Vodafone to Bring Microsoft KIN Phone to Europe

Vodafone today announces that it will bring KIN, a new Windows Phone designed specifically for people who are actively navigating their social lives, exclusively to Europe in Autumn 2010. Initial launch markets will be Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, with further markets to follow before the end of 2010.

KIN is designed to be the ultimate social experience that blends the phone, online services and a browser based experience for viewing photos, videos, contacts and feeds from any computer. Features like the KIN Spot, Loop and Studio harness the power of social media to let people publish and share everything they love, with everyone they love.

“Vodafone is delighted to further its partnership with Microsoft, bringing our customers Microsoft’s latest innovation – KIN,” said Patrick Chomet, Group Director of Terminals at Vodafone. “Mobile social networking is increasingly having strong appeal for our customers. KIN has a unique and intuitive way of engaging with the user, enabling them easily to share experiences and stay in touch with their friends.

“Our aim is to provide our customers with the widest choice of attractive smartphones and the best-in-class experience of new services through Vodafone’s high-speed mobile broadband network. This announcement continues to deliver on our ambition to be the strongest provider of data-centric mobile experiences across platforms and operating systems,” Chomet concluded.

“The new KIN phone brings together everything important to socially-connected people in a way that is completely natural for them,” said Robbie Bach, President of the Entertainment and Devices division at Microsoft. “KIN phones, together with Vodafone’s outstanding coverage, will provide people in Europe with a great social experience on a mobile device.”

Pricing information and local availability dates will be announced by the markets closer to the date of launch.

For further information please contact

Vodafone Group Media Relations
+44 (0) 1635 664444

Notes to Editors

1. For further information please visit:

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/presskits/KIN

2. The European launch in Autumn 2010 will follow the launch of KIN in the US in Spring of this year

About Vodafone
Vodafone is the world's leading international mobile communications group with approximately 333 million proportionate customers as at 31 December 2009. Vodafone currently has equity interests in 31 countries across five continents and around 40 partner networks worldwide. For more information, please visit www.vodafone.com