Microsoft has launched a line of phones aimed at young people, marking a fresh assault on the low end of the growing smartphone market. Microsoft has been losing out in this area to BlackBerry maker Research in Motion, Apple and Google.
The software company's first foray into designing its own phones comes six months before it rolls out its new Windows software for phones made by handset makers HTC, Samsung and others, which should be a more direct challenge to Apple's iPhone and Google's Android phones.
The new phones launched today, called Kin One and Kin Two, are made by Japan's Sharp and will be sold by Verizon Wireless, a joint venture between Verizon Communications and Vodafone.
The home screen of the phone remains always on as the Kin brings together feeds from social networks such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. Videos, photos, text messages, Web pages and location and status updates can be shared by dragging them to a place on the phone called the 'Spot'.
