Master P and his son, Romeo, are reportedly on board with T-Mobile to help promote the new Sidekick LX. The angle of the campaign? To show that the Sidekick continues to be one of the most popular devices in the “urban communities”. Not only are they praising the device, they’ve also created a song about the Sidekick (entitled “Sidekick” of course) for inclusion in their next album, “Hip-Hop History”. The album is due out Sept 4th. No word on an official release on the Sidekick LX, but it would make sense from a marketing standpoint to promote both the album and the device around the same time. Our guess? Late September, early October.

via MemphisRap

Not to be outdone by the Helio Ocean addicts, one intrepid hacker writes us to let us know that the Sidekick (tested on the Sidekick iD and Sidekick 3) is also capable of running Opera Mini and he got it working. Don’t expect to see this in the catalog any time soon though, as it is doubtful T-Mobile would allow it. Currently it’s only available for people in the developer community which you’ll need to be a Java programmer in order to get into. But then again, unlike the Helio Ocean, the Sidekick already has an awesome browser that works and doesn’t really need replacing.

In addition to free Sidekick 3 themes, T-Mobile has finally included themes in the Download Catalog. This means that you can download a theme direct to your device if you’re willing to shell out $1.99 for the convenience. This also lets Sidekick iD owners customize their devices finally. Sidekick iDs don’t have a memory card, so you can’t load your own custom themes and backgrounds on them like you can with the Sidekick 3. To download themes direct from T-Mobile, check out the Download Catalog. For more information on creating your own custom themes, check out sk3themes.com.

Thanks to Fully for the screenshots

The Danger Shuriken (aka the Sidekick LX) has shown up on the FCC’s site. Some interesting things we sifted out of the filing:

– The model number is PV250 (FCC ID: APYNAR0063). The Sidekick 2 was PV100, the Sidekick ID was PV150, and the Sidekick 3 was PV200. It worries us a little bit that this may not be that big of a jump in version or maybe we’re just speculating too much based on version numbers.
– The “engineering prototype” was received for testing on May 26th, 2007. This means that a working sample of the Shuriken has been around for close to 3 months!
– This prototype is “equivalent to mass-produced items” so basically that means the hardware is done as far as design.
– It’s GSM/EGPRS (EDGE), so no 3G for us yet.
– Battery is a Li-Ion 3.7Vdc 1540mAh, a small bump up from the Sidekick 3’s battery. Hopefully there has been some redesign and tweaking to help get the battery life increased since this device will have a bigger and better screen
– The short term confidentiality ends on September 16th, 2007, but Sharp has preemptively filed for a 45 day extension until October 31, 2007. So no external photos from the FCC until after the Halloween Hunt unless the FCC slips on Sept. 16th. For what it’s worth, the Sidekick ID docs hit the FCC in January, and the device was released in April. The Sidekick 3 docs hit the fcc in April, and the device was released in June. Let the speculation begin. We’re guessing October.

The above screenshot was posted to our forums. Is this an actual screenshot from the Hiptop/Sidekick LX aka the Hiptop 4 aka the Shuriken? It is 400×208 pixels, which matches the dimensions rumored for the new Hiptop. If it is legit, it’s surely an internal OS screenshot since it’s branded Hiptop instead of Sidekick. Then again this could just be someone with too much time and photoshop skills on their hands.

Yawn… oh what? More pictures of the device that was leaked way before its time? Hasn’t BGR done the slide to death in pictures? By the way, where’s that video review they promised? Oh well, here’s a few more pictures for you guys to drool over. A couple things observed from the pictures, OS 4.0 is confirmed to be on the device, and this is a production build of the OS. Basically that means the operating system is ready for release. The device is obviously polished and ready to go. Now we’re just waiting on T-Mobile. Our predictions? Unless something catastrophic happens, this device will be released before Christmas. We’re guessing probably September/October. Oh, and it’s nice to see those stupid T-Mobile people are gone from the Phone splash screen!

via Gizmodo (thanks nic)