Microsoft Kin Two gets torn apart, reveals Sony image sensor

Sure, we already know most of the Kin Two's main specs, but there's nothing like a proper teardown to find out exactly what makes something tick, and the folks from Chipworks have now kindly ripped one apart so you don't have to. Among the highlights are the expected NVIDIA Tegra APX2600 processor, a slew of chips and memory from the likes of Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, Hynix, and Samsung and, perhaps most notably, an image sensor from none other than Sony. That sensor, the IMX046, is one of the smallest in its class with a pixel size of just 1.4 microns and, according to Chipworks, something of a surprise -- they were expecting a sensor from OmniVision. Hit up the links below for the Chipworks' complete blow-by-blow account, as well as some further analysis from the folks at iFixit -- and, no, there isn't a teardown of the Kin One just yet.

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Kin starts getting all social on Best Buy locations

In the event that you've got a Best Buy a click closer to you than a Verizon store -- and you just happen to have a hankering to check out Microsoft's Kin devices -- well, you're in luck, because the phones are showing up. Of course, offering a device like this that requires a $30 data plan under the roof of a building alleging to be a "Best Buy" seems a tad disingenuous, but who are we to judge?

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Microsoft and Verizon say Kin's monthly pricing isn't crazy, when you think about it

Whatever you think about the Kin devices themselves, the one thing most folks can agree on is that their monthly pricing is more than a little out of step with their target audience -- except for Microsoft and Verizon, that is. Speaking to Computerworld, Microsoft senior product manager Greg Sullivan and Verizon spokesperson Brenda Raney both raised the issue of the Kin's ability to backup to the cloud when defending the high monthly price ($30 for data on top of a standard phone plan), with Sullivan saying that once customers "realize the value of this, they'll realize it's a great deal." On another note, Sullivan also used some interesting language when discussing the possibility of app downloads for the Kin, saying that "over the longer term" Microsoft will be "merging" the Kin and Windows Phone 7 platforms and adding downloadable apps. Now, that's not a radical departure from what we've heard from Microsoft before, but "merge" is a curious choice of words, isn't it?

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Kin available online starting tomorrow, in Verizon stores on May 13

Dearest members of the Upload Generation: the wait to buy the Kin of your dreams is a short one -- provided Mommy and Daddy are willing to pony up the $30 a month in data charges, of course. Verizon will be selling both the Kin One and Kin Two online starting tomorrow, May 6, for $49.99 and $99.99 respectively, after you agree to a two-year contract and come to terms with the fact that you'll be paying $100 more upfront while you wait for your rebate to be mailed to you on a debit card (par for the course these days). If you'd rather play with the devices first, your wait isn't much longer -- you'll be able to score both of them in Verizon retail locations starting a week later on the 13th.

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