The 555 Blue is a QWERTY candybar handset with a 2.4-inch non-touch display and a dedicated Facebook button. Aside from those, there’s also a 2-megapixel camera with an LED flash, a microUSB port for charging, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a microSD slot that can be extended up to 16GB cards. Unfortunately, there won’t be any 3G, GPS, and WiFi. It will available “soon” in Europe.

[via SlashGear]

Go big or go home is apparently Roger’s new mantra. The wireless carrier is set to launch Social View, which is a built-in Rogers application that’s meant to aggregate the content from all of your favorite social networking sites. Well, maybe not all of them, but the biggest ones at least. Pulling feeds from Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace, along with the most recent content from text messages, phone calls, and Instant Messages from your contacts, is all done in real-time, and brought to your attention right on your homescreen.

It’s a built-in application, but there’s no word on which handsets it will be on. Our bet is Android-based handsets, even if HTC’s already implemented the same feature, called FriendStream. Either way, it’s Roger’s own thing, so we’re sure they’ll be happy to implement it on any device they want. In addition to the app, Rogers will introduce three new plans to go along with it: “Unlimited Social Addict Plan,” “Unlimited Socialite Plan,” and finally the “Unlimited Social Master Plan.” There’s no telling what differentiates any of the plans, but hopefully we’ll get a clearer picture here soon.

[via Mobile Syrup]

First and foremost, these are billed as social handsets. Meaning, you should be forever and always connected to your favorite social networking sites, your friends, and everyone else in between. With that being said, there’s a few key assets we believe should always go into a phone like this. For example, there should be Instant Messaging clients on your handset. Does the Kin One or the Kin Two have that? Negative. Also, you should be able to upload images to Twitter in a quick, app-like way. Can the Kin One or Kin Two do that? That would be a big, fat no.

The home screen you see in the images, that tiled mess, is called the Loop. And, if you want to pan over to the next screen, where you can see more tiles, then you just swipe with your finger to the right and left, depending on which direction you want to go. The tiled interface leads you into whatever you’re looking for: contacts, browser, music.

As for the details, we’re looking at Zune integration on both handsets. You sync your device to the Zune Software, and as long as you have a Zune Pass ($14.99/month), you get an unlimited amount of music to listen to, and there is also an FM radio built-in in both devices. When you access the Browser, you’re greeted with an easy way to find your favorite sites. You can add them to the Loop as separate panes, or tiles, that you can touch to access at a later date as well.

There is a Search function on the devices as well, which is helped by a hardware key specializing in the feature. While you can search the Web, your Phone, as well as your neighborhood, the interface to do so is a bit odd. Instead of just doing a search and it finding what you want in all of those categories at the same time, when you hit the Search key, you have to pan to the left and right, to find where you want to search. Obviously, Bing is the search engine of choice for these devices.

Both the Kin One and Kin Two have slide-out, full QWERTY keyboards. The Kin One is a slightly curved slide, while the Kin Two just slides straight up and down. With the full featured hardware keyboards, messaging should be a breeze, and with the social integration of the devices, and that being (generally) the whole reason they exist, it’s good to see that Microsoft didn’t skimp on the hardware.

Of course, you need to call people at least once in awhile, so the Kin One and Kin Two also have the whole “phone” feature, too. You can add contacts to the Loop, or on any one of the screens you can slide to, and add the contact right there where you can touch them to call, or see their details. A picture will be added to the Loop as well, so you know who you’re calling if you accidentally touch a panel.

And, when you call people, you’ll be powered by the Verizon Wireless network here in the States. We’re sure there’s going to be plenty of people out there happy about that, so that’s probably the best move that Verizon has made when it comes to the Kin One and Kin Two. As for European coverage, that’s being handled by Vodafone, so again, they’ve got the carriers down pat. We’re happy with those selections, for sure.

As for the differences on the devices, you’ve got: 4GB of storage for the Kin One, and 8GB of storage for the Kin Two. Which means, sadly, no MicroSD support. (Big fail there, eh, SanDisk?)The Kin One also comes with a 5MP camera on the back, with flash, and shoots SD video. The Kin Two rocks an 8MP camera on the back, with flash, but this one shoots in HD video quality.

We understand the demographic that Microsoft is reaching out to with the Kin One and Kin Two, and we realize that with a “Kindred Experience” like this, you want to feel like you’re connected at all times to the things that matter most to you. However, the phones don’t have a calendar function, no Instant Messaging clients, and you can’t upload images to Twitter, probably the largest micro-blogging service on the planet. Yes, there is Facebook integration for picture uploads, but that’s not covering all the bases. And, we would love to know what kind of battery life we should expect from the Kin devices. Microsoft didn’t go into much detail about this, basically leaving it up in the air, but hopefully we get that part clarified soon. That is, after all, pretty important.

So, when are they coming out? Both the Kin One and Kin Two will be in Verizon Wireless stores this May, ready for your hard earned money. As for the Vodafone folks across the pond, you can expect to see the two devices ready to go in Italy, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom this Fall. Yes, we know, that’s a bit of a wait, but at least that means you’ll be able to see how well they perform over in the United States first, before you take the plunge.

We’ll be sure to update as soon as we hear more. Until then, check out the full press release below, and don’t forget to hit up the Kin official website. We’re hoping that Microsoft has something hidden up their sleeve here, because we want to be surprised, but right now . . . Well, we’ll just hold our final judgment for a bit longer.

REDMOND, Wash. — April 12, 2010 — Microsoft Corp. today announced KIN, a new Windows® Phone designed specifically for people who are actively navigating their social lives. Brought to life through partnerships with Verizon Wireless, Vodafone and Sharp Corporation, KIN is designed to be the ultimate social experience that blends the phone, online services and the PC with breakthrough new experiences called the Loop, Spot and Studio. KIN will be exclusively available from Verizon Wireless in the U.S. beginning in May and from Vodafone this autumn in Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom.

KIN is a new social experience from Microsoft Corp. that combines the phone, online services and the PC.
Click for larger version
“Working closely with our partners, we saw an opportunity to design a mobile experience just for this social generation — a phone that makes it easy to share your life moment to moment,” said Robbie Bach, president of the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft. “We built KIN for people who live to be connected, share, express and relate to their friends and family. This social generation wants and needs more from their phone. KIN is the one place to get the stuff you care about to the people you care about most.”

A New Kind of Social Phone

With KIN, social networking is built into the fabric of the phone. KIN has a fun, simple interface, which is designed to help people publish the magazine of their life by making the people and stuff they love the focus rather than menus and icons. The unique hardware design was developed in partnership with Sharp to create a new kind of social phone. There are two models called KIN ONE and KIN TWO. Both phones feature a touch screen and slide-out keyboard. ONE is small and compact, making it a perfect fit for a pocket and to operate with one hand. TWO has a larger screen and keyboard, in addition to more memory, a higher resolution camera, and the ability to record high-definition video. The 5 and 8 megapixel cameras in ONE and TWO, respectively, are designed for use in low light with image stabilization and a bright LumiLED flash.

The New Way to Share

The home screen of the phone is called the KIN Loop, which is always up to date and always on, showing all the things happening in someone’s social world. KIN automatically brings together feeds from leading Microsoft and third-party services such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter all in one place, making it easier to stay connected. Customers can also select their favorite people, and KIN will automatically prioritize their status updates, messages, feeds and photos. Another unique feature, the KIN Spot is a new way for people to share what’s going on in their world. It lets them focus first on the people and stuff they want to share rather than the specific application they want to use. Videos, photos, text messages, Web pages, location and status updates are shared by simply dragging them to a single place on the phone called the Spot. Once all the people and content are in the Spot to share, the consumer can choose how to share, and start broadcasting.

Your Phone, on the Web

KIN Studio is your phone online. Almost everything created on the phone is available in the cloud from any Web browser. Photos and videos are freed from the confines of the phone and presented in an online visual timeline so they are easy to view and share. The KIN Studio automatically backs up texts, call history, photos, videos and contacts, and populates a personalized digital journal so it’s easy to go back in time to relive a crazy weekend or recent birthday. And the KIN Studio gives customers tons of storage to keep all those photos, videos, contacts and texts so they’ll never run out of space on their phone and lose a memory.

Music and More

KIN will be the first Windows Phone to feature a Zune experience — including music, video, FM radio and podcast playback. With a Zune Pass subscription, customers using Zune software on their PC can listen to millions of songs from Zune Marketplace on their KIN while on the go, or load their personal collection. KIN also has other features customers want in a phone including a rich browser with the ability to share pieces of the Web, local and Web search by Bing, and an RSS feed reader to pull down information on people and stories from the Web.

More information and a complete fact sheet on KIN are in the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/presskits/KIN.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/news/contactpr.mspx.

Partner Quotes for KIN

“Sharp is excited to team with Microsoft as the exclusive handset manufacturer for the KIN phone. Combining Sharp’s cutting-edge LCD and mobile device technology with Microsoft’s cloud computing technology, KIN represents an innovative new mobile experience. It’s a fun, convenient way to keep connected and another example of how Sharp is committed to improving people’s lives with ubiquitous communications.”

Mikio Katayama

Global President and COO

Sharp Corporation

“KIN represents a new way to stay connected. We are excited to take our relationship with Microsoft to the next level and be the exclusive carrier of KIN in the U.S.”

John Harrobin

Senior Vice President

Marketing and Digital Media

Verizon Wireless

“Vodafone is delighted to further its partnership with Microsoft, bringing our customers Microsoft’s latest innovation — KIN. Mobile social networking is increasingly having strong appeal for our customers. KIN has a unique and intuitive way of engaging with the user, enabling them easily to share experiences and stay in touch with their friends. Our aim is to provide our customers with the widest choice of attractive smartphones and the best-in-class experience of new services through Vodafone’s high-speed mobile broadband network. This announcement continues to deliver on our ambition to be the strongest provider of data-centric mobile experiences across platforms and operating systems.”

Patrick Chomet

Group Director of Terminals

Vodafone

[via Microsoft and KIN]

The Samsung u820 is a 3-inch, WQVGA touchscreen, with physical QWERTY slider action. It also has a 3.2MP camera on the back, with video capture, 3.5mm headset jack, MicroSD card slot, full HTML browser, and full Microsoft Exchange email support. That camera and full keyboard should come in handy, as Samsung is keeping up with this whole social network integration thing. The u820 include a widget called Communities, where you’ll be able to update your status, as well as post pictures to all your social networking sites. It also features WouchWiz 2.0 for good measure.

While the phone may not be that nice on the eyes, it will get the job done for most customers. Especially for teenagers who need to be connected with their social sites at all times of the day. Verizon Wireless is the carrier of choice for this little nugget of joy, and it will cost you somewhere in the ballpark between $80 and $100 with a new (2-year) agreement. If this device is for you, you’ll have to wait until April 30th, when it should officially hit store shelves.

[via PhoneScoop, image via CNET]

Google Buzz combines many elements of the biggest and more interesting social networks out there. Buzz automatically follows the people you email and chat with the most in Gmail without seting it up and you can share your ideas publicly or privately just like any other social network.

Google is still rolling out Buzz to everyone, so if you don’t see it in your Gmail account just yet, they recommend to check back soon. For now you can visit buzz.google.com from your iPhone and Android handsets to see what you can do with it, Blackberry and others will have to wait.

Click here to view the embedded video.

“Over the course of the past year, we have seen use of mobile Internet evolve from an occasional activity to being a daily part of people’s lives,” observed Mark Donovan, senior vice president, mobile, comScore. “This underscores the growing importance of the mobile medium as consumers become more reliant on their mobile devices to access time-sensitive and utilitarian information.”

“Social networking and blogging have emerged as very popular daily uses of the mobile Web and these activities are growing at a torrid pace,” observed Donovan. “We also note that much of the growth in news and information usage is driven by the increased popularity of downloaded applications, such as those offered for the iPhone, and by text-based searches. While smartphones and high-end feature phones, like the Samsung Instinct and LG Dare comprise the Top 10 devices used for news and information access, 70 percent of those accessing mobile Internet content are using feature phones.”

In January, 22.3 million people accessed news and information via a downloaded application. Maps are the most popular downloaded application with 8.2 million users, while search was the overwhelmingly favored use for SMS-based news and information access, with 14.1 million users. Overall, 32.4 million people used SMS to access news and information in January.

Young males are the most avid users of mobile news and information, with half of 18 to 34-year-old males engaging in the activity. The mobile Internet is also quite popular among females in the 18 to 24-year-old demographic, with 40 percent accessing it at least once in January.

Twitter is a communication network that enables users to send and receive text based posts of up to 140 characters (known as “tweets”). Updates are displayed on a users profile page at Twitter.com and delivered in real time to those who’ve signed up for them. Twitter updates can also be received through integration with other social networking sites, including Facebook, MySpace, Linkedin (using Twhirl software) or via SMS, RSS or Twittermobile.

Key features include: a personal newsfeed, ‘who’s online’, status & location, extended profile, searchable user directory, private messaging, email, SMS, blogging, photo-sharing and mobile IM, providing a compelling mobile social networking experience.

Trutap is one of the world’s fastest-growing mobile social networks. Anyone can download the Trutap application to their phone for free and start chatting with friends immediately. Today, the service has 250,000 users around the world, sending millions of messages every week.

And now, thanks to the Ping.fm-SpinVox collaboration, this service will convert your voice to text and posted to your social networks – optionally with a link to the original sound file. (Right now, this feature is working for US/Canada and UK phone users only).

Simply dial the number and speak your message. Yay!

[via SMSTextNews]

According to CNET, the challenge for GoodRec is getting distribution and users to create a social web of recommendations. Users are already giving recommendations on Facebook, MySpace, Yelp, and a variety of other other services.

They said in their website:

Goodrec is the easiest way to make, find and remember recommendations among friends.

After years of seeking and making recommendations for everything from brunch spots to beach books via phone calls, emails, and crumpled paper napkins (often only to lose them moments later), we decided there had to be a better way!

Existing online review sites didn’t address our needs…

Reading through wordy online reviews from people we’d never met took too long and didn’t mean much to us anyway. Visiting different sites for different topics was a hassle. And more importantly, our friends weren’t submitting reviews online because it was just too much effort. We were always asking for ideas and tips, then having to keep track of them somehow.

Since Goodrec has a lot of competition, they should think to integrate their service to a number of social networks in order to invite and engage many users.