New T-Mobile Sidekicks coming this year… world stops in anticipation
There’s nothing to get your week going like the adrenaline that results from the revelation that a “couple” new Sidekicks are headed to T-Mobile sometime this year. According reputable electronics broker PCD, the world should see an unspecified number of new Sidekick handsets introduced before the end of 2009. Very little (read: nothing) in the way of details, but we hope, hope, hope that someone up at Danger/T-Mobile/Microsoft has organized a company-wide conference call to illuminate employees on the virtues of modern inventions such as “3G”, “Wi-Fi”, and “GPS”. Not to beat a dead horse, but the previous “couple” Sidekicks haven’t been much to write home about, with little in the way of innovation on the design and functionality front. That said, we don’t want to write the new boys off before they arrive so we’ll maintain as much of an open mind as we can. Sorry Danger Microsoft, but we just haven’t felt the same warm, fuzzy feeling from any of your new Sidekicks in quite some time…feel like surprising us? Mmmmkay, thanks.
HIDEOUS!
Should be interesting to see where microsoft takes this.
@ tom
Hideous…and then some!
@ both of you:
that’s a gen 1 sidekick.
That thang looks like some reject from the old Atari days…..
I remember when those things were cool….
(circa 2004) STILL HIDEOUS!
note: I’m not a sidekick fan
Sidekicks are absolutely, eye-gougingly atrocious! They always look as if they’re made using leftover parts from a VTEC children’s learning toy.
When you press the shoulder buttons, it spells U-G-L-Y!
@Pheer
actually its a Sidekick 2
and quite frankly im done with sidekicks. They are not a good look in the work place.They should stick to selling them to high school students
@ pheer6224
1st, 2nd or 3rd gen doesn’t matter to me. It should be called “Dropkick” because that’s what I would do to it if it were ever in my presence.
I had one of these when I was a jr in college and while it lacked in many areas I still haven’t had a phone that comes close to having as good of an AIM client. With that being said it is great for 22 & years younger, but you gotta grow up some time.
True, Steve, at some point, a twenty- or thirty-something shouldn’t be caught dead with a Sidekick, especially when there is the Samsung Rant, which has almost every feature found in a mature smartphone save for the operating system and lots of internal memory. It is actually sophisticated in style and operation.
But the reason for the Sidekick’s existence and popularity isn’t older adults like you and I. It’s for the kiddies who want their first real high-end-like phone and love everything that adults find hideous like T-and-A posters from Spencer’s Gifts, Hot Topic short skirts replete with spiked belts and T-shirts from Hollister.
I am a big fan of the form factor of the Sidekicks…When I came to the UK I was upset to see T-Mobile had poor coverage in my area, but it has improved recently… And now I see a new Sidekick on the way!?!?!? I hope Microsoft has made some changes to the features and who knows what lies in wait for the OS…. excited!
** TO the others..that is a very old model SK up there…**
Uhm, pointless? I understand the sarcasm, but still the entire sidekick design is so 2003.
Oh man, the Sidekick 2.
…Sad. Glad I’ve traded up but seeing this phone gives me twinges of nostalgia. Oh GPRS internet, oh shitty camera. Oh chunky size…
I remember when i first went of to college I and first saw a Sidekick I thought they were the coolest handset ever!! I liket the way the screen swiveled around. I wanted to get one but it wasn’t until recently that T-Mobile offered service in NC. Anyway I remember the first color sidekick had the camera attachement that you could use to take pictures. Then came the Sidekick 2. After I started learning what other smartphones could do I started to see how juvenile Sidekicks really are. I think they do have a place and are great for messaging but not very functional or productive. And now I have a Blackberry and wonder how I was ever without one. The IM programs available for Blackberries outshine all other smartphone IM applications as well, so that is an added plus.
I’ve got an iPhone now, but as I recall, even some of the older models of Sidekicks did things that the iPhone can’t do today, like running AIM in the background, sending and receiving MMS messages, over the air upgrades to the OS and copy and paste. It had the greatest keyboard too, and the data package was more affordable. Very easy to use. And it had an app store years ago, and push email and synched your data to their website (no charge like MobileMe). I don’t regret moving to the iPhone, since the Sidekick wasn’t able to stay current with advancing technology, but it was a cool little phone. If I lost my iPhone and was forced to go back to a Sidekick, I don’t think I’d be crying over it.
the SK definitely needs 3g…. the wait 1 hr after a call to get connected to the network isnt good at all.
But for SK to have 3G, T-Mo needs to improve its 3G coverage. At this moment, Sprint and VZW are already launching 4G networks — and our boys in Bonn are still struggling with early 21st century technology.
^WiMAX is DOA. It’s been in _all_ the papers.
Come on boy genius 1 thru 22, we all know that’s NOT the handset. Don’t be a dillweed. But even if its stainless stell and transforms into Optimus Prime, I’m still not getting another one.
Stupid question, but I have seen some mentions of Microsoft…did MS do the software for this little monstrosity?
THIS PHONE IS LIKE 50 YEARS OLD THEY SHOULD COME OUT WITH SOMETHING ELSE, AND THAT G1 IS THE SAME CRAB IS UGLY,BIG AND IT LOOKS CHEAP.
@AgBand: MS recently bought danger. The company that was responsible for the Sidekick’s software and back end configuration.
I’d really like to see an updated sidekick.
3G, GPS, not the size of a laptop, maybe a touch screen all the little things that make you realize a phone is from this century.
The LX was a step in the right direction. But the ’sidekick’ seemed like a step backwards. I think they should continue in that direction though and work towards making two lines of phones. One that an adult can carry and not feel like a tween. Other then the fact that its outdated now I’ve always thought that the hardware, software and the back end were some of the best implemented out there. Then they should also make a ’sidekick’ that focuses on affordability and fashion.
Wow, way to go.
You guys are awesome for bashing a phone that is CLEARLY not for you.
This phone is made for high school kids to young adults in their mid 20’s at the most.
Geniuses.