Here's another look at the phones

The Kin One and Kin Two devices don’t support an array of third-party applications like the more grown-up Windows Phones do. They aren’t designed for you to check your Exchange email or Outlook calendar, or collaborate with your work colleagues because these are kids phones.  

However, although there aren’t dedicated apps for social networking, the phones do allow for interacting with social media thanks to Kin’s integration of photos, videos, SMS messages, Twitter, MySpace and Facebook posts directly into the Kin UI (user interface). 

With Kin Loop, for example, you see an incoming stream of data from your friends which includes all of the above. And with Kin Spot you can push out your own media (again, photos, videos, maps, status updates, etc.) to your friends. Loop’s stream is prioritized by who you tag as your “favorite” friends, so you just see content relevant to you.

Kin Studio, the third major component to Kin devices, is a secure online service where your media is stored. It’s sort of like how Microsoft’s “MyPhone” web service functions except that the Studio feature is automatically syncing your content to the cloud straight out of the box. From the online Kin Studio service, you can browse your content and share it with others. 

Also included in the devices is Zune support. As with the Zune HD, Kin owners can sync their phones with Zune’s desktop software or can stream music via the Zune Pass service. An interesting note which some may have missed is that Kin phones will soon be able to sync with Mac computers, too: a Zune client for Mac arrives in May.

There are more features coming to Kin phones over time, but no word on what exactly those will be just yet. (We hope it’s a few games and IM, though.)

In the meantime, there’s a lot of info about the devices online at the newly launched Kin website here: kin.com.

The BlackJack will also get you connected to the new Cingular Music subscription service, as well as Cingular Video (for those of us who can't live without specialized HBO streaming content). For some of us at 10 though the XM Radio Mobile service is the more appealing idea. For those of you kids who were 'Q cool for school', this is your upgrade path. Our good friends at Phonescoop have previewed the BlackJack for your betterment as well.

Branded as the T-Mobile Dash, this Smartphone packs quad-band EDGE, WiFi, and Bluetooth (with A2DP) into a qwerty form factor more that is arguably more attractive and more addictive than the Motorola Q. To top it all off, the Dash also supports T-Mobile’s new My Faves service. Once signed up for an appropriate service plan, you can select your 5 most-called US numbers and scratch them off your bill.

While some of us around the 10 reservation can’t imagine losing the uber-functionality of a Pocket PC, the Dash makes a strong argument for the benefits of a more svelte WinMo device. Your friendly neighborhood T-Mobile shop should have them by October 25^th. Also be sure to check out Phonescoop and Engadget for more hands-on opinion.