RIP Microsoft KIN

Just over a month from launch Microsoft has killed off it's KIN handsets (did anybody else not know they had even launched?).

For those of us not lucky enough to be among the 10,000 people who actually purchased a KIN this is what they look like:

As expected a number of 'Tribute' websites have been set-up, with at least one being pulled down already!

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.

You can leave your messages of condolence here.
Source

The above link has been pulled and now displays a sombre note that: ForeverMised.com is the online memorials service intended to help friends and
families share memories and pay tributes to their lost loved ones.
Source

However they were kind enough to include a link to a new tribute site at http://kinrip.com

The jury is out on whether or not the KIN will become a collectors item, or just another forgotten about piece of ill fated techno-junk!