Microsoft Axes Kin Phones Just Six Weeks After Launch

Word came down today, first in a post from Gizmodo and later in an official statement from Microsoft, that the brand-new Kin line of phones is now discontinued.

Kin, you might remember, was a series of two phones aimed at the young teenage set. They had some very interesting elements, including an innovative cloud-based backup service, but fell victim to confusing branding and an uncertain place in the phone hierarchy. Are they messaging phones, like the Sidekick? Well, sort of, but they...