Microsoft Kin

Kin was a line of mobile phones that was briefly marketed by Microsoft in 2010. Aimed at people between ages 15 and 30, they were designed for social networking. Microsoft invested two years and about US$1 billion developing the Kin platform, beginning with its acquisition of Danger Incorporated, creators of the Hiptop or T-Mobile Sidekick. The Kin ran an operating system based on Windows CE. They were manufactured by Sharp Corporation and sold through Verizon Wireless.

The Kin ONE and TWO went on the market on May 14, 2010. Within two months, Verizon stopped selling the phones because of poor sales. Microsoft scrapped its planned European release, stopped promoting the devices, ceased production, and reassigned the Kin development team to other projects. Microsoft updated its unsold Kin inventory with firmware that removed social and web-based features, and in December 2010 offered these re-purposed units through Verizon stores as limited feature phones, the Kin ONEm and the TWOm. The Kin TWOm was discontinued in August 2011; unsold inventory could still be found for sale on deals sites as late as June 2013.

The Kin project was first known by the codename Project Pink, and began under direction of Microsoft executive J Allard. In order to gain a head start, Microsoft acquired Danger Incorporated, which built the Danger Hiptop/T-Mobile Sidekick, in 2008 for a purchase price rumored to be around US$500 million. In September 2009, a ZDNet source reported that Project Pink would bring an entirely new software stack and services. Some reports predicted that the new mobile phone platform would be based on the Zune media device. The project was managed by Roz Ho, a corporate vice president at Microsoft. Internally, the team used the slogan "Truly Madly Deeply Pink"; in tweets they used the hashtag "#tmdp".

Kin was developed inside Microsoft's Premium Mobile Experiences (PMX) division by a group that included staff from Danger. Handset manufacturers and network carriers were said to be initially enthusiastic about Kin, and vying with each other to be involved with the project.

According to Engadget, there was jealousy and rivalry in Microsoft's executive ranks, and Windows Phone senior vice president Andy Lees managed to wrest control of the Kin project away from Allard, and move it under his Windows Phone division. Danger's Sidekick, the predecessor to Kin, was based on the Java programming language, but Engadget says that Lees wanted Kin to run an in-house Microsoft operating system. Microsoft planned to base Kin on Windows Phone. Due to delays with Windows Phone, however, the software instead had to be based directly upon Windows CE.

Engadget claims that Lees lacked enthusiasm for the Kin project. Nonetheless, Microsoft spent a further two years developing the Kin until its release in 2010.

The unveiling of Microsoft Kin began when the company sent out invitations to select reporters for a mystery event in San Francisco on April 12, 2010. The tagline on the invitation said "It's time to share". However, just hours later a source confirmed that the event was about Project Pink (the official name not having been announced yet). The event was held in a night club called Mighty and featured a presentation given by Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's Entertainment and Device division.

Microsoft was criticized for an online video advertisement for the phone that depicted a male teenager putting a Kin under his shirt to photograph his naked chest. He was then shown sending the image to a female teenager. The Consumer Reports group described the advertisement as a "downright creepy sequence," suggesting that it promoted sexting. In response, Microsoft deleted the "inappropriate" portion of the video.