What happened? Microsoft  officially announced today that the brand-new Kin line of phones is now discontinued.

Kin, is a series of two phones aimed at the young teenage market. Some of the very interesting attributes include the innovative cloud-based backup service. One of the biggest problems plaguing the Kin is branding confusion and its uncertain place in the phone industry. It is hard to understand is the Kin a messaging phone, like the Sidekick but it requires full data plans like a smartphone. So maybe it is a smartphone but there again it doesn’t have apps to download or any sort of customization.

Microsoft has not exposed the real reason for discontinuing the Kin, but low sales could be one of the deciding factors. Even though Microsoft has cut prices, there are rumors that only 500 phones were sold in six weeks– if true what a disaster.

Microsoft could be using the Kin as a test case for the Windows Phone 7. The two platforms share features and the Kin could be seen as the little brother to the Windows Phone 7 phones. Here’s a statement from Microsoft on the matter:

We have made the decision to focus on our Windows Phone 7 launch and we will not ship KIN in Europe this fall as planned. Additionally, we are integrating our KIN team with the Windows Phone 7 team, incorporating valuable ideas and technologies from KIN into future Windows Phone releases. We will continue to work with Verizon in the U.S. to sell current KIN phones.

Having the Kin pulled after only six weeks after launch has to be a major hit to Microsoft’s confidence.

Although discontinued the Kin phones will remain on sale at Verizon stores until sold out, and Microsoft will provide service to purchasers of the phones.