Common Q& A Aboout the Kins for Owners of the Kins (and those interested)

Question

After reading a few of the posts here I thought I'd type up a little bit of q and a since there seem to be alot of repeat questions. 
1.  Does wifi cost money?
Answer:  NO wifi does NOT cost money (provided the wifi hot spot you are using does not charge (aka your own wireless network)).  3G data usage WILL incur fees so make sure your data is blocked if you do NOT want any extra data fees from verizon. Contact verizon by dialing 611 on your phone to talk to a representative to block data or block data by changing your features in the 'my verizon' section of verizonwireless.com
2.  How do I update my contacts?
Answer:  Unfortunately I've yet to really find an easy way to do this.  The backup assistant (as of right now) does NOT work with this phone.  I have seen posts from others that have been able to sync with either an msn account or possibly a google account and recieve their contacts that way but in all honesty the best way I've seen is to simply enter them in manually(good way to clean out your contacts anyways).
3.  How do I sync my kin with my computer?
Answer: DOWNLOAD the Zune software.  View the kin like the poor child of the iphone.  Iphone users use itunes...kin uses zune.  If you have any issues hooking your phone  up to your computer at all, INSTALL THE ZUNE SOFTWARE.  Link: http://www.zune.net/en-US/products/software/download/default.htm The Zune software is REQUIRED in order to transfer photos, videos, podcasts, music etc to and from your phone.  If you take pictures with your phone and wish to save them on your computer you must installin the Zune software.
4.  Can I use my own ringtones and/or alerts? 
Answer: Technically yes.  Its somewhat a pain to do and if someone else has found a better way to do it please tell me.  You will need another phone (preferably one with a memory card slot).  Download and copy the ringtones to the memory card of the other phone.  Look into your sounds on the phone with the memory card and send (via mms) the ringtone to your kin.  Upon receieving the ringtone save it and walla the ringtone should appear under your melodies.
5.  What type of apps does the kin have (aka is there a calendar)and can you download more?
Answer: Yes there is a calendar app in this release of the kin.  The original kin did not have a calendar nor calculator.  The apps included on the Kin TwoM are as follows:  Messages, Phone, Email, Web Browser, Music (including fm radio), Camera(as well as video camera), Calendar, Settings, Alarm, Calculator, Search, and Contacts.  As of right now I have seen no indication of any more apps being able to be downloaded as this phone IS only a feature phone.  As with all electronics this can change in time.
6. How is the KinTwom different from the KinTwo?
Answer: In order to be able to supply the KinTwom as a feature phone various features were removed.  The spot, studio, and loop have been removed which were basically your social website apps (aka facebook and the like).  
7. Are there any echos in phone calls or other various problems like other newer phones?
Answer: Personally for me no, however that may change user to user.  I came from an lg octane, lg dare, and the wife's env3 all of which had problems.  The octane the most recent venture had a horrible echo reported by some which a patch supposedly has fixed.  I have had no issues with this phone as of yet in call quality or useability.  
Hopefully this helps alot of people out there that may be having problems with their kin and/or are looking at purchasing this phone.  For a feature phone I have to say I'm quite impressed...for a smartphone..it is not.  I call it an intelligent phone

Answer 1

When I went into best buy (to return my lg octane) I asked them about the kin twom...they had NO idea what it was and thought I was speaking about the kin two (NO m).  The kin two (WITHOUT the m) DOES indeed require a data package.  The kin twom does NOT require a data package.  Provided you contact verizon customer support and tell them to BLOCK DATA and have them make sure ALL DATA is blocked, you will NOT BE charged fees while using your own or a free wifi hot spot.  In other words...if you have a wireless network in your house your kin twom connects to it...you will NOT BE charged as the kin twom will be accessing data VIA wifi.  I have the kin twom.  I have contacted verizon customer support, I have gone through the my verizon webpage and all data has been blocked.  Verizon sent me a pdf file saying all data has been blocked.  I have checked my data usage and no data has been used.  I am still able to send and receieve picture messages AS WELL AS browse the web and even email on my phone while connected to my wifi.  
The ONLY TIME you would incur charges over wifi is if the wifi hotspot itself charges.  Some coffee houses/restaurants still do charge in order to use their wifi however there are alot of FREE wifi hotspots.