Microsoft Pink smartphone project: KIN gets killed

After HP acquired and killed the WebOS Smartphone platform, another one bites the dust. As we reported in march, the Danger group Microsoft acquired — a Java-based smartphone platform that pioneered messaging-oriented phones targeted at younger people — has been working for two years on “Pink,” a top secret project operating independently from Windows Mobile, released as the “KIN” platform.

KIN was pulled off the market in just 48 days after only selling a reported 500 units.

The company wrote in an official statement, “We have made the decision to focus on our Windows Phone 7 launch and we will not ship KIN in Europe this fall as planned. Additionally, we are integrating our KIN team with the Windows Phone 7 team, incorporating valuable ideas and technologies from KIN into future Windows Phone releases. We will continue to work with Verizon in the U.S. to sell current KIN phones”.

The Verizon Wireless network charged users $70 per month for voice and data service, despite the device lacking any support for basic smartphone services such as calendar sync, instant messages, or even any email accounts other than Microsoft’s own.