they use their phones every day, including all of their likes and dislikes. Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 is designed to bring important things together on your phone. In this new device, Microsoft along with partners Verizon, Vodafone, and Sharp, have built upon the same core elements and design as Windows Phone 7, but focused on taking social to the next level.

Derek Snyder took the stage to give a tour of the new phone called “Kin”, showing just how easy it is to work with. There are 2 models of Kin – Kin 1, and Kin 2. The Kin 1 is a small turtle shape device that has a slide down keyboard. The Kin 2 is a rectangular shaped device with a keyboard that slides out to the side of the device. The Kin 2 will also shot video in HD at 720p resolution and is the first phone to ship with Zune built in. Pictures and video’s are automatically uploaded and backed up online to the Kin Studio – a web based tool that you can access from any browser and provides a backup timeline of the pictures and video’s taken with your device, as well as a copy of your contacts. Kin will automatically Geo-Tag all your pictures and video’s, so you can easily see where you took the picture on a Bing map using Kin Studio.

Verizon announced that they are the exclusive US partner and that the Kin will be available starting next month at Verizon stores across the country. The full press release, along with pictures of Kin One and Two, can be found after the jump.

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