Microsoft announced KIN in April 2010 as a phone built around constant social sharing, with two touch-screen models, slide-out keyboards, and features called Loop, Spot, and Studio. Verizon began selling KIN ONE and KIN TWO in May. The problem was structural: smartphone data-plan pricing attached to devices that lived awkwardly between feature phone and smartphone. On June 30, Microsoft stopped the line and folded its team into Windows Phone. Years of work, less than two months at retail, one exquisite corporate shrug.
Sources: Microsoft: KIN announcement · PCWorld: Why Microsoft’s Kin Phones Were Destined to Fail · Microsoft FY2010 Q4 results
Image: Evan-Amos / Wikimedia Commons, public domain.