The Boy Genius Report: T-Mobile's new Sidekicks?

Field tidbits from Engadget's mobile insider, The Boy Genius.

Yeah, they're just renderings, but they sure do look believable, don't they? Or maybe we just want to believe -- we can't really tell any more -- but for what it's worth, we're allegedly looking at a pair of future Sidekicks destined for Danger's favorite carrier, T-Mobile. Details are slim, but the Sidekick Slide seems to be the Motorola-sourced device we've been hearing about, considering the big, fat "M" logo to the left of the display. The one on the left is a little more mysterious considering that it's merely labeled "Sidekick," but it seems a likely candidate to succeed the 3. Whether either one of these is the oft-rumored "Zante" is unclear, but either way, it seems Danger's got its plate full for the next few months!

[Mile @ Jun 15th 2007 3:54PM]

It's no iPhone.

[Zappa @ Jun 15th 2007 8:04PM]

Yea, thank god it has a real keyboard.

[TheKLF99 @ Jun 17th 2007 8:59PM]

The Motorola A1000 had a full keyboard too (and so does the A1200/Motorola MING), these are far better than them phones 'cos they have touch screens which mean they make a bigger screen and they don't need to leave space for all these keyboards/numpads. I think touchscreen phones are definatly the way forward, we just need some better support from the manufacturers.

[Constable Odo @ Jun 17th 2007 1:38PM]

Of course it's not an iPhone. And nothing will ever be an iPhone, except the iPhone in all it's magnificent glory. There'll be a lot of wannabees, shouldabees and wishIcouldbees, but no smartphone will even come close. I only wish those that condemn the iPhone before ever using one would never be able to purchase one, ever. Unless, of course, they get down on their knees and beg Apple's forgiveness of their narrowmindedness.

[prokanda @ Aug 8th 2007 11:19AM]

It's not narrowmindedness when one has actually used the iphone... my friend has one. 500 bucks (with contract.. for the "widescreen ipod" with 4 gigs?!) For a "smartphone" without a keyboard, no third party support [allowed], no way to change the battery, no expandable memory, a CRAPPY speaker, can't change the wallpaper on the MAIN screen, no flash, 2.0mp NON-autofocus camera..

I mean, c'mon. I have a Treo 700w that has a cradle that houses my second battery so that I always have one ready. It has a qwerty keyboard (even if a small one, works fine for me), a full SD slot that makes it possible to pull the memory card and put it in my kodak camera and then right back, one of the best speakers I've ever heard, and windows mobile 5. THAT'S a smartphone. And it only cost me $280 used with 150 bucks worth of accessories (sans contract).

iphone? synonymous with gimmick. Designed by apple for all of it's proprietary-loving, non-tech oriented, simplistic fan-boys... just like my friend that owns one, and admits it's faults when side-by-side with my Treo.

But hey.. it can sync a thousand songs and you can pull your fingers apart on a picture to zoom, right? hot.

[Thomas @ Jun 15th 2007 3:55PM]

oh..I thought this was the new PSP... oh well... it's no iphone though.

[Rob @ Jun 15th 2007 4:00PM]

Id be surprised if tmobile releases a sidekick successor before they launch their 3G network. I mean, unless it's 3G capable and just waiting for the network to be there.

But it is nice to see that danger is designing a more grown up looking sidekick... actually it's looking a bit HTCish

[carlo @ Jun 15th 2007 4:05PM]

yeah it does look very HTCish. like the new elf/touch.

it's nice to see them getting into a sleeker design. the clunky ones are prrrrrty ugly to me.

for the rest of you, IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE AN IPHONE!!!

(it probably has MMS and chat capabilities, thx)

[Mile @ Jun 15th 2007 4:07PM]

If the goal was to make something that's not an iPhone, then they have indeed succeeded.

[Tim @ Jun 15th 2007 4:04PM]

Is it just me, or is that one sidekick running Ubuntu?

[paul o. @ Jun 15th 2007 4:19PM]

the "sidekick slide" is the one on the right, and the "new" sidekick 3 is on the left.

you should have written:

...eft of the display. The one on the !"LEFT"! is a little more mysterious considering that it's merely labeled "Sidekick," but it seems a li...

[Chris @ Jun 15th 2007 4:31PM]

I owned a sidekick 2, and honestly that was probably the worst phone I've ever owned. And I had a RAZR. If you're a teenage girl, though, it's the perfect phone!

You know those fake laptops for kids they sell at walmart that play built-in educational games? That's what my Sidekick 2 felt like. I gave it to my 14 yr old sister. She loved it. Then I got a good phone.

[Johan S @ Jun 15th 2007 4:35PM]

The resolution of the screen is crap. Useless. It needs 800 pixel width (200 ppi or higher). Those of you who may suspect that is too much resolution for a tiny display .. that's incorrect. I know that even a 3 inch display can have over 1024 pixels width.. at 1 foot from the eye you can still make out pixels. Try it and see .. first set you monitor to 1024 resolution .. and sit a distance close enough to it where you can make out the individual pixels. Then, take a piece of paper and cut out a rectangle with a 3 inch diagonal and hold it up to very near to your eye and move it backwards till you the 3 inches is the size of your monitor (that you set to 1024). You'll notice that you don't have to hold the 3 inch rectangle too far from you to be able to discern pixels.

[todd @ Jun 15th 2007 4:37PM]

Moto's working on it? So how long until the name gets changed to SDCK?

[Nando @ Jun 15th 2007 5:09PM]

and the other one, "SDCKSLD."

[Allan @ Jun 15th 2007 4:46PM]

I'm happy enough with my Ocean, thank you.

[prokanda @ Aug 8th 2007 11:28AM]

The Ocean was crap. Ordered it the day it launched, sent it back 5 days later. Can't set tones for messages, buggy apps, muffled speaker for calls, can't create wallpapers that work in both orientations, muffled speaker (when on a desk) for music, shoddy hardware (one of the buttons and the memory card slot broke even though I bought the case from hellio and treated it as I treat all of my devices: with kid gloves).. bottom line, the ocean is a nice idea... but they needed to leave it in the oven a little bit longer, make it more customizable, and put a 3.2mp autofocus camera in there.

not to mention the NIGHTMARE that is hellio customer support.. they've had my device since june 4th and I still don't have my 350+ dollars back.

http://forum.heliocity.net/index.php?topic=88.0
(doesn't even cover the newest chapters to this point)

[Brian @ Jun 15th 2007 4:53PM]

Probably just SCK.

[chuck @ Jun 15th 2007 5:12PM]

too little, too late. this should've been the current generation of sidekicks released last year.

[Shane Schofield @ Jun 15th 2007 5:15PM]

Is it me, or is the Sidekick Slide just screaming to be called the Slidekick?

[Jeff Doyle @ Jun 15th 2007 5:50PM]

You guys are all
A.) asses
B.) liars

whoever said they used a sidekick and it sucked and they hated is just talking trash to be talking trash. I had the SK2 for two years and have never used a phone I liked more.

It's biggest problems were
Battery life (charge it every night, or it'd be dead by noon.)
the sceen (ewwww)
lack of mms and a vga camera

The software and AIM integration was great, as was the browswer.. in 2004

Last december I ditched it for the pearl, and while the pearls is decent enough once you get used to suretype, I still vastly prefered the sidekick.

I'm more excited about the iphone than anyone, but the lack of a keyboard makes it something I'm not gonna buy until at least the 2nd iteration.

I've been planning on moving to ATT and getting a Curve this month, but now I may wait and see if these devices develop over the next few weeks.

The prospect of a more grownup, nicely designed sidekick with a usable screen has me drooling with anticipation.

[L Capitan @ Jun 16th 2007 12:40PM]

They are SO liars, they don't even agree with your own opinions!

Hey people! Stop lying! Only Jeff Doyle's opinion is the correct one! If you don't share it, you all are:

A)Asses
B)Liars


(Get a life Jeff)

[JohnTitor @ Jun 15th 2007 10:29PM]

a Sidekick (Danger HipTop) is basically like a smartphone for kids
although truth be told kids today should be able to handle smartphones better than adults
T-Mobile is very smart to advertise the Sidekick as so many people sign up for the cheaper product
I convinced a couple people to get an MDA (HTC Wizard) and they were wondering why they paid $400 to get the SK3 when it came out
one of them has already moved to the Wing

[Zappa @ Jun 15th 2007 8:01PM]

People need to judge the sidekick for what it's supposed to be used for, texting, aim, and some, but not heavy browsing. I have a sidekick iD and I love it, despite it's flaws. As long as these aren't too horribly expensive I'll be upgrading as long as 1) They make a usable screen. All of the sidekicks have made terrible displays (Kind of amusing how it says sharp on the back) Also, battery life needs to be vastly improved. I use my sidekick heavily, and my battery never lasts longer than 2 days. There's only one thing that I wish they improved, which is receiving pictures messages. With the iD you have to go to a website and log in to view picture messages you received. It works but it's a stupid, annoying system. This was originally a problem with the sk3, but they fixed it, and I don't know why they went backwards with the iD. If the Sk4 or the slide has a better screen though, I'm sold. I love everything else about my id, the button layout, the nice keyboard, smooth and surprisingly useful ui, wonderful use of keyboard shortcuts, decent browser, and perfect aim integration.

[Jeff Doyle @ Jun 15th 2007 8:06PM]

:'(
my mommy agrees with my opinions

i take shitting more seriously than this, im just defending a great phone

[Bizo @ Jun 15th 2007 8:38PM]

I hate fucking trackballs

[i.c. weiner @ Jun 15th 2007 10:28PM]

fuck you asshole. trackballs rule

[JohnTitor @ Jun 15th 2007 11:51PM]

Touchscreen FTW

[Hexxeh @ Jun 16th 2007 7:36AM]

The only thing that ruins these is the software, which is awful. I don't know if they're touch screen, but if they're not, make them so and slap WM6 and I'd be the first to buy it.

[Hexxeh @ Jun 16th 2007 7:36AM]

Should probably mention, I'm a HTC TyTN user at the moment.

[Hexxeh @ Jun 16th 2007 2:44PM]

Oh yeah, and get a god damn decent camera! My TyTN has a 2mp camera which is lovely quality for quick snaps and that's considered mediocre on today's standards!

[Elias C. @ Jun 16th 2007 12:15PM]

@ Hexxeh
I have used several different types of phones including a Blackberry, Dash (with WM5 and WM6), and a SKII. Dangers OS is by far the best and most stable of those I have used. It never froze or slowed down in the slightest, in never had a "memory leak," it never caused you to click 15 times through menus that were not necessary. I know the UI isn't that pretty, and it looks toyish, but if anything its the best part of the device, because everything is well set-up, fast, and its filled with great shortcuts. For me, both WM5 and WM6 didn't compare. They would slowly leak memory, and the alarm kept going off at random intervals. The menu also seemed poorly set-set up and the phone would slow horribly with the WiFi on. The Blackberry was just inefficient and slow.

[JohnTitor @ Jun 16th 2007 12:23PM]

it's all about how good you are with this kind of stuff
I'm with Hexxeh on this, but I know where you are coming from
it's like the people who use Mac because it's simpler
If I were to design Windows Mobile I would change things but that's the beauty of it is that it's so customizable and there's a large community following that brings out all sorts of homebrew apps
not to mention all the great oldschool emulators and interpreters
but yeah I can definately see there being people who prefer Danger

[Elias C. @ Jun 16th 2007 12:39PM]

I must admit, the one fault of the Danger OS is that you can't go all crazy hacker on it an personalize with cool apps. Its a shame really, a google maps app would be awesome given the unlimited data (I speak as a Canadian, where unlimited data is still very very rare).

[Luke @ Jun 17th 2007 10:48AM]

Gosh I hope they don't release a new sidekick anytime soon cus i just bought a sidekick 3

[Nathan @ Jun 17th 2007 12:30PM]

You can upgrade your phone within 6 months of your contract.

[Nathan @ Jun 17th 2007 12:32PM]

I've had a SK3 for a bit now and I personally love the phone. It's the best one hands down for texting. Just wish the browser was a tad bit faster and the content for the phone was better. They don't have many good themes (yes I know you can make your own) or great ringtones for the phone. The SK4 better have a 2.0 megapixel camera, the 1.3 is really grainy.

[Mike @ Jun 22nd 2007 10:39AM]

Ok i think the sidekick slides keyboard looks stupid round and i wish that they didnt make it slide but it looks cool and the "sidekick" is an ugly blue i hope that change it to black or silver to look sleeker!

[sdkjf @ Jul 19th 2007 7:44PM]

screw iphone it sucks

[iSHA @ Jul 17th 2007 8:28AM]

I think the Sidekick Dante is worth buying. I'm not diggin' the Sidekick Slide too tough tho'. It looks a lil fake to me; especially the keyboard. They should atleast throw in an upgraded default background because that's the same background that's been used on previous editions of the Sidekick. The Dante looks Legit, and it kind of reminds me of the T-Mobile Wing. Well, the color any way.

[lmmmmmm @ Oct 14th 2007 6:07PM]

why would they make a sidekick slide.
the whole point of a SIDEKICK is the swivel screeen