Back when Microsoft’s teen-oriented Kin 1 and Kin 2 social networking phones were announced, we were a bit surprised to find out that they lacked what most would consider a pretty standard feature: instant messaging. Or at least, we would have been surprised, had we not found out many of the Kin’s shortcomings months before their official announcement.
A social networking phone.. without instant messaging? Preposterous. Fortunately, it looks like Microsoft might be looking to fill this rather massive gap, eventually.
After a few months of tearing through random HTC ROMs, notoriously wonderful ROM hacker Conflipper has returned to the Kin. In his first dive back in, he stumbled across the foundation for an IM system supporting AOL IM, Windows Live, and Yahoo.
When might Microsoft roll such features out? Alas, we have no way of knowing. While Conflipper says that the handsets are capable of software updates, Microsoft has yet to roll any out — so until further notice, we’ve got no way of knowing if they plan on changing anything.