Microsoft knows a thing or two about smartphones. Years before Apple and Google got in the game, Microsoft was supplying its mobile operating system software and applications to leading phone makers.
But experience doesn’t always translate into success. Research-In Motion’s BlackBerry line, the Apple iPhone and the new generation of Android-based devices have thumped Microsoft in the marketplace, leaving the software giant scrambling to regroup with a new Windows Phone 7 line due out this fall. But as EnterpriseMobileToday reports, the Windows Phone 7 effort has forced Microsoft to make an abrupt change to its recently released Kin device.
Microsoft Wednesday abruptly announced that despite its rollout only a few weeks ago, the Kin fun phone for kids and light phone users is dead.
Beyond sparking wry jokes about notifying “next of Kin,” Microsoft’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) move is clearly meant to bring the focus of its mobile strategy — for users, analysts, and IT staff — to bear exclusively on the yet-to-be-delivered Windows Phone 7.
