It was only on the market for two months, but Microsoft's Kin phone line has been killed off as quickly as Australia gets rid of Prime Ministers.

One minute the new phones were being heralded as a new force in mobile social networking. Microsoft extolled features such Facebook and Twitter integration and pointed out that they were cheaper than the hugely popular iPhone.

Trouble was, the young people Microsoft was aiming the Kin at actually preferred iPhones ... or Android phones ... or Nokia phones. They weren't keen to sign up for a watered down handset that couldn't do all the cool stuff they wanted.

Microsoft's drastic response was to pull Kin off the market just two months after launch. Some US carriers will continue to sell their existing inventories - but at significantly reduced prices.

The way in which Kin was yanked says something about the ructions that are occurring deep inside Microsoft when it comes to mobile phones. Many on the outside were struggling to see why the company needed a platform other than its forthcoming Windows Phone 7 OS - now it seems the company itself agrees.

Microsoft already has a battle of gigantic proportions on its hands if it has any hope of grabbing market share from Apple's iPhone and the ballooning number of Android devices hitting the market.

Kin was just another distraction.