Following up on a previous report, Verizon has relaunched the Kin One and Kin Two as the Kin Onem and Kin Twom. The phones are available for $19.99 and $49.99 after new 2 year agreement respectively with access to cheaper data plans starting at $15/month for 150MB of access.
The Kin One features a 2.4 inch capacitive display at QVGA resolution, 5.0 megapixel camera with flash and VGA resolution video capture, QWERTY keyboard, speakerphone, Wi-Fi radio and Bluetooth with stereo audio support. Internal storage is fixed at 4GB with no external expansion slot. The Kin Two is the higher end model and features a 3.5 inch 480×320 resolution capacitive touchscreen display, 8.0 megapixel camera with 720p video capture and 8GB non-expandable storage.
The Kinm series does feature a few changes from the original release, such as Zune streaming restricted to Wi-Fi and no Kin Studio/Loop support.
Also unlike the original KINs, you do not need any data plan. Much as I suspected, the Loop has been replaced with a Windows Phone 7-style Start menu.
Internet Explorer Mobile is still there, as the unbranded KIN browser…
… this does make a small niche though. You could use this as a prepaid phone with IE Mobile for $.99/day, and have a mini Zune with HD camera.
Still, with Virgin Mobile giving Android for $25/month unlimited data, an offering like this seems only for those that would be carrying a Zune 4GB in their pocket anyways.
Does Microsoft stand a chance? Well, with KIN.com still not even operational, I have my doubts. Microsoft hasn’t even formally confirmed the KIN brand still exists, and Verizon is out selling the devices.
Wait so does the new kin 2 not have to have a data plan at all?!
Correct, both KIN ONEm and KIN TWOm do not require a data plan. You can pay per use, and even activate on prepaid.
okay, so if i got the kin 2m what data plan would i use?
Technically the KIN TWOm does not need a data plan. You can even activate it on prepaid services like Page Plus.
If you want to add a data plan, you could activate it as a feature phone on a Share Everything plan… but honestly, Share Everything plans make little sense for feature phones, unless you have a family member that you want to add on, and cannot/doesn’t want to use a smartphone.
The KIN TWOm really only should be used on Page Plus prepaid at this point, anyone on Verizon proper should be using a smartphone to maximize the questionable value of their Share Everything plan.
P.S. One exception there – if you are on an grandfathered unlimited data plan with a feature phone, Verizon may not let you keep it when going to a smartphone. There were many customers trapped in this manner at the time, and we called Verizon out for it. Those customers may want to switch to a KIN TWOm since it has Internet Explorer 6, and you could theoretically use it as a smartphone-like device. If you’re in a rural area, and on a Verizon grandfathered unlimited feature phone plan – it may be your only option to keep unlimited data and upgrade.