Microsoft's KIN goes to hell: Site offers comfort

Weird social phone given inglorious send off

A tribute website has been created to mourn the passing of Microsoft’s short-lived, horribly unpopular KIN mobile handset that was aimed at the yoof market.

KIN - which came in two different models - hit retail shelves in May this year, only to be yanked by Microsoft last week following poor sales.

It’s understood that the software giant shifted fewer than 10,000 phones in that time.

At launch in April, Microsoft described KIN as a “social phone” intended for young people who want to hook up to the Web2.0 brain drain.

But sales of the phone proved embarrassing for Redmond, and so KIN's plug was pulled.

The phone died just six weeks after it arrived in the shops - which is a record for Microsoft. KIN now holds the shortest lifespan of any product in the firm’s 35-year history.

As a result, one scamp has put together a website that pays tribute to KIN’s short, albeit turbulent, existence.

“This memorial website was created in the memory of our loved one, Microsoft Kin who was born on May 13, 2010 and passed away on June 30, 2010,” it solemnly notes, before adding: “We will remember her forever.”

Except we probably won’t. Next of kin were informed, but no one attended the funeral. ®

Bootnote

You could previously leave your messages of condolence on the http://microsoft-kin.forevermissed.com/ page, but the page has since been laid to rest, so The Reg has taken the link around the back of the shed and shot it.