Verizon kicks KIN to the kurb

Microsoft KIN was a pair of social networking mobile clunkers from day one, dead by day 40. Verizon has officially noticed.
Following an internal memo leak suggesting that Verizon would discontinue the Microsoft KIN One and KIN Two from their current handset line-up, technology weblog Engadget has confirmed that the phones are no longer being offered by the carrier.

The move should come as no surprise to tech enthusiasts who witnessed the death of the two devices earlier this year - shortly after the pair launched. Available in stores as Kin One and Kin Two on May 13th, Microsoft quickly dissolved the KIN product line a mere six weeks later. Plans were in place to bring the KIN lineup to Europe through Vodafone, but these too were cancelled by Microsoft.

The KIN was intended as a mobile solution for young people engaged in social networking. It offered a home screen that provided users with easy access to their Facebook, Twitter, Windows Live, MySpace, and RSS feeds.

There are a number of theories surrounding why the devices may have failed to perform at retail. Many critics argue that the KIN was simply rushed onto shelves before it was ready. The devices lacked certain features that one would expect from a phone aimed at social networkers, like instant messaging or a social calendar. Included features like Twitter offered a stripped-down experience, preventing users from completing basic actions like viewing direct replies.

Other critics have cited pricing concerns, as the device required a monthly data plan that would have put it out of the financial reach of many in the device's target demographic.

Current owners of the KIN One and KIN Two shouldn't be directly impacted by this move. It has been reported that Microsoft will continue to keep the back-end services running for both phones - though with only 10,000 KINs sold, one can't help but wonder how long that may last.