Brownstone 2.0 - New Phones on the Block

Most teens would agree that their cell phone is the #1 gadget that they can’t live without. There isn’t an hour that goes by that you probably aren’t glancing over to see if you have a message or sending a text. But what really makes you love your phone? Is it the design, texting capabilities, video camera, apps? When you think about it, most of the hottest phones on the market like the iPhone and Blackberry were designed for adults, business professionals. Although teens may be avid users, some of the main features really aren’t teen friendly. I mean do you really need apps like Google Voice or the ability to sync your Microsoft Outlook with your regular hotmail account? Probably not, unless you have a 9 to 5 job that I don’t know about.

Well it looks like Microsoft has your back! This week, Microsoft announced a new line of smart phones, the Kin One and Kin Two, especially designed with YOU in mind. They understand that teens aren’t concerned about managing multiple email accounts/phone numbers. It’s about staying social and connected with your friends.

The Kin One and Kin Two allow users to stay in sync with sites like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. These phones have a lot of cool features that you’ll love! For example, you can customize the start menu with a montage of photographs of your friends with notes about what they are doing rather than a more traditional menu like the Blackberry or iPhone display. Other features include touch screens and the Zune music player, which is great for listening to your favorite artists. The phones also include high-powered cameras for capturing photographs and video, so you can take real time pictures of your favorite moments and share them with your friends or post on your FB page. Unlike any phone out right now, the Kin phones have an unique software called Spot that allows users to drag photos, messages, videos, maps and other content, which can then be sent instantly to a friend.

The only thing that may not be appealing is the look at the phone. The Kin One is square and fits easily in the palm of a hand. A full keyboard slides down at the bottom of the phone. The Kin Two has the more familiar rectangle shape (much like the sidekick), an eight-megapixel camera (up from five megapixels on the One) and can take high-definition videos.

So what do you think? Are you feeling the Kin phones?

--Tymika Morrison
Brownstone Team