Verizon confirmed today that it will be the exclusive mobile carrier for Microsoft’s KIN social phones in the US that will launch in May.
Vodafone – which owns 45% of Verizon Wireless – plans to release a GSM version of the KIN in Europe (UK, Germany, Spain and Italy) this Fall.
KIN is better than FLIP, contends Verizon
In an interesting twist, that goes beyond Microsoft’s vision, Verizon believes that the KINs could reach a broader audience than just the “sociologists” or the socially connected crowd.
“I would contend that KIN utility and functionality serves a broader audience than just the socially connected. When you think about it, it’s really for anybody that’s a photo or video obsessed person, parents come to mind specifically, because not only is the video and picture capture quality remarkable, it’s better than the Flip, but also where the magic really happened for me is when I first used the phone, took some video, and then saw that over the Verizon Wireless Network, all the videos got loaded into the studio Web site waiting there for me in chronological order, and geotagged.
KIN will reduce support questions
So, this all happened without any cables to connect your PC and your phone, and without any SD cards to manage. Thousands of customers call us every month, and walk into our stores asking, how do I get these photos off my phone? KIN makes it simple for that,” said John Harrobin, the Senior Vice President of Marketing and Digital Media at Verizon Wireless
