SitDown. StartUp.

Microsoft knows how to throw a party.

I was at the KIN launch party in Tribeca last week and had a chance to test out the KIN 1 for most of the evening with a friend (Thanks Sarah!) . Its an interesting pure-play social media phone but for all the bells and whistles its not worth buying…..

PROS:

• Easy to share across various SNS platforms and very social media centric

There is a “spot” feature on KIN where you can physically touch and drag RSS feeds, tweets, photos, and facebook updates to a green dot on the homescreen and it automatically shares it with your network and selected friends.

• Interface has lots of stimulating eye candy

KIN uses a Nivida Tegra chip (powerful, but is already pretty outdated) that powers a pretty impressive visual landscape on the phone. The homescreen resembles a bulletin board collage of your friends and their profile pictures. Tweets and posts from selected people on your social networks show up automatically on the homescreen (i.e. I choose my best friend as a favorite and his feed automatically shows up on the homescreen collage). Its a unique way to present a real-time dashboard of your friends social updates.

• Phone is Oreo-Cookie size

KIN looks and feels like a little clam shell with a smooth black casing on the exterior. The sliding action on the phone is sturdy and easy to use. Its super tiny but still feels good in your hands.

CONS

• User-experience and responsiveness is pretty poor

The KIN OS is a little confusing and difficult to navigate. Whether it be making a phone call, accessing and using the camera, or even looking for friends in the address book…it becomes a taxing process trying to figure out how to use the features. The touch screen isn’t as sensitive as the iPhone so there is a little lag. I found myself doing the repetitive  “tapping” with my finger to access a feature

• No capability to connect to third-party apps

Nuff’ said. I think everyone needs to connect to Google Calendar or download and use productivity applications and games. There are not any third party connection capabilities and KIN doesn’t compensate with it’s native applications. KIN is simply a proprietary, closed-off device.

• Verizon screwed Microsoft and their target demographic on the data plan

Here comes the deal breaker. KIN is obviously marketed to a Gen Y demographic. What you can conclude is that they want a great deal on the data package because that’s the primary utility on the phone. Microsoft probably realizes that the phone itself can’t compete from with the iPhone/Droid/Blackberry.

So what would you logically assume? Make the KIN extremely affordable with data and voice plans so that people who get queasy about paying for an iPhone plan will want to go with KIN. (think FLIP HD’s strategy for success)

Well that’s exactly what Microsoft + Verizon DIDN’T do. Here is the affordable KIN plan:

Minimum Voice Plan:      $39.99/mo

Minimum Data Plan:       $29.99/mo

Zune Music Service:        $14.99/mo (optional but the only way to keep music on phone)

Total:                             $85.00     

I can’t name one person who wants to shell out $70-$85 a month for a sub-par smartphone. I can’t understand how Microsoft or Verizon would justify this strategy for customer acquisition. It’s pretty much a deal breaker for their entire target market.

In the meantime….. I’m gonna stick with my Blackberry 8900 + iTouch and hang around Redwood, CA bars looking for drunk Apple engineers that misplace iPhone prototypes during wild birthday celebrations.