If you're a parent, there's a good chance the Kin will appeal to your text happy teenager, and there's good reason for that. Both handset models are based on Microsoft's upcoming mobile operating system, Windows Phone 7, but with a unique interface that emphasizes social networking integration. Microsoft isn't at all shy about this, claiming that "social networking is built into the fabric of the phone."
Microsoft outsourced production of the phones to Sharp and has partnered with Verizon Wireless to carry and service and the handsets starting in May, and on Vodafone in Europe sometime later this year. The Kin One is a rounded phone that bears a slight resemblance to RIM's BlackBerry, but smaller. It has a 2.1-inch touchscreen that supports pan, scan, and zoom, a 5MP camera, a mono speaker "tuned well for speakerphone," 4GB of storage, and a compact keyboard. The Kin Two is better suited for two-handed texting via a larger slide out keyboard reminiscent of the T-Mobile Sidekick (which was made by HTC). It comes equipped with an 8MP camera capable of recording HD video, stereo speakers, and twice the amount of memory (8GB) as the Kin One. Otherwise, the two phones are the same.
Though the hardware isn't anything spectacular, it seems like Microsoft has put a lot of thought into the user interface.
Kin also integrates with Zune, the first Windows Phone to do so. If you have a Zune Pass subscription, you'll have access to all the songs from the Zune Marketplace on your phone. The only question left is how much either phone will cost, which is something neither Microsoft or Verizon have announced yet.