I;ve noticed a few reviews this morning about the Web,
Office 2010 Product Key, citing a Verizon database entry, as evidence that Microsoft will probably be christening its Pink phones as “Kin.”When I just checked “www.kin.com,
Windows 7,” the domain resolved to Bing.com, making me think there;s something to this naming “rumor.” I;d say Microsoft;s Pink team will be all in with Kin….Update: Yep. It;s official. Pink is now known as “Kin.” There;s a Kin One and a Kin Two. And www.kin.com now resolves to the Microsoft Kin phone site.Microsoft;s first Pink phones are set to become unveiled officially today (April 12). The phones have been a badly kept secret for some time. The final name, however, has been a secret right up until today.The Pink phones are expected to be manufactured by Sharp, but to carry the Microsoft logo. So much for Microsoft execs; repeated claims there wouldn;t be a Microsoft phone. (To be precise,
Microsoft Office 2010, Microsoft;s brass have denied there would be a Microsoft-made phone, but never would answer directly whether there would be a Microsoft-branded phone.) Verizon and Vodafone are expected to get the first Pink carriers and the Pink phones — unlike their Windows Phone 7 counterparts — are widely expected to ship before this month is out. (Windows Phone 7 devices,
Windows 7 Download, from a handful of Microsoft partners, are slated to debut in time for holiday 2010.)I;ll be reporting later today about the Pink/Kin launch. If you want to watch the launch Webcast from the comfort of your own desk/phone,
Office 2010 Activation, it will be Webcast starting at 1 p.m. ET.What do you think of Kin as a name for the Sidekick successors, aimed primarily at the social-networking set of teens/20-somethings? I wasn;t a fan of the “Bing” name when Microsoft first unveiled it (I preferred “Kumo”), but it has grown on me. Kin — I;m on the fence….