Smartphone Reviews: Microsoft Kin Two

Posted by Geronimo Boosh on May 8, 2010 · Leave a Comment

The people at Microsoft are attempting to sell the world a phone of their own. The “Kin” Two is a Microsoft smartphone that gives presents the new software of Microsoft to the world. Take a look at something new here in this short article on the Kin Two.

The Microsoft Kin probably gots it’s name from the man who helped to build the Windows Phone 7 system, Charlie Kindel. It comes with tons of features and a rounded shape that is pleasing to the eye. The format selected is the “side-slide” that helps to give a larger manual keyboard. The one drawback is that this Windows smartphone does not include an internet messaging feature. The Kin Two is actually manufactured by Sharp, but bears the name of Microsoft.

The Microsoft Kin Two is 115.1 millimeters tall. That is just over four and half inches for the readers in the United States. The width is 65.3 millimeters which is 2.57 inches. The screen is a touch screen and is responsive. It does the normal gyrations you have come to expect from smartphones these days. It also has multi-touch, which means you can “pinch and zoom” and see a close-up of what you need. It has super color clarity at sixteen million colors. The screen renders colors at a very high level of quality. The size of the display is 3.4 inches or 86.36 millimeters.

The camera is a huge plus on the Kin Two. It takes photos that are 3264 by 2448 pixels in size. The camera itself is eight megapixels and has a special LED that is brighter than regular LEDs for the flash mechanism. It also can detect smiles and faces. Geotagging and video is included. There is no secondary camera. For audio capability, the music is helped along by having the Zune media player included. This is great with the Kin Two because it also has stereo speakers. It is possible to order music at the Zune marketplace with the Kin Two.

The processor on the Kin Two runs at a speedy 600 megahertz. This helps to keep the “always on” home screen responsive under heavy use. The operating system starts out with the Loop view. All your contacts can be seen and are updated from this one view. Myspace, twitter, facebook and others are always connected. Microsoft also built in a backup of sorts for text messages, call history, photos and other information. Microsoft calls it “Kin Studio” and it is available on this model. It comes with its own web browser.
The connectivity of the Kin Two is a bit limited. It only has the dual band CDMA networks, which means it works with “Big Red” ( Verizon ), but not many others. It does have Wi-Fi and bluetooth for fast wireless data connections. For some reason there is no MicroSD card slot, which is a big negative.
The Kin Two functions well and feels solid while you use it. It is not very upgradable, so look for yet another Kin model to come out soon. Verizon is the carrier for this smartphone and it should be out next month.