Kin TWOm vs. LG Cosmos Touch

My family is now eligible for an upgrade, but my parents don't want to pay for data plans, and I'm a poor college student with no money to do so, so I have to stick with the feature phones and choose something with no data required.
I've looked into them, and I'm stuck between the Kin and the Cosmos Touch.
IMO, here are the major pros and cons of each one:
Kin Pros:
* Wifi capable
* 8GB Zune player
* 8mp camera
* 720p video
* Large display
Kin Cons:
* No forwarding messages
* Short battery life on standby
Cosmos Pros:
* Small size (easier to put in pocket)
* Expandable memory
* More features i.e. tip calculator, stopwatch etc.
* Easy to get ringtones
* Easy to customize wallpaper etc.
Cosmos Cons:
* 1.3mp camera
* No video recording
* Bad keyboard setup (space bar between v and b)
Which phone do you suggest I get and why?

don't forget backup assistant! that's another dealbreaker for some people.
for kin, there's no backup assistant, ie no backing up, export, or import of the contacts. You can back up media files (photos, videos, music) via zune player, and i think even if you have a MAC, they have markspace.com/kin to assist you in syncing the media files.
for cosmos touch...obviously you get backup assistant and all that great support from vzw.
But if you are like me, who has never really used backup assistants, and I manually type in every contact i know/need for all my previous phones anyway, then this probably wouldn't make much difference.
also the interface is very different, i'm sure you are aware of it. although listed as a feature phone, kin still got the old interface and not the normal vz stuff that all other feature phones possess. make sure you are used to it.
i read on the reviews of vzw that there are a lot of ppl returning the kin because they wasn't aware of the interface difference.
ringtone-wise...i don't know. all the phones i have with verizon (except chocolate 1) all had terrible ringtone situation mainly because I like to use my own ringtones and they are vzw were particular annoying at letting ppl having their way in the old days.
i think now it's getting better but obviously, there is still no way of deleting ringtones on kin, you can use myxer.com or your parents/friends phones to send the ringtones you want to you as MMS (messaging charge applies), but you cannot rename it in your kin (must do it before sending).
cosmos touch...ehh im thinking the opposite? not really sure but prob. more convenient.
I will suggesst get the cosmos touch for your parents and a kin twom for yourself, that way, you guys can switch around.
if you are upgrading around this time, maybe you should wait til christmas hits? there might be new phones or new sales or something. kin is not going anywhere...$50 is as cheap as it gets i think.
I don't think they have the kin in stores yet...or is that old news? update me thx!

Similar Messages

NEW Kin TwoM Pricing / New Feature Phones

So, I've been checking the site compulsively for about the last two months...let me know if you think my logic on this is sound:
This week I noticed that the Kin OneM pricing went from 19.99 to FREE- it doesn't seem to be a promotional price either because it's listed as an "Online Discount" the exact same way the Crux and Cosmos are.
This leads me to believe two things:
1) Possibly the best news- with so many of the feature phones moving to FREE pricing, it's not a huge assumption that new feature phone devices may soon be on the way. (Please, please, please offer some compelling phones Verizon...)
2) The Kin TwoM will soon see a price decrease as well- probably to the 19.99 range making it almost impossible to pass up.
If number 1 turns out to be true, I'll be waiting a bit to see what comes out before I pull the trigger on the Kin TwoM.
There's been recent news that Verizon will be releasing devices "later this year" (whatever that means) with the Brew OS and Opera Mini preloaded- this probably means they've got some decent feature phones coming. I'm making that assumption based on the fact that the HTC Freestyle on AT&T has been pretty much regarded as the first device to be released like this...I'm thinking Verizon will want to compete with them at least at the beginning of a new standard of feature phones.
But, if it turns out that they again bring a line-up that only gets the teens excited, count me in for the Kin TwoM.
I'd prefer not to have to walk around the office with the same phone my boss's 15 year old daughter has...now there's an interesting water cooler chat:
"Bergman, nice phone...my tween daughter loves that thing..."

Somehow i feel the Kin phones won't be for sale for much longer. For those that need a basic phone with touch interface, there's other options which have a clearer interface. Including the Costco special Samsung SCH-u370. It's a Samsung u820/Reality that doesn't require data. No free wi-fi, but overall it's a much better phone. More ... finished, than the Kin phones. The Kins to me feels like a Windows Phone beta in comparison.
I do love how the tiles are laid out on the home screen better on the Kins than WP7 phones, there's no empty space above or to the right. And i love the favorites contacts screen of the Kins. WP7 phones though feels much sleeker and better zune like controls. And since you can load apps on WP7 your browser won't be outdated.
For current feature phones, i think the u370 is a top choice on Verizon. Good build quality, clear user interface, nice fonts and sizes, a useful sketch app, and the ability to doodle/notate on your pictures. Excellent value. Kin Onem, i can't reccomend. The phone dial numbers are too small on screen to be usable. Thicker than other feature phones, but because of the form factor, the side buttons are almost useless in one handed use. Kin Twom is much better in these aspects than the Onem. But certain interface font sizes are still too small.
The web browser (IE 6 Mobile) is not bad. Mobile and minimal pages loads quick on wifi. Although the back button is not easy to get to, and i haven't figured out if you can go forward in history. The url/title bar seems unfinished, i wish it would have swapped to the title after entering the url, thus saving space. The tiled bookmarks is a good idea, but page titles doesn't fit on the tiles. Even though the hardware is Tegra1, the Kin doesn't come with Flash lite. So alot of flash interactive buttons and streaming doesn't work. Infact simple mp3 playback and playlists doesn't stream in the browser. Which is sad.
One saving grace for the browser that i have found is Bing. Yep. http://m.bing.com/ Of course on first load it will be in landscape mode. And it only list the top 3 items of the menu, without being able to expand it. But go into portrait mode, and you should see the complete menu. Almost every web app on this menu worked well. My favorite is the directions. It almost makes up for not having google maps. Almost.
The strong points of the Twom is of course the browser + wifi, and zune. Which is like a zune hd lite. The FM radio made up for the lack of web streaming. I'm rediscovering FM thanks to it. And the zune desktop software is very modern and sleek. It made itunes look like it's made for accountants. Personally i love the Twom even though it has its quirks. The ui is unique, not quite WP7, and not like anything else. No branding as well. With FM radio i have wireless music anywhere, for free.
Here are some mobile sites that i found to work on Kin's IE6 Mobile:
http://m.bing.com/ --- search, local, traffic, directions (fantastic), movies, weather, favs.
http://mobile.local.com/ --- more direct/faster way to search for anything local
http://wapedia.mobi/en/ --- easier to load than mobile wikipedia
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/
http://m.whitepages.com/ http://www.gasbuddytogo.com/
http://www.gasbuddytogo.com/ http://translate.google.com/m/
http://translate.google.com/m/
There's plenty of news & social websites that have mobile modes. I've tried cnn, twitter, and youtube. And they all worked well. Youtube mobile seems to be the only way you can stream anything with the browser. I've tried other mobile video/music sites, and no go.
The phone have frozen 4 times within the last day. This happens with heavy web browsing and music playback. Overall i can't recommend the Kin phones, although go ahead and buy one while you can if you know what you're getting into. I feel that future feature phones will be more polished like the Samsung u370/u820 rather than these Kins. I just wish MS, Verizon, Danger and PCD realize that they were on to something great with these Kins despite the marketing flop. I like the TwoM despite the beta feel of the software and hardware (WP7 still looks like it's a beta product).

Kin Twom Verizon and Microsoft are missing a great opportunity

To my mind the Kin Twom is a great feature phone with only two problems that really need correcting. First and foremost contacts need to be able to be saved away from the phone. Kin Studio needs to opened up to the latest Kin phones and not shut down at the end of January. Zune software needs to be modified to save contact information. Verizon needs to make My backup assistant work on the Kin phones. One of these things needs to happen in case your Kin is lost, stolen, etc. and to make moving to a new phone in the future easier.
The second problem with the Kin phone is the inability to organize contacts into some kind of groups. If you have the capability to store 1000 contacts in the phone, you need some way to organize them. Feature phones far less capable than the Kin already have this. How hard can it be to program this feature in.
I recently went looking for a touch phone that I could use without a data plan. It came down to the Pantech Crux, LG Cosmos Touch and the Kin Twom. The Kin Twom was the obvious choice for me. Where else can you get a feature phone with Wifi, touch screen and an 8 megapixel camera with flash and zoom, and music player?
Sure the interface takes some getting used to. But it is miles better than most of the Verizon feature phones. Those interfaces have not changed in years. The Kin is a windows interface (not quite Windows phone 7, but still good). People should stop comparing it to a smart phone. That's not what it is. It lies somewhere between a feature phone and a smart phone.
I also liked the original Kin phones with the social networking features. Some of these features were really unique. I read all the reviews that said the phones failed because the data plan was too expensive. That's not the phone's fault, it is the fault of Verizon marketing. A social networking phone with the ability to save photos and contacts info up in the cloud was really unique in the feature phone market. Both Verizon and Microsoft have really screwed this up. They have a product that could truly impact the feature phone market for years. Frankly there a lot of people who don't want/need a smart phone. Instead those of us with Kins are having the come up with workarounds for the contact problems and watching the unique features of the phone being stripped out by Verizon/Microsoft. Sad

What everyone said here is right on the money. Simple fixes, none of these are new to phone technology, nor are they absent from any other feature phone, but they would do wonders for the Kin phones. Like technobody said, the exact 3 phones were in my considerations, and for the exact same reasons, i didn't even hesitate to snatch up the Kin Twom. There are so many things you did right about this phone, the actual phone is a gem. It just has a few issues to be addressed.
For me, it boils down to 4 or 5 major issues that weren't addressed either in the beginning, or during the original to M model transition, that if they were fixed, 90% of its problems would be fixed:
contact transfer/backup (backup assist is verizon's own program, but because of the original loop, wasn't needed for this phone, and when re-writing this phone's software for feature phone release, somehow this slipped through quality control/testing)
volume keys locking upon phone lock
groups for contacts: ability to make and select contact groups, especially for mass texts, or easy access to contacts when the contact list gets very large and bothersome to scroll through. also to be able to select both the entire group, or go through and add 1-by-1 contacts from within the group (in other words, not exiting the select 'menu' until it is user-commanded to do so)
Messaging: ability to select individual messages and manage them, such as delete, forward, resend, view details, etc, as well as ability to select emails from contacts when adding to a sender. Additionally, being able to send quick-texts (user-saved, like in other feature phones), and having the keypad on the touchscreen appear as a slide-up/down functionality (think, cosmos touch design), so you can at least type when the phone is closed, for quick replies (w/ added predicative text). Afterall, the Kins were designed as messaging phones..so how does it not have predicative text (T9, iTap, etc), and not have any ability to text with the phone closed?
ringtone rename/deletion/organization into default groups of melodies/alerts/alarms, as well as a vibrate only setting for sounds (along with fixing the alarms to vibrate when phone is set to vibrate)

Samsung SCH-u370 vs. Kin TWOm ; Which would be better for the texter?

So my plan is going to end in about two months so I decided to research some new feature phones online.
Since I text often, I wanted a phone with a full keyboard, having a touch screen would be nice as well.
The Samsung SCH-u370 isn't offered on at VZW anymore, but Bestbuy online still has a stock of it.
The Kin TWOm looks like a very good phone (8MP camera, slide-out keyboard, etc.) but it didn't have good reviews for some reason.
I mainly use my phone for texting, but will call for roughly 1-2 hours every other night during the week.
Shelling out 50$ isn't a big deal for me, but free is always better.
For the users that have experience with either phone or even both, which would you reccomend and why?
P.S.
- If they're any other keyboard feature phones coming out in the next two months, I would love to take them into consideration.
Thank you so much!

I have both.
The u370 UI is much more polished, font sizes are great, you can adjust them. You can doodle/notate on pics. It's 3" resistive touchscreen. You can use finger nail or some dull pointer if touch is slightly off. I have not tested the e-mail/web browser as the phone doesn't have wi-fi and i don't have data plan. Music player is very basic, haven't tested video. No microSD card is included. The camera is 3MP, no flash, but there is night mode (more sensitive to light, but noisy images). You can doodle/notate over pics, great for making quick notes/directions. Because it relies on microSD for storage, you don't really need to use it with any specific software.
Twom, some parts of the UI can frustrate some people. Font sizes are not adjustable, and there are many areas where the font is thin and small. The built in email client is text only, and it displays some html code rather than stripping them clean. But it does work over both 3g or wifi. The e-mail client's UI is simple, nice to use. You can do full webmail through the browser. You can type notes/comments on pics taken, no sketch pad. 3.4" capacitive touchscreen. That means you can't use fingernail or pointers. There is a Zune player with tegra1 hardware, which means audio and HD video playback. 8GB overall storage with about 6+ GB usable for storage. And you have to use the Zune desktop software to get data on/off the phone. 8MP camera with auto focus, image stabilization, and led flash. But no extras like b&w/sepia modes, etc, etc. The browser is good for mobile sites and small websites, but large websites takes a while to load. Overall it works well enough for basic html & css over wi-fi. Also keep in mind it's unlikely to get an update.
I can't comment on texting as i don't have a text plan. The Twom keyboard is very tactile, you can hear it click, not mushy. If you really need a good browser on your phone, then you will need a smartphone. Between these two though, the Twom have the advantage in media, the u370 have the advantage as the easier to use phone. And it depends on how much you like/dislike the UI of either phone. The u370 have the more 'normal' UI. Whereas the Twom is more experimental looking, but cuts down the fluff.
With either phone, make sure you disable 3g data.
*Actually both keyboards are very good. The difference is the Twom have clicky plastic keys, and u370 have the noiseless rubbery keys. Both keyboards are top of their class. Each key is firm and it's not easy to accidentally click an adjacent key. Depends on which you prefer.

Kin Twom Microphone Not Working.

My Microphone On My Phone Suddenly Stopped Working Today. I Can Hear Anyone That Calls Me But They Cant Hear Me?

Guard0709 and gooseberries thanks for posting!
Sorry you are experiencing this issue with the microphone on your KIN TWOm! I am happy to assist.
Is this happening on all calls or after using a headset or Bluetooth device? Ensure you are not accidentally touching "mute" while on the call. If neither of these are the case, I would like to suggest performing a soft reset of the device by powering it off and removing the battery for approximately 30 seconds.
Please let me know how this works out for you!

Kin twom Wi-fi not working... really frustrated

I have a WPA 2 network however, when I try to connect to my wifi it says " can't connect to the NetPro network right now. try again later" I have not had the oppurtunity to try this for any other networks. However, I did try a random password for my neighbors, and instead of a message coming up as password invalid or something like that I got the same message. How do I connect to my wi-fi?

Just a thought:
I am a new KIN TWOm owner (not an expert) so I frequent this site to learn about my new phone:
I have an Airport Extreme 802.11g. I am currently using a WPA2 locked network. I had no problem signing in with the the KIN TWOm. My router is pretty old. I do not have the newer 802.11n one.
I just looked in the manual under wifi and it does not specify compatible routers but I do recall reading that the newer 802.11n is not supported. This was on a forum and not in the manual. (Oops! It is in this thread!)
I'm glad I have not upgraded my router in years because mine seems to be working with my KIN TWOm.
So, is it the phone or the router? I don't know?
I will say that I have to remember to turn wifi off of a device (KIN TWOm, iPod Touch, MacBook etc ...) I am taking with me before I leave the house because while I'm gone the entire network shuts down. If I turn wifi off in the device I am carrying out of range then the home network keeps working. If I forget to turn it off of the device I am traveling with, I have to restart the network by physically unplugging it, count to 10 slowly, plug it back in, then everything just starts working again without having to retype the password. It doesn't work if I just reset it from the ethernet device. Leaving the house with a device that has wifi on connected to the home network knocks out everything connected to the network, iPod Touch, computers, etc ... Once I unplug & replug the network in, everything just works again within about a minute or so.
I figured that out the hard way with my iPod Touch. My family kept complaining that the network was down and I noticed the pattern of whenever I leave the house with my iPod on wifi the network goes down. It's the same with my KIN TWOm and my MacBook. I don't know if it has to do with firewall settings or network settings or what? I just make it a habit to turn off wifi on the device I am carrying with me before leaving the house. I can still turn it back on once I am out to access public wifi. Then it still works for the rest of the family while I'm gone. When I return home I have no problem reconnecting to my home network.
I hope this is clear enough. It's hard to explain in writing.

KIN TWOm and skype?

hey there everyone,
I am curious if anyone knows if it is at all possible to get skype mobile on the kin two?
thanks for the help

Skype Mobile is not available on the Kin Twom. Skype Mobile is supported on the following devices.
Blackberry
8830 World Edition
Bold
Curve
Curve 2
Storm
Storm 2
Tour
Android
DROID by Motorola
DROID Eris by HTC
DROID Incredible by HTC
DROID X by Motorola
LG Ally
Motorola DEVOUR
Samsung Fascinate
Windows Mobile
LG Fathom
Media Center Devices
LG Chocolate Touch
LG EnV Touch
Samsung Reality
Samsung Alias 2
Samsung Zeal
LG EnV3
LG Dare
LG Versa
LG Octane
Pantech Crux

Has anyone else honestly had GOOD luck with the Kin TwoM?

I recently purchased a Refurb Kin TwoM off ebay...I havent yet activated it but I did want to pass this along to others (as I was curious about) that I WAS able to take my old Samsung Intensity to a VZW Store and they transferred all my contacts within about 5 minutes! I wanted to make sure that would work first before anything! Also, I tested out the wifi @ home and Mcdonalds and it connected just fine!..its like a Wifi-Enable Mp3 player right now and it only cost me $40, so hopefully once i fully activate it the actual PHONE will work! There are a few quirks Ive noticed like others have pointed out..such as the screen lock doesnt actually lock the volume controls on the side....and the browser is awesome for a basic phone but isnt quite as smooth or 'fluid' for webpages like our Ipod Touch is...(but you really shouldnt compare it to any smart' devices that like) Im not sure if its true for all Kin's but I havent been able to play videos offline like Youtube? anyone else have this issue? I also wish with there were some simple Apps like FB / Twitter/ Maps available but I suppose I cant expect too much!

I know I'm tempting fate by posting this, but yes, I've been quite happy with my KIN TWOm.
I got mine originally in June, 2011. A couple of weeks later, it dropped from the holster on a dirt path and must have hit a pebble or something, because a small section of the screen stopped working. VZW sent me a "Certified" replacement (cost me $99 because of the apparent physical damage), and it has been performing fine for the past 13 months.
Sure, there are some software quirks (It's Microsoft, remember?) but the benefits clearly outweigh those. Probably the thing I miss most is the lack of any voice recording/command function. But I love that it has WiFi, and the nice camera and 8GB memory let me take over 400 pictures when my normal camera was stolen on the second day of a trip to Europe. The Zune music player is nice as well, and the e-mail client, while limited in function, is much nicer than the one on my previous phone.
As for the actual phone functions, I text more than I talk, and the physical keyboard is very nice for that. As for voice calls, I do that pretty seldom, but have not had any problem with dropped calls, volume, etc.
OK, the big elephant in the room is the "black screen" that seems to affect so many people. It's happened to me a few times as well. I think my background as a computer guy has helped me deal with this. When this has happened to me, it's always been when the device was "sleeping", and just didn't want to wake up. Like maybe it wasn't recognizing the interrupt from the "back" button. In those cases, I've found that holding the button down a little longer, opening the keyboard, or briefly pressing the power button will get its attention. Or sometimes I just need to let the device rest for a minute or two and it manages to untie itself. There have just been a very few times when I've had to do a cold boot (remove/replace the battery).
You also need to be careful as to how you put the device in your pocket or belt holster. Make sure that you don't position it in a way that the power button can be accidentally pressed when you sit down. There have been a few times when I take the phone out of my pocket and the little power off confirmation box is displayed. If that happens, be careful not to touch "OK" -- unless you want to power off.
Anyway, maybe mine is living on borrowed time, but overall I've been very happy with it so far.
I know there are others who have not had such a good experience, but this thread asked for people who were happy with their KINs, and I am.

Kin Twom Software Update.

This phone needs a software update immediately. This is phone is terrible. It turns itself off all the time and the volume does not lock. The phone cases for these break to easily so I went Just bought a protective cover for the screen. Anytime anything touches the volume button it changes. And before a Verizon rep can say anything locking the screen doesn't help! You can't use any of the music on your phone as a ringtone. I understand you can email yourself through a text and add it but it would be easier the other way. It'd be nice if it had a on-screen keyboard but I don't know if that is software or firmware. And there are other little quirks about this phone. I don't want to have to buy a smart phone for a good phone. MAybe Verizon should get it off it's butt and serve those of us who don't buy a data plan or have a smartphone!

I doubt it. This is a WYSIWYG phone. I really like the phone, the DATA package was not for me. I had the Kin Onem and alas I dropped it and cracked the screen (only 2 wks old) I now have the Kin Twom and plan on taking better care of it.
Still wish Bluetooth was more functional.

Kin Twom Wifi

So I've been up for an upgrade since December and I just haven't gotten around to getting a new phone. I really can't afford a smartphone, even though I feel Verizon puts most of its effort into smartphones. So I've been looking into the Kin Two and have a few questions.
1. Are there really no time stamps? Is there a time interval like they show a timestamp every 30 minutes? Or like if you didn't read a message right away, will it show a timestamp before you open the message?
2. I know you can't delete single messages. Can you lock certain messages? I'm big on locking messages.
3. Is the wifi worth it?
4. Is there a standard clock? So I can just look at my phone at the time?
Someone please answer these for me?! Alsoooo, any opinions on this phone? Or should I go with the LG Cosmos Touch? Or keep waiting? I really would like to get a new feature phone before college after this summer 2011. Will Verizon be bringing any new and GOOD feature phones to the table?

it seems you accidentally made a double-post of the same information, so i am linking this to your other one, where i left my reply:
http://community.vzw.com/t5/KIN/Basic-Questions-about-the-Kin-Two-m/td-p/463278

Kin Twom Troubleshooting and help please?

Alright, so I got my Kin Twom a couple months ago, and about the 3rd month after having it, it shut itself off, and, upon turning it on, it went to the Verizon Wireless startup screen for about 5 minutes, then moved on to the Kin Twom screen for another 5 minutes, then went to a completely black screen except for the backlight. I couldn't turn it on or off and had to take the battery out to shut it down. A few times I put the battery in and it would startup completely, but the touch screen didn't work. I assumed it might've been overheated so I left it inside and left it alone for several days, and, lo and behold, I turned it on and it started working normally again. It worked fine for about another month, but a few days ago it started to do the same thing. I went to a Verizon store and asked for a replacement and they told me the manufacturer most likely not replace it because of a tiny crack on the screen.
Has anyone else had this same problem? If so, how can I fix it?
Thanks for your help!

Hi lightsonthesky! We can certainly can complete troubleshooting. However, if the phone has a cracked screen it may be determined that the problems were caused by the physical damage. Do you have insurance? If so, the physical damage would be covered. If not, send me a Private Message and include a contact number and the best times to call you.
ChaunceyM_VZWsupport
Follow us on twitter @vzwsupport

Kin TWOm Re view

Been on the fence since the Kin 2m came back out,Read all the reviews here,the web and on verizons site itself.Read about the no text fwd,no ringtone down loads, & no apps,but then thought,i dont need that any way.fwd may 3 texts in 20yrs of owning a cell phone,downloaded maybe 3 rintones in that time,and dont really want to pay for a data plan to download & use an app to open my garage door! Then Verizon had it for free during their christmas promotion,so i ordered one,got it a week before christmas,but the wife wouldnt let me open it until xmas day.so i had it for a week now and figured i'de throw in my 2 cents.
General feel/apperance: Yes the back does feel kinda "cheap" and slippery.But will get a case off amazon like posted in earlier reviews.Dropped it twice so far with no issues.Like the size & weight.The Touch screen is very nice,its bright and easy to see and use.
Wi Fi: Its great! Had a few issues connecting to home wi fi,but had same issues with my 6yr olds Nintendo Dsi,got on after 2 days of trying.Had no issues with free hot spots.Seems very fast also.But does drain battery quickly.Only use it if the home lap top is being used by other family.Did the data block with Verizon,and use the airplane mode.
Call: calls are loud and crisp.Used andEnv 2 before the 2m,and much better sound with the 2m.dont like you can't disable the touch tone sound when dialing,but will live with it.Like how i have a favorite contacts page by swipping left,then can touch someone,and have the option to call/text from there.
Messages: Like the threaded messages,with the calls listed along with texts.Dont like how it dosent keep track of characters used,only have the 250 text plan so like to keep my texts short.Like the quick smiley/sybols key.
Keyboard: Great keyboard! nice feel to the push of the keys,i definatley know when i push a key.Only con with keyboard is kept messing up between the o/9 key and the p/0 key when typing the 0 at first.And the top row is kinda close to the top slide,but got used to it after a day or so.Like the smiley/symbol dedicated button,the call button & search button.was alot easier texting after reading the pdf users manuel on Verizons web site.Found out u can push the green "shift" button twice tou keep the green key active.
Camera:Awsome! Great pics! haven't used video yet.Used the touch shutter button only,the dedicated camera button is hard to use with slider open.like how it stores photos,recent,favorite etc.
Zune: Another great feature! downloaded the software before i got the phone so knew what to do when i got the phone,like how it downloads pics to computer and puts them in albums on phone.The radio feature is awsome,sounds great through supplied head phones.Have put any music on yet,but will soon.The free 14 day Zune pass trial is ok,but after the 14 days are up.from what i've read,you loose all acess to the song you downloaded unless u subscribe.
Cons: Not really cons just some things that one might be used to with past phones that u cant do with the 2 m.Like download ringtones,gonna try the sites mentioned here tho.The no volume lock,havent had an issue yet with this,but can be annoying.I actually like some of the ringtones/alerts that come with the phone.And havent had any issues with hearing them.Dont like that it dosent have an alarm only setting for sound.used that alot with old phone.
Overall: Great phone if your looking for a feature phone.If you want to download apps,games or ring tones,dont buy it.Verizon & Microsoft can make some $$ with the kin onem & 2m if they realize there are people out there,like me,who want a touch screen,8mp camera,wi fi & zune,but dont want to pay for data.They can use these phones as a stepping stone for people to try it,the upgrade to a smart phone later and pay for more data.Kinda a teaser phone.Overall loving my kin twom! Battery life is great,unless u use wi fi alot.
My Question: Like to send pics/text to Facebook,but wont let me send text/pic to the facebook e mail address i got from Facebook.Any one know a way around this?
Thanks to all the reviews that helped me decide to give the 2m a try,i am really happy with it! 4 stars!

one thing i forgot to review,was the no contacts transfer,i had no issue with this,only had about 30 in my old phone and wasnt bad doing it manually.was a good thing for me,got rid of some old ones,added new ones or updated them,plus verizon is splitting our area code soon,so we will need to dial it with any number,gave me the chance to add them to phone now.Like how you can put in multiple #'s home,work,etc. and Really like the feature of birth days and anniversary and business contacts,notes on people,& addresses all in one page and it syncs to calendar automatically!

KIN Twom Lanyard Holes Do Exist?!

***JUST MY SELF REFLECTION ON THE EXPERIENCE WITH THIS DEVICE IGNORE IT IF U GOT NO TIME****
Spent 2 full days on this device, just to figure out everything.
so far, everything i wanted did not happen: no contacts, calendar sync, not compatible with bitpim for now, no idea what to do with the ##programnitt option, etc.
certainly, i can survive without those since i do have my ipod touch.
BUT
no lanyard is just unacceptable for me. without it, my device will end up either swimming or no functioning screen.
so i looked at the device carefully for like 2 minutes hoping some kind of magic would happen, and omg..
there it is, these two little holes which look like nothing important unless they are for lanyard...
these holes are located inside the battery cover. take off the cover, and they are at the top corner of the side with no buttons (opposite side of the volume and power buttons).
of course, i can't 100% guarantee that these are for lanyards, but at least my lanyard did fit in there, and it surely looks like its on the right place.
now, time to put the cover back on. oh wait, it doesn't close right because of the lanyard.
Check the inside the cover where the lanyard holes corresponds to..... what's that T-Block looking area?
looks like Microsoft or Sharp or both forgot to either cut out that piece or drill a hole somewhere in that area...
probably realized the mistake a little late and decided to not mention about the lanyard at all in the KIN Two or Twom manuals.
it's just weird that KIN One has instructions on lanyard but KIN Two doesn't.
Anyways, now i see these holes, im not giving up on the lanyard.
Does anyone have any idea what to do with the battery cover?
easiest way would be cutting out the area, but im afraid the cover would just crack....

I gotta say, this post made me pretty happy. I really wanted a way to put a lanyard/wriststrap on here, seeing it also serves as a camera at many times for me, and the best solution i came up with was drilling 2 holes into the case i bought for it. But i believe you are right, i looked at it myself and found the 2 holes. There doesn't appear to be any function in them, no symmetrical designing of them, and all i can think of is a design flaw of what was a lanyard strap. Like you said, they even have the half-cutout portion on the battery cover.
My best advice as to how to get it working: get a sharp drill bit, and drill a hole/multiple holes until it is to your liking, depending on if you want to take out the whole section or just put the bare-minimum singular hole to get it to work. Or..use a sharp knife, something that doesn't apply too much stress to the material, not much shear on the material. A dremel (rotary tool) would work perfectly, if you have access to one. file/sand it down after for looks and sharp corners, and you should be good to go.
For comfort of mind, because the battery cover does feel cheap and thin as can be, hope this helps.
http://community.vzw.com/t5/KIN/Kin-TwoM-Review-FAQ-Q-amp-A-troubleshooting-etc/td-p/347662/page/4
Post #40 (should be the bottom one on the 4th page), it has links to replacement covers, running at $10 (no shipping cost). The post also has instructions as to how to purchase it, in the event that you need to (verizon's site makes it tricky to actually be able to add it to the cart..who knows why). Good luck, give an update on how it goes. I very much want to know if it works, i really want to attach a camera wriststrap onto my device. As far as the integrity of the loop, i cannot guarantee its strength..i personally have never had a loop like that break off, but they all look small enough just to snap.

Kin TwoM: Review, FAQ, Q&A, troubleshooting, etc.

I bought the kin twom 3 days ago. We qualified for the new every 2 free phone, contract renewal deal, so i've been looking around for a few weeks, doing my research on forums here and there. So, i already knew most of the quirks by the time i bought it. To those who have made detailed reviews, thank you. It helped me decide whether to buy this phone or not. So to contribute back and perhaps help others searching for answers to the Kin twom, I am making a review/FAQ/Q&A to hopefully help answer questions, add my own insight, as well as information that i've found from scouring this and other forums. I also have a few questions of my own that i will ask. It will cover many questions that i have seen asked around, questions i had in mind before i bought the phone, as well as questions and observations i now have.
***and i am hoping somewhere a verizon/microsoft rep is reading this and passes the message along..that this is one of the best feature phones out there, all it needs a a few minor firmware/software fixes, and really is as close to the 'perfect' feature phone that i and many others have been looking for***
This is a very long review, so I will post it in separate posts (apologies for the double.. 10x post).
Contents:
**1 Overview, pro's and cons
**2 Physical quality
**3 Wifi
**4 Phone: calls, messaging, etc
**5 Camera
**6 Zune
**7 Secondary apps: alarm, calculator, calendar
**8 Cases
**9 Sensors
**10 Questions
Background: my old phone was a razr v3m, back to the stone ages. It was a free phone when i bought it, and i was looking for a free phone upon upgrade too. This phone is $50, but for a one-time charge, that was within budget for me. I also used the new every 2 $100 towards purchase offer to get it free. That being said, this could be why i love this phone, because in nearly every way, it was a HUGE improvement. The type of things i was looking for in a phone: good call quality, qwerty keyboard,
good camera. I mainly use my phone..as a phone. Call, text, and because i don't carry a camera around with me,
having an 8 mp with me and HD video was a huge bonus. I don't mind touchscreens, as long as it has a separate keyboard with it (i can't stand just having a touch keyboard, because you can't really do anything unless you are looking at it, and even then, you can miss keys). Looking online and finding this phone and that it had the great camera and full keyboard as a feature phone (no data) at a low cost, i was instantly drawn towards it.

**1. First things first, this is a feature phone, not a smartphone. There are no apps. They call their programs 'apps', but they are really just every phone applications, like phone, calculator, messages, browser, etc. You can imagine why this phone failed its first time through as the kin twom, being a smartphone. It would make just about the worst smartphone out there. I also was not looking for the social networking type phone that this was originally marketed as. This phone is for people who DON'T want data plans, don't want to pay extra. It is currently being sold for $50 with a contract renewal/new contract, and $220 without a contract. The kin onem is a smaller version of the kin twom, if that is the form factor you are looking for, and that is currently listed as $20 w/ a 2 year contract, and $120 contract-free. They are very similar phones, from what i know, they have identical user interfaces and software.
Here are the user manuals for the two phones:
Kin Onem: http://cache.vzw.com/multimedia/mim/kin_two_m/kintwo_m.pdf
Kin Twom: http://cache.vzw.com/multimedia/mim/kin_one_m/kinone_m.pdf
I read this even before i bought the phone, but that could be because i am pretty picky when it comes to buying new products, especially knowing i want it to last at least 2 years. It would be a good idea to read this, although it is understandable if 150 pages isn't your definition of light reading (although this review is pretty long itself..)
Here is also a link to a very helpful review video of the Kin twom (thanks to ertrox342, fantastic job!), you can see many of the features here. *note: for blocking data other than airplane mode, read further down my review*
Part 1
Part 2
Response to comments
off the top of my head, i will list pro's and cons of the phone (some of which will be covered in further detail below). Many of the cons have been listed all over these and other forums and are more bugs than just cons of the phone, but i will list them anyways.
***Pros:***
*mostly deals with the functionality of the phone. In my opinion, it far exceeds my expectations (being a feature phone, low budget and all)
-full qwerty keyboard: lots of spacing between keys, space on its own line, good for bigger hands, etc. (although i've heard people complaining theres too much room between keys..i don't see how you can have too much room, in my opinion thats probably because they're used to a squished, shrunk keyboard from a previous phone)
-8 MP camera, 720p HD video, with flash, some lighting settings, and auto-focus (well beyond what i expect from a phone). No, the flash does not work with the video, nor can you use it as a flashlight, which is a little bit of a downside, but not unbearable. it does do have a burst setting, where it takes 3 successive pictures, good for motion, or where you need to capture a photo at the right time (think..the classic jump in the air).
-great capacitive touchscreen: very responsive, registers well, very comparable to apple's iPhone, iTouch response. Has pinch to zoom, double tap, 2 finger tap, scroll features.
-Wifi. Yes, internet without a data plan. the browser is based off IE6 (from what i've read), it opens most pages, plays certain videos (youtube is the main one, microsoft must have used a custom plugin to get videos working), really what you expect from a phone.
-Zune player. along with wifi, these are all extra bonuses i really didn't expect on a low-budget feature phone. although i am used to apple's itunes, it is a full player on-board the phone, it just takes getting used to the interface (unless you already own a zune)
-FM radio. again, a bonus. Is within the zune player, and now i can listen to radio, or mainly for me, sports games, etc. One downside though, will be mentioned later (cons, **6)
-3.5 mm headjack: standard size, i don't like it when phones decide to throw on a 2.5 mm headjack, although they both are 'standard', 3.5 is much more common, and saves you a trip down to radioshack and some $$ to buy an adapter, or new headphones.
-good call quality, speakerphone works well, etc
-Great battery life: that could be from what i am used to, my old phone needed daily charging, would often go low-battery in 3/4 a day, and it always had a low-battery beep that could not be silenced without silencing the entire device. It has lasted for 2 days now though, and that has been under pretty heavy use from me testing the new phone.
-threaded messages: again, the main thing i use a phone for is calling and texting. The messages are sorted by contact, you CAN send more than 160 characters per message (it auto-divides them into individual messages), even to non-verizon customers. That was one of hte most annoying things about my old phone, was once you get to 160 characters (to non-verizon customers..but who really keeps track of who is verizon and who isn't), you had to send and start writing a new message. And yes, you CAN send/recieve MMS simultaneously to having a functioning Wifi (the 'right' way to block data, explained later, **3)
-Alarm, calendar, calculator: one more thing i generally use my phone for..alarms and the calendar.the original kin didn't have a calendar/calculator, but microsoft did add these to the kin onem/twom models.
-auto-brightness: brilliant. it works wonders for the battery life, and it adjusts it to a great level when needed. When it is dark..not very bright. when you're outside, brighter screen so you can see it. however, the sensor on the phone can sometimes be covered up by your hand, which makes the screen darker for the setting you are in, which might be what is happening to those who say the auto-bright doesn't work well. I haven't found the exact sensor location yet, but i believe it is the little dot by the earpiece.
***Cons:***
This list is much bigger..but that does not mean that the cons exceed the pro's. The pro's are actual functionalities of the phone, the con's are minor quirks here and there, they can be bothersome, but not crippling. For most part, they are listed from most annoying to least. I will list as many con's as i have seen mentioned around the forums, as well as some of my own, so you can judge the phone for yourself. They don't all necessarily bother me.
-volume buttons: they do not lock when you lock the phone. That is a sign of poor software engineering..but its bearable (lock..doesn't that mean lock everything, except unlock?). I ordered a case however, that hopefully will make the volume buttons a lot harder to accidentally push. I think what they had in mind was being able to change the volume while listening to music, but if it is locked, then it should be fully locked..they didn't get this one right. One thing about the phone, however, it seems to have sensors on it, whether infared, light, or just pressure/touch sensors, where the actual buttons don't register unless it senses it is 'being held'. Not quite sure how it works, but will discuss later (**9)
-alarms do not have vibrate only: even if your phone is set on vibrate, there is no vibrate. i do have work-arounds, though, that will be discussed later (cons, **7)
-messaging: only threaded messages. cannot just sort by time, with all contacts integrated. Also, no one has figured out a way to delete individual messages (or access the message info, for that matter), only the entire conversation. After using the phone for a while though, i realized i never would actually want to just sort by time anyways, it does sort by time in between all contacts, just not in between all messages. Also, people have said there is no way to forward messages, which i could not figure out either. However, i can't think of the last time i've forwarded a message anyways, so that doesn't bother me.
-no contact groups. So far, i have not figured out how to make groups. I would love to pin some groups to my favorite contacts, rather than just individual contacts, but the only thing i figured how to do was to 'link' contacts. That groups them together, but then you don't see the names of the contacts, only their numbers (and i don't memorize numbers..not since i didn't have a cell). this is also directly related to mass-texting: you can send mass texts, but have to select the contacts individually, or use these groups where you can't see their individual numbers anyways, and have to select them one at a time.
-Verizon's own backup-assist does not work with this phone. I'm guessing this is because the original kin had the online studio to sync everything, and they didn't bother making it compatible. When they made it a feature phone, they didn't bother making the backup work because it was backed up a separate way. Also, i've read that it does not support bluetooth OBEX profiles, which means you can't transfer contacts via bluetooth. It does have bluetooth in general, though.
-it was said in one of the other posts that verizon has been updating its systems to be able to transfer contacts for the new kin models in its stores. I don't know whether that is fixing the backup assist compatibility issues, or providing a way to direct-connect the 2 devices and sync the contacts, but that is promising news to those who don't want to spend the time entering in all of your contacts.
-slippery backing: the material to make the backing of the phone is very slippery, what i would call poor quality plastic. sounds quite hollow too..like it could break with a drop. However, i'm getting a rubberized case for it that will hopefully fix this and not make it feel like i am going to drop the phone at any time (details later, **8). While the backing does feel cheap, the front half of the phone is very solid. it is a very thick, hard plastic, and doesn't seem like it would break upon impact. I did get a screen cover for it anyways though, because for its cost, i would rather put one on than be bothered by a permanent scratch. They are quite cheap online, although i did buy mine through verizon (they actually gave me a droid incredible cover because they didn't have kin accessories, but the screen sizes are about the same, so i can't complain).
-along the same lines, because it is slippery, it is very hard to press the back button when holding it with 1 hand. i wish it had a back button on the touch screen along with the physical button.
-form factor: the phone is largest along the front of the phone, and slighty chamfers in as you go to the back. when it is in your palm, it feels firm and tight, but when using things like the camera, it really would've been a better design to just not have that chamfer. From feel, i believe it only feels funny because the back cover is so slippery. When the case i ordered comes in, hopefully it will have enough friction to stay put and feel good in the hands.
- a general lack of settings: there aren't many theme settings (only color), and no font sizes (for some reason, you can't zoom in on texts or anything else for that matter, other than the browser and pictures), so be weary if your eyesight isn't the best. Like mentioned with the alarm, there is no vibrate as a sound setting, only a global 'vibrate with sounds' setting. A work-around (that i haven't tested yet, but would most likely work) would be just to create a blank ringtone, and call it vibrate, and keep that global setting on, but you wonder why didn't have a vibrate only setting in the first place. When the phone is put on vibrate, alarms still sound.. but they don't vibrate. but when the global vibrate is on and the phone is on low, medium, or high volume, the vibrate does work for alarms. Kind of backwards. poor software debugging, if you ask me, but its bearable. I wish you could custom move where the 'recent' and time dashboard were on the interface to the top corners, when holding it landscape, it is a lot more natural for me to press the top of hte screen, not the bottom.
-no touchscreen keyboard. it doesn't have a touch qwerty, and it also doesn't really have a keypad touch either. while the keypad does come up with calls, you can't use it for texts, or inputting anything other than just a basic phone call. in other words, you have to open the phone to type. it doesn't have t9/predicative texting, and no quick texts either.
-no back button on the touch screen..only the physical key. I wish microsoft would release an update with an optional setting to make a back and home button appear in one of the corners much like the time dashboard and recent buttons are.
-this isn't a kin specific gripe, but phones with accelerometers/auto-rotate in general. I've never had a device that had auto-rotate, so it will just take some getting used to, to keep the screen from not rotating the other way when i don't want it to (if i want to use the phone lying down, i will have to turn it the other way, etc).
-qwerty keyboard: the enter key is right next to the backspace key (not to mention that return and backspace icons look very similar...). Aftera while, you sort of remember which one is which, but having them further apart could've been a better design (there is about a half inch of free space on each side of the keyboard). Also, the keyboard does not have cursor arrow keys (up, down, left, right), and they don't come up on the touchscreen either. With all that free space, it would've been really nice if they added cursor keys, but the touch screen works well enough to just pick the spot you want to move the cursor to.
-fm radio: have to have headphones plugged into phone to use the radio. the headphones act as an antenna for the radio, which is really weird that they didn't bother putting in an internal antenna, because the phone itself already has an internal antenna..there may be a way to 'fool' the device into thinking that headphones were plugged in, but then you could use the radio with just the speaker (i don't think the quality would be too bad without the headphone antennas because the phone has so many conducting parts already..why didn't they just put in an internal FM reciever?).
-no alarm only setting in with volume
-no microSD slot. although i kind of expected this, much like the iphone or some other smartphones don't have slots, just built-in memory. But i doubt i'll run out of 8 GB, because i don't think i'll be using this as an mp3 player.
-the end call button on the touch screen is pretty small (and there is no physical key to end the call), but nothing i won't get used to.
-ringtones: from what i've read, you can't directly add custom mp3 ringtones to the phone. You have to send them via MMS to the phone. Also, there hasn't been a way to delete ringtones, as far as i know. The default ringtones aren't any good (they also have pretty cheesy names, a carry-over from the social-marketing of the original kin). You can transfer ringtones to the phone, from another phone and MMS, or by emailing your phone at ##yourphonenumber##@vzwpix.com. You also can't rename ringtones. In other words, though, if you do get ringtones (through MMS or texting it to yourself by email), make sure they are named the way you want them to be, and that you are ok with them being permanent, at least until a solution is found. I did read, that if you save the ringtone through zune, under the music folder, then you can delete it when you want.
-Cannot access kin as a mass storage device. Have to sync through zune. Although Zune isn't that bad (it is windows, and i own a PC running windows 7, making them very compatible and interlinked), i am used iTune's interface, so i just have to learn Zune's UI. You add and remove music, pics, video, etc between the phone and computer through Zune player. It is a free download software. You can also organize photo albums through zune on the computer, it just takes some getting used to if you aren't already a zune player user. I do not know if Zune player works on Mac's, but i read that they are going to be releasing a mac version soon.
download link: http://zune.net/en-us/products/software/download/default.htm
-ugly interface: unlike most touchscreen phones where the icons are small and there is blank space, the kin twom has large 'flooded' icons that cover the entire home screen, and aren't editable. I don't think it is that ugly, but it certainly is a change from 99% of the verizon-default interfaces.
- Background wallpaper: cannot orient the picture direction. I don't care too much which direction the lock screensaver is, but it may be true that you can only have the picture set in 1 direction. It does not change with the accelerometer auto-rotate, but what you can do to change between landscape and vertical is take the picture in the opposite direction and then apply it. I read on one of hte other posts that they can only set it as a landscape background, but i have only been able to set it as a vertical background. That is how i normally hold my phone anyways though, so no problem.
-Some people have said that the camera button is hard to press, and when you do, it often shakes the phone, causing a blurry picture. i haven't really had problems with that. One thing you have to realize, is it is a 2-step push camera button. Hold half-way to focus, then snap the rest to take the picture. If you push it all the way, it will quickly auto-focus and then take a picture. Same goes for the touch-screen camera take button. The phone can try to slide open a little when taking pictures, but i've found a way to hold it so it is firmly in your hands. Just make sure you are holding the back of the phone on the bottom, not just the screen part.
-There are no voice commands (as far as i've noticed, if there are, someone correct me on this). I'm putting this under con's because it is something the phone doesn't have that most phones do, but for me personally, i almost see this as a pro. Now i won't accidentally be pushing buttons and hear 'please say a command'. Now, if you use a headset or something like that, that could be a downside.

How To Transfer Photo and Video from Kin Twom to PC?

My computer, Windows-Vista, does not show the Kin Twom icon. I don't know how to download photo and video taken from Kin Twom to PC. Kin Studio is phasing out and does not accept new member. What else can we do?

just found out, you are from my town!
ok, so you have your zune software downloaded and installed.
when you first open the software, it will show photos/videos/blah blah. Those are usually the contents (default) in your "My Music" "My Video" and "My Pictures" folders under your "My Documents" folder or "Libraries" (windows 7).
So to move those photoes, videos, and such in and out of the zune software, simply copy/cut/paste whatever you may like, and put them in those designated folders.
After opening Zune, connect Kin TwoM to your computer via the given USB cable.
If connected successfully, the Zune software will detect it and ask you to name your device. If not, then disconnect and retry.
Then to sync stuff to your Kin TwoM, under the Zune menu, go to "Collections" and choose whatever you like, click on them and drag to the lower left corner where a phone is presented in "black" color. If you successfully dragged an item there, the mouse cursor should changed to a red bubble with the number "1" in it. The number represents the amount of items you are dragging to the phone.
To sync stuff from the phone to your computer, go to the Phone section under Zune menu, should be about 3 or 4 items to the right of "Collections". Repeat what was said above, except this time, the little black phone at the lower left corner will be a black desktop.
hope this helps!

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