TechMunch

Microsoft has revealed earlier this week their new social-networking oriented phones, formerly known as "Project Pink", the Kin 1 and Kin 2.

The Kin 1 is a simple palm-sized portrait QWERTY slider that contains a 5 megapixel camera. The Kin 2 is a landscape QWERTY slider with a whopping 8 megapixel camera. Both of these powerful social networking phones will be dropping exclusively on Verizon in May.

The Kin phones should not be looked at as 'smartphones', with a lack of an application store like the Apple iPhone and other such functions like basic calendar and instant message functionality. It is really aimed at being a social-networking devices for teenagers, much like what Danger's Sidekick device did a couple of years ago. This does not come as a surprise, as Microsoft acquired Danger in 2008.

The Kin platform is focused on two core features - “The Loop” and “The Spot”. “The Loop” will be a 3 pane homescreen featuring news/social feeds, contacts, and access to the phone/browser. “The Spot” will be a little circle at the bottom of the screen to share content on social sites, with drag-n-drop access from “The Loop”.

All device activity, from texts to pictures to videos, will be synced with an online cloud, like the Sidekick series. The cloud backups will be browser based to ensure it’s cross platform. With unlimited cloud storage, a login with a Windows Live ID at kin.com lets users see all synced media.