Probably the worst kept secret in recent Sidekick memory has been the new T-Mobile Sidekick, model 2008. From leaked codenames to screen shots, device slides, and even some live shots, if you’ve been paying attention, you’re certainly aware of the device. For some reason, if you’re not, here’s a quick rundown of the specs:

• $149.99 with a two-year agreement
• Video recording
• Spell check
• Quick find
• Improved browser
• Enhanced IM
• Bluetooth A2DP
• 2.0 megapixel camera
• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE

We haven’t took much time to play around with the Sidekick just yet, but from our early findings, the keyboard seems to be a mix of the Sidekick 3 and the Sidekick LX, but the buttons are a bit smaller. We’re a little disappointed with the build quality on this one. If this phone doesn’t scream “CHEAP!” to you…you’ve got a serious problem. The 4 buttons on the front of the device (menu, jump, back, cancel) are difficult to press, and that’s not even getting into the buttons on the side like the volume keys and the power key. The miniUSB connector is on the top of the phone this time instead of the side, which makes a whole lot of sense, and we actually were surprised by how loud the speaker was. Still though, you might as well spring for the extra $100 and get an LX. Or a Slide. Maybe not a Slide. Motorola’s not getting any more Sidekick contracts anytime soon.

Seriously, we love you T-Mo, but it’s time to get in gear. When the Sideline line-up encompasses your hottest exclusive devices, you’ve really got an issue. The model designation of the Sidekick is even 2008, yet we can’t understand how this is being released in this day and age, and we would have loved to see a $50 price point. Heck, you can get a friggin’ iPhone for $199. You might have to wait a couple weeks, but you still get an iPhone!

Since you can actually create your own shells for the new Sidekick online using a pretty cool configurator, T-Mobile was nice enough to hook us up with a customized BGR shell for the Sidekick. In typical BGR fashion, we’re giving it away. Yes, you can be that totally cool kid in school with the only BGR Sidekick in town. Just drop in a comment and you’re on your way! We’ll run this until Friday at 11:59PM. No, you don’t actually get to win the Sidekick. T-Mobile made us promise to send it back so they can trace our fingerprints and discover our identity.

UPDATE: Ok, screw it. T-Mobile hit us up to let us know that they’re sending us a brand new T-Mobile Sidekick to giveaway. So now you win the actual Sidekick and the BGR shell. How can you beat that?

Click on over to our T-Mobile Sidekick hands-on gallery!

We just got a hold of some internal T-Mobile snap shots, and any Sidekick will truly appreciate them. They detail the much-rumored Sidekick Gekko, from here on out known as the… wait for it… almost there… T-Mobile Sidekick 2008! That’s it, guys. Creative name right? In all seriousness, it looks like the word about customizing the shells on the device look to be true. It’s an “entry-level” device, and as such, we reckon it won’t break the bank. Here are the official specs on the T-Mobile Sidekick 2008:

• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE
• 2 megapixel camera
• 2.6″ WQVGA screen
• Video recording
• Stereo A2DP Bluetooth
• Standard Sidekick features

Couple more shots after the jump along with some more info!

Wednesday means that your week is just about half over, but here at BGR, our work is never done. Our ninjas know that that they can never rest, and hump day is no exception. So what do we have here: how about a little Best Buy info for your viewing pleasure? One of our anonymous buddies has uncovered some info that all you Danger and RIM fans might enjoy - like a few new handsets coming your way this month from Best Buy. First, the Sidekick Gecco and limited edition Sidekick LX Tony Hawk will both be making their way to the retail giant later this month, both on T-Mobile. Inventory will be received on Sunday July 27 to be exact. On the same day, Best Buy will also be receiving what is labeled as the BlackBerry Curve Sunset; a new color of Curve for those of you you like to be a bit different. The carrier for the new Curve isn’t clear but T-Mobile is likely a safe guess. Hit the jump for more pics and a clearer view of some more stock that Best Buy will be receiving at the end of the month.

“Stop hating and post my spy pictures of video mode haaaa.” Ok, Clue. Done. Next time just try not to send us grainy ass pictures. Thanks. One more shot after the break!

Doubt us? Never. That Sidekick LX update we told you about yesterday has just been made official. T-Mobile made the announcement today, promising a host of upgrades to existing LX users. The new OTA refresh will start making the rounds this week, with video recording, play and share capabilities, an alarm clock, stereo Bluetooth support and Bluetooth file transfer support all making the cut. As with all Sidekick updates, this will be a phased rollout, so don’t get too upset if this doesn’t hit your handset immediately. Patience, dear readers. Patience. 

If you’re like us, you’re not giving that Tony Hawk Sidekick LX the time of day. But, you don’t want to feel left out when all the other cool kids in school are taking videos of their gnarly sk8board tricks. What’s a Sidekick-toting fellow to do? Well, the much-awaited OTA update for the LX will hit on June 25th. It will be a rolling OTA as usual (they slowly spread it out across the devices which can sometimes take up to 4 weeks) and we’ve got the exact details on what it will contain. Below is an easy-to-read version of what we were able to translate. 

• Capture videos using the new video mode
• Playback from the SD card or email attachments using the media player
• Share videos via email, Picture messaging, and Bluetooth
• Listen to songs or videos using a stereo Bluetooth device
• Send and receive photos, videos, or music via Bluetooth
• 3 IM clients & enhancements to AIM® and Yahoo!® Messenger
• Create and join group chats
• See who is logged into IM from the address book or email and instantly start a conversation
• Set a custom status message then keep chatting
• Search for friends in a buddy list
• Got more buddies than you can keep track of? See who’s online right from the address book or email, and search for friends in your buddy lists
• Select how Web pages are displayed based on preference
• PC-like, full-size layout to pan & scan while reading o Standard Sidekick screen-size layout to simply scroll down the page to read · Mini Page to zoom out on an overview of an entire Web page 
• Save images from Web pages to the SD card Personalize the way you want to surf
• Device does not restart after a download. Just install an item, and it’s ready to use
• Capture videos and share them directly from the Camera app
• Video integration for playback, send, and save to gallery
• QuickFind: search for keywords across applications to find messages or information
• Spell Checker

So, you’re on the edge of seat waiting for this fabled Tony Hawk Sidekick LX to launch, huh? Good news for you then, because we just got the full scoop on it! The device will be “previewed” starting tomorrow but won’t go on sale until mid July. Beginning tomorrow, however, you’ll start to see it on Sidekick.com and “all over the news media.” The phone supposedly has a “skateboard look and feel with a grip-tape-texture and his well known hawk graphic.” Here’s where it gets interesting for all you Sidekick lovers, though — the device will ship with video recording capability, something called play and share (obviously sharing the recorded videos), stereo Bluetooth support, easier downloads and more themes and background personalization options. This summer, all Sidekick LX customers will get that OTA and be in video heaven.

As if we needed any more evidence of the impending arrival of the Sidekick Gekko, HipTop3.com got their hands on several pages from the handset’s product manual. The manual confirms a number of details about the Gekko, including the presence of a 2 megapixel camera, wide-screen LCD, replaceable bumpers and shells, and on-board video support. We’re still waiting on live shots of a breathing prototype, but the rumored launch date is close enough that we’re sure something will surface soon enough.

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There’s good news, and there’s bad news. First the positive side. A new Sidekick model has just cleared the FCC certification process. There are two rumored new devices on the way, and we’re honestly not sure if this is the new Sidekick Gekko or Aspen, as the FCC label identified it only as the Sharp PV210. FCC is a big step on the road towards official release, so this is a good sign for anyone eagerly awaiting the device’s arrival. The bad news, however, is that the FCC documents made no mention of any 3G radios, so unless Danger has a trick or two up their sleeves, high speed data might no-go.

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Just as we predicted, a special red version of the Sidekick Slide has hit the streets. The Sidekick Slide Crimson is functionally identical to its purple brother, sporting EDGE, 1.3 megapixel camera, slide out QWERTY keyboard, Danger’s stellar AIM client, and a bit more. It’s not going to win any awards for "Innovation of the Year", but for the Sidekick faithful, this should do the trick. Expect it to run you $199 on a two-year agreement, available immediately from all of T-Mobile’s retail channels.

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Not a whole lot to go on here, but we have confirmed that the Sidekick Gecko is in the wild, and that the browser is fully functional. The Sidekick Gecko, if you remember, is one of two new Sidekick models rumored to be coming out this July. The phone is supposed to be a replacement for the recently-deceased Sidekick iD, and should arrive with a Sharp Aquos-influenced screen, 2 MP camera with video, interchangeable bumpers, and more. We’re tentatively looking at a July 30th release, but we’ll hit you with more info as soon as we get it.

Thanks, SS-T!

UPDATE: Sorry for the false alarm here folks, but it looks like we may have jumped the gun. Several astute readers have pointed out that the screen shot above is a calling card of the Gecko web browser engine, used by Danger for all of their back-end web proxy duties. As such, there’s nothing in the shot itself that points to the new handset.

Remember that new Sidekick we told you about a couple of days ago? What was previously a faceless name has revealed itself. The new T-Mobile device appears to take direct cues from the Sidekick ID, sporting flamboyantly colorful bumpers accenting the outside of the handset. The phone is rumored to sport the same Sharp LCD screen that is currently installed on the Sidekick LX, which is a pretty good thing if you ask us. No further word on pricing, but if this one is looking to step in where the ID left off, it better have the bargain basement price tag to prove it.

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As if the 2 new mystery Sidekick devices we brought you yesterday weren’t enough, it looks like we might have yet another special edition Sidekick on our hands before too long. If the rumormill is correct, there’s a special Edition Tony Hawk Sidekick LX coming very soon. The device will be the first in what is sure to be a long line of flossed-out LXs, and is supposed to be released on the 16th of July, which will coincide nicely with the T-Mobile-sponsored Tony Hawk Boom Boom HuckJam skate fest. No word on what this beast will look like, or how much it will cost, but if it is in fact real, we’ll have more info to you as soon as we get it.

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TmoNews is claiming to have the scoop on not one, but two new Sidekick devices. The first, codenamed the SK Gekko, is scheduled to launch on the 27th of July, while the second, codenamed the "Sidekick Aspen", is currently slated for a July 30th launch. We’re not betting one of these will be the red Sidekick Slide we told you about a little while ago, so yeah. While we wouldn’t put it past T-Mo and Danger Microsoft Danger to launch a 3G-capable Sidekick, it seems unlikely given the recent LX and Slide releases. That said, we’ll continue to dig up more info on these as it becomes available.

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It’s official; Microsoft announced that its acquisition of Danger has been completed. Danger of course is the company behind Sidekick client software and we’ve all known for a while that this deal was underway. So what will this mean for Danger? First and foremost, the company will become part of a newly formed group within Microsoft dubbed the Premium Mobile Experiences (PMX) team that "focuses on consumer-facing mobile projects". The team falls under the Mobile Comms division and Danger co-founders Matt Hershenson and Joe Britt will stay on, reporting to the head of the PMX team. There’s nothing like receiving a small fortune to watch someone else run your brainchild. Head of PMX, Roz Ho:

“We imagine a mobile experience that embraces sharing and celebrating relationships and personal moments. Combining Danger and Microsoft talents together in the Premium Mobile Experiences team is how we’re going to deliver cool, new, fun mobile experiences to consumers. We want people to smile every time they look at their phone.”

Truth be told, the combination of Danger’s brains and Microsoft’s brawn has the potential to be quite a tandem. As Microsoft attempts to strengthen its presence in the mobile sector, only time will tell how this deal will pan out for users. What do you think Sidekick fans, good news or bad?

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Well, would you look at this? In a move that I doubt anyone expected, it seems the Sidekick is actually capable of some decent gaming. 80’s gaming, that is. The application is by AcidAngel and appears to offer the full luxuries of a traditional NES emulator. No word on pricing or availibility, and considering ROMs are illegal, we’re not holding our breaths for this to be available in the "Catalog". Danger, license whatever you have to license and put this out please. Thanks. View the shots for yourself and let us know what you think! Would you pay this application + games?

Click on over to our Sidekick NES Emulator gallery

We just got word that the T-Mobile Sidekick Slide is about to undergo a little color-change operation. Wow, that sounded weird. In any case, the new "fire red" Sidekick Slide should be hitting T-Mobile shops in late May, or early June according to our tipster. All you naysayers that complained about the purple color are going to have to find something else to complain about. Oh, we know! When you open and close the phone it deletes your contacts and turns on and off. (Kidding)

Ugh! Let’s just hope the Danger OS doesn’t go away (we doubt it will). This actually might make sense, though. With Microsoft in the mix, Danger can now concentrate on the software and integrating new features like 3G, GPS, and Wi-Fi. Also Microsoft is said to be handling the backend system, so we shouldn’t be plagued by the shoddy service and outages anymore. Anyone at all excited about this? 

“Microsoft is a global leader with our Windows Mobile software and expanding mobile services,” said Robbie Bach, president of the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft. “The addition of Danger serves as a perfect complement to our existing software and services, and also strengthens our dedication to improving mobile experiences centered around individuals and what they like.”

The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company provides services that allow people to keep in touch, stay organized and keep informed while on the go through real-time mobile messaging, social networking services and other applications ― all blended together on a single phone that is intuitive and customizable.

“Danger continues to provide an effortless and fun mobile experience for consumers,” said Henry R. Nothhaft, chairman and CEO of Danger Inc. “Now by combining our uncompromised application software and powerful back-end service with Microsoft, we can expand our innovative service offerings even further and take mobility to a new level.”"

Thanks, Travis!

[Via Hiptop3]

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Are you a Sidekick user that’s been having significant issues with AOL Instant Messenger on your device? You’re not alone. Instant messages are being delayed, sent out of sequence, and in many cases not going through at all. T-Mobile, Danger, and AOL have all acknowledged that the issue exists, but have no projected date of resolution. T-Mobile claims that it’s an AOL issue and, as such, won’t provide anything in the way of support, answers, or account credits. AOL, in typical fashion, acknowledges the problem but refuses to provide any details about its specifics. The problem has, by many accounts, been going on since late November. The issue appears to be present on all current Sidekick devices, including the new LX and Slide. This sort of issue is nothing new for the Sidekick faithful, but the fact that its been going on for so long without resolution doesn’t seem to bode well. T-Mobile, usually known for their pro-active approach to customer relations, seems to be denying any culpability, despite the fact that they specifically advertise the Sidekick’s AIM service as a selling point of the device. First the Slide fiasco, and now this…it’s been a bad fall for the Sidekick.

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Giz is reporting that the Sidekick Slide has pulled from T-Mobile. Various reports are coming in about the handset disappearing off T-Mobile’s site, and other insiders have said that the Slide has been yanked. From our brief visit to T-Mobile’s website, the Sidekick Slide simply lists as "Temporarily Unavailable." Whether this means they have temporary pulled stock to fix the major "slide" issue we first reported on, or are actually discontinuing the device is unknown. This can’t bode well for Danger’s relationship with Motorola, can it? Flip it up! Flip it up! Flip it up!

[Via Gizmodo]

UPDATE: Here’s the official statement from T-Mobile:

 "T-Mobile USA suspended sales of the T-Mobile Sidekick Slide™ on Friday evening, Nov. 16, after Motorola – the manufacturer of the device – confirmed that some devices may inadvertently power off when the slide door on the front side of the phone is opened or closed.

T-Mobile has taken this action to help ensure our customers only receive devices we’re confident will perform at their peak, so they can stay effortlessly connected to those who matter most.

Motorola is currently working to identify the root cause of the power cycle issue in affected Sidekick Slide devices.  The T-Mobile Sidekick LX™ and Sidekick iD™ are not affected by this issue.

If a customer purchased a Sidekick Slide that is experiencing the unintended power cycle issue, they may contact T-Mobile Customer Care, or go to a T-Mobile retail store, for assistance and to discuss available options."

UPDATE 2: We received word that any Sidekick Slide owners that report the power issue will receive a free upgrade to the Sidekick LX with free express shipping. You won’t have a color choice, though. You’ll get the blue LX.

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If you went out and bought yourself a brand new Motorola-manufactured Sidekick Slide, you might have noticed a problem — when you flip the screen up and down a couple times, the unit loses power — it restarts without notice. While this would be a major inconvenience just by itself, the new Sidekick Slide and Sidekick LX hard reset when the battery is pulled while the units are powered on. There lies the problem. Your unit effectively hard resets are random times. It could be in the middle of answering a phone call, sending an email or IM, or just about anything! All Sidekick data is stored on a back-end server, so if you don’t have service when that unit cuts back on, you are completely out of luck. Telstra recently launched the same device known as the hiptop slide, and our Aussie friends have alerted us to the same issue there! We love Moto’s take on the Sidekick, too. From the design, to the build quality and construction, but guys, you need to get your shizz together, ’cause this is crazy! In all fairness, we hit our Danger peeps and they are aware of the issue, so let’s see the next move that’s made. In the meantime, if your unit is experiencing these issues, it would be best to get it exchanged, though that might not do you any good as we’ve had 2 units personally and they both had the same problems. A quick fix would be to take a business card or folded up piece of paper and stick it in between the battery, and the battery cover, as it seems like it’s an issue with the battery and battery contacts. Sidekick Slide users, what are y’all seeing?

We were fortunate enough to preview the Sidekick Slide way back in July, and for the most part, our opinions and views haven’t changed. Instead of just doing a review on the Sidekick Slide, we’re going to pin it head-to-head with the Sidekick LX. For each category you’ll see our opinions on both of the devices, so sit back, relax, and put them profiles on "Buzz".

Catalog

We actually don’t have to split this up because as far as we can tell, the Catalog is actually exactly the same on both devices. We reported that the Catalog would stop using "blocks" to show how much Application / Game space you had left, and we were 100% on the money! We finally have the storage space shown in Kilobytes, and this helps judge the remaining space more accurately. Something which you’re not able to do, is store Applications / Games to your memory card. This really puts our mind to work, because we have no idea why! It is not like you could copy the app off the memory card and send it to your friend so they can install it for free! The Sidekick platform is only open to developers, so with out a dev key, you are not able to do anything besides buy apps and games. Come on, Danger! If I want to buy more stuff, but don’t have space on the handset, you’re not going to let me? Totally wack! On the flip side, if you do uninstall something you bought, you’re free to install it again because the Sidekick back-end keeps track of your purchases. Not the best of methods, but at least you don’t have to buy something over and over again.

Conclusion:

We hope you liked our head-to-head battle between the Sidekick Slide and the Sidekick LX. What’s our ultimate conclusion? If you’re a hardcore Sidekick user you’ll want to grab the LX. The keyboard and screen alone make this a win. The Sidekick Slide isn’t really beneath the LX on the totem pole, so if you want an awesome phone, but love the Danger OS all in a small device, you will definitely want to pickup the Slide. It’s a hard choice, believe us. We switched from the LX to the Slide, back to the LX probably 6 times alone in the past day, but for now, we’re sticking with the Sidekick LX. The screen is just too good…

Click on over to our Sidekick Slide vs. Sidekick LX gallery!

Quick shout out to Trileet Inc., the makers of the awesome RSS reader app called MyNewsroom on the Sidekick devices! We just installed it for the first time, and beyond it being one of the best mobile RSS readers we’ve seen, Boy Genius Report is in the featured RSS feed lists! Totally rad, guys. Keep up the heat!

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While it is not a full-scale roll out quite yet, there is definitely an OTA for the Sidekick LX making the rounds to a select group of users. What does it offer? Does it fix the low speaker volume issues people were reporting? Does it fix the buzz you hear when you make a call? Apparently no, this OTA contains an update for the mail application which will combine and simplify your inbox. If you’ve ever used the MySpace application, the new inbox will be a familiar experience with tabbed accounts. We haven’t checked it out just yet, but it might be safe to say the only thing getting upgraded Over-The-Air, is the email app. Shucks…

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We know the Sidekick LX doesn’t actually see full-scale distribution until the 24th, but seriously dudes and dudettes — where’s my damn 10-Pin Bowling game? I’m trying to mess people up OTA style and I can’t get my fix! You better start crackin’ them whips Danger, ‘cuz your devs are slacking and we’re getting impatient! MaYbE wE ShOuLd AlL StArT tYpInG lIkE tHis, AnD tHEY’lL tAKe Us mOrE sErIoUsLy?

As if we needed any more evidence that the Sidekick LX is dropping in the very, very neat future, T-Mobile has gone ahead and uploaded the device manual onto their support site. Seeing as we’ve had our hands on a Sidekick LX of our very own for quite some time now, there’s not a whole lot of new information here, but it’s a good read nonetheless for anyone waiting impatiently for the upcoming release date. One notable piece of info, however, is that the LX’s media player appears to support a much wider range of filetypes than the Sidekick 3. The new LX will happily playback MP3s, WMAs, AACs, MIDIs, AIFFs, and WAVs. The poor Sidekick 3 only supports MP3s. How very old school. Hit the link for more reading pleasure, and let us know if you come across anything of note.

Thanks, Ryan!

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Remember that new T-Mobile Sidekick Unlimited plan we told you about a while ago? Well it seems that T-Mobile has another trick up its sleeve. In addition to changing the price point from $20 to $19.99 (yeah, we’re serious), the company is also set to include unlimited MMS. Sure, it sounds like a feature that should have been added years ago, but keep in mind that the upcoming Sidekick Slide and Sidekick LX are the first handsets in the Sidekick family to be MMS-capable. Any new customers that buy an LX or Slide out of the gate will be automatically placed on the new Sidekick plan, but existing Sidekick users that upgrade devices will have to manually migrate to the new add-on. Anyone else getting way too excited for the October upcoming launch?

Thanks, Tmobphonehome!

Can’t decide if you’re going to get a Sidekick LX or Sidekick Slide? But if you get a Sidekick LX, what color are you getting? Ah ha, my friends, we’re here to help with that. First off, we have to say that the press photos of the Sidekick LX really don’t show the color accurately, and they’ll look a whole lot difference in person. For instance, a lot of us thought the leaked Sidekick LX pictures were of a black device, and that’s precisely it — the Blue is a very dark blue and will look black in a couple conditions. Unless you’re in direct sunlight, you can pretty much say you’ve got a black device. On to the brown…we actually dig it! It’s very classy and sophisticated-looking, and with the textured back, it almost could pass as brown leather — almost. The choice is up to you, but we thought this might make it a little easier on ya’! Check out our gallery below! If got anymore questions about the Brown LX, you’re best off checking out Just Blaze’s own blog, and bothering him. Maybe he’ll give it away!

UPDATE: It was incorrectly posted on a couple sites that the Brown Sidekick LX’s "fun lights" would be red instead of blue, but they are in fact blue, the same as the Blue LX…

Click on over to our Sidekick LX: Blue vs. Brown gallery!

We’ll admit it — we are AIM fanatics over here. Yeah, we mingle with Yahoo, Google Talk, and MSN a bit, but we live and breathe AOL Instant Messenger. As technology evolves and networks get faster, the old black & white text IM just won’t do anymore, so we thought it would be nice to compare the instant messaging clients on some of the more popular mobile devices available today. We’ve put together a head-to-head comparison of Helio’s Ocean client, the Sidekick, BlackBerry, iPhone, and also Windows Mobile devices. Hit the jump to see what we found out!

Sidekick series: You can’t really talk about instant messaging on a mobile device without including the Sidekick. It doesn’t matter who you are, or what you think of them, they set the bar way high! Even all the way back in October of 2002, the original black and white Sidekick had a better AIM client than many phones still do today. Their ingenious approach to synchronizing with a central server made AIM a breeze. Forget limiting the device to 30 buddies (we’ll get into this later), you had your whole buddy list on, and when you wanted it. So, you’re in the middle of a conversation and a large UFO in the sky makes you lose cell service…no problem, because as soon as you regain network connectivity, any messages you haven’t received, and those that didn’t send, will all make their way nicely through the ‘net back to your device. The Sidekick has since matured with more and more features being added. And don’t get us wrong, the AIM (and now Yahoo and Live Messenger) client/s are still the best hands down, but we would have liked to see a little more development for the latest two devices, the Sidekick LX, and Sidekick Slide. You can now see Buddy Icons, set your own Buddy Icon, view away messages, and more, all in a neat usable interface, but file sending would have been a great addition, and we’d have loved to see all the IM clients merged into a single piece of software (or at least the option to integrate them into one client).

Image courtesy of SlashGear

Helio Ocean: The Ocean does IM incredibly well, although there are some server hiccups here and there. For the most part, it’s definitely functional, but you might start pulling your hair out when the IMs will freeze, and your Buddy List doesn’t really update automatically. To give Helio credit, they were the first ones to implement file sending over AIM, and while it is limited to 100k for sending, it’s all seamlessly integrated with their OS. Start a conversation with a buddy, hit a few menus, snap a flick with the camera, and before you know it, a Direct Connection started with your friend on their computer, and they’ve just seen a picture you took of someone eating a hot dog off the streets of Manhattan. Other file types do work, but with a 100k limit, don’t get too excited. If Helio ironed out these bugs with the freezing and updated the client a little bit, we’d be more than happy to use it daily.

BlackBerry: We’re not going to beat on BlackBerry too hard, as their bread and butter has always been the Corporate and Government world, and they’re late to the consumer game, but come on, guys! If you want to really appeal to the audience you are trying to get, you will need to step up the IM side of things…On a positive note, as far as we can remember, BlackBerry devices are still the only ones with a native GTalk client (as limited as it is, it works quite wonderfully), and they also have offered Yahoo! IM, but let carriers get in the way of them rolling it out across the board. We’re looking at you, AT&T. For the longest time, well, since the BlackBerry 7100 launched on T-Mobile, they’ve been using an OZ Instant Messaging client for IM communications. And again, to be fair, we can’t bash them, as this most likely was a carrier request because it uses SMS messages and provides another revenue stream to T-Mobile. But that doesn’t negate the fact that that was one of the worst IM clients to ever appear on a device. Talk about slow and unreliable! Anyone in the BlackBerry community knows RIM has been working on native IM clients for AIM, ICQ, and Live Messenger for a very long time. If we’re not mistaken, these were supposed to even appear on the Cingular 8700g back when it was released. Well, those clients have finally come to light, and surprise surprise; they are indeed not available on AT&T, but T-Mobile. T-Mobile ditched the horrendous OZ client in favor of these native apps, and we love you for it T-Mobile. There’s only one problem; AIM is limited to 30 buddies (Mobile Device buddy group)! Who only has 30 buddies, be real! In addition to that, it is almost like the AIM client was just stuffed on the device without real testing. You can’t use the trackball to select a buddy to talk to and launch a conversation, because it asks you to open the "Full Menu". Ugh. There’s a good chance if I click on a screen name, I want to talk to that person…there are no real features to mess around with, you can not view away messages, you can set an away message but can’t customize it, and there is no file sending obviously. Additionally, unlike Google Talk and Live Messenger, the AIM program does not integrate into your Messages application. At this point, the only real IM solution, in our opinion is JiveTalk. They have been on the forefront of development in regards to Instant Messaging, and not just on the BlackBerry platform either. With their client you can send files back and forth to other BlackBerrys or computers, no matter the file size or type. All popular Instant messaging clients integrate in one list, and they even use a middle server as well, just like the Sidekick, to deliver messages you might not have received due to signal loss. JiveTalk also has integrated Buddy Icons coming soon. Very cool. Right now, if you are a quick IM person just signing on to shoot off the occasion one or two IMs, the native BlackBerry clients should be fine. If you’re a heavy user though, we recommend JiveTalk.

iPhone: There is not much to say about this one…especially with 3rd party applications going out the window with the latest update; we’re stuck with using Safari for web-based communications. There are plenty of IM apps to use in this manner, and while they do work fine most of the time, the lack of audible alerts make this a novelty and not functional for an on-the-road type of person. Apollo IM, and MobileChat burst onto the 3rd party app scene and work well, but they still have a long way to go with stability and auto-reconnects.

Windows Mobile: The only IM clients natively available for Windows Mobile devices would be Live Messenger (really?), and Microsoft’s Live Communications Server Instant Messaging. The old version of MSN was definitely lacking, but the new version introduced us to Live Messenger complete with buddy icons, voice note sending, and more. Reconnects aren’t existent, and the server won’t deliver messages if you lose service, but if anyone can do Live Messenger, it would be Microsoft themselves.

Conclusion: When we get asked, "BGR, master of all things tech, what phone should I get?" We always ask the individual what they need in a mobile device, and the same applies here. If you’re going on AIM alone, we’d say a Sidekick LX or Sidekick Slide, 100%. If you need access to a corporate environment, then a BlackBerry with its mediocre IM clients, or fabulous JiveTalk application would obviously be the way to go. If you laugh at all of us, and call us pathetic idiots who stay constantly connected to AIM, and you only wish to check in once a while, an iPhone with the web-based applications should be sufficient. Finally, if you like a high-speed data connection and a unique device that offers file sending built right in, the Helio Ocean, or Fin for that matter, might fit you. Have we missed anything? Completely disagree with our impressions? Sound off in the comments. You know you wanna’.

Ever wanted to peek deep inside the Sidekick LX’s OS? We compiled a couple screenshots to take you through most of it. Believe it or not, the shots we’re showing you actually look better on the device than they will here on your computer monitor (for the most part). We’ve got the Catalog, AIM, MSN, myFaves, Music Player, and much more after the jump!