Uh, oh, this doesn’t sound so good for our beloved DangerOS. From an article on Brighthand.com:

…Microsoft recently acquired Danger, Inc. as a way to widen its appeal to consumers. Danger is the company behind the Sidekick — a line of smartphones popular for their ease of use. Myerson indicated that its expertise will be used to make future versions of Windows Mobile more appealing to the average user.

Terry Myerson recently took over as the head of the Microsoft Mobile Communications Product Group. Hopefully this doesn’t mean that the DangerOS will be scrapped and all work focused on Windows Mobile.

Want to theme your Sidekick LX or 2008/Gekko to mimic the G1 device? CubanitaStylezz, a talented and well-known theme artist, has put some G1 Themes up for the Sidekick. You can get them over at sk08Themes.com and skLXthemes.com.

If you’re like me and tend to get lost, then maps are your best friend. If you’re also like me, it’s a pain to try to fold those maps back up and stuff them in your back pocket. Mike writes in to let us know that Google Maps will now work on your Sidekick. It’s not as great as the developer builds of a Google Maps app that were floating around, but it will do in a pinch to help you find your way. Just follow this link to use Google’s more Sidekick-friendly maps. It’s also best if you switch to (Menu->View) Full-Size layout in the browser.

The G1 device (aka the Google Phone) that many people have been waiting for has hit in full force. We know there’s a lot of Sidekick user’s switching to this device. We love the Sidekick, always will, but we don’t blame people for wanting to give the G1 a try. After all it does have some of the same people working on it that were behind the beginnings of the Sidekick. If you’ve picked up a G1, let us know in the comments what you think and how it compares to the Sidekick.

If you’re one of the unlucky ones who couldn’t score a pre-sale G1, you can still get one from T-Mobile, or we’ve setup a site to help filter through eBay and find you deals on no-contract G1 phones and accessories: G1Shopper.com.

There’s an article over on CNet titled How Microsoft will compete with ‘free’ that talks about how Microsoft is adjusting to compete in the world of free software. There’s an interesting section on smartphones:

Lastly, smartphones. Ballmer tries to change the subject by suggesting Apple ought to license its iPhone OS as opposed to keeping it all to itself. Let’s skip over Microsoft’s proprietary Xbox and Zune software and, perhaps, the upcoming Danger smartphone. Danger, the maker of the Sidekick PDA, is the company Microsoft bought earlier this year,. Microsoft has been selling Windows Mobile licenses for close to eight years now. In the licensing business, the iPhone isn’t the real competition, Android is. How do you compete with a free smartphone OS, and a good one at that, which is supported by Google Cloud applications?

My guess is Steve Ballmer is working on a combined answer, one that is sketched before our very eyes already. Microsoft’s Live services are but a rehearsal for a much bigger act, Microsoft’s Cloud OS, sometimes called Strata. And, based on Microsoft’s own Cloud services, we’ll see a Danger-based smartphone, as proprietary as the Xbox and the iPod competitor Zune. Put another way, Microsoft’s future business model will borrow from Apple and Google, it will have two components: proprietary devices and “universal” Cloud services. And like its models, it will attempt to extract extra profits by nicely tying both components together. For example: iPods are tied to the iTunes service, Android phones might (we don’t know yet) better enjoy Google applications.

“upcoming Danger smartphone” ?!

Allow speculation to continue…

thanks for the tip Mike!

A press release from T-Mobile went out yesterday that basically said they’re renewing their partnership with the NBA. This of course leaves the door open for more limited edition Sidekicks like the Dwade Sidekick 3. The full press release is below:

— T-Mobile Expands Partnership to Include the NBA Development League and Joins NBA Europe Live 2008 presented by EA SPORTS as an Official Partner in the Host Cities of London and Berlin —

NEW YORK, October 6, 2008 – T-Mobile USA, Inc., the National Basketball Association and the Women’s National Basketball Association today announced a multi-year extension of their marketing partnership. As part of this agreement, T-Mobile will expand its partnership to include the NBA Development League, the NBA’s official minor league. T-Mobile will promote its wireless products and services across virtually all channels of the NBA, WNBA, and NBA D-League, appealing to the leagues’ broad and avid fan bases.

T-Mobile and the NBA will continue to work together on several successful programs and platforms that have been developed since the partnership began in 2005. T-Mobile also will have a significant presence throughout the NBA’s extensive media platforms, including the leagues’ national television partners, to further grow its customer base. T-Mobile will unveil new NBA-themed advertisements, marketing materials, sweepstakes, and promotions, while utilizing various NBA personalities, including Dwyane Wade and Charles Barkley, for ad campaigns, player appearances, and special events.

T-Mobile will continue to be the sole title partner of the T-Mobile Rookie Program, a comprehensive year-long national program that introduces NBA Rookies to the league and prepares them for their transition into the rising stars of tomorrow through various community events, awards, and special events. Highlights include the rookie awards presentations for the T-Mobile Rookies of the Month and T-Mobile Rookie of the Year and the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam, an NBA All-Star competition between NBA Rookies and second-year players, where T-Mobile rewards local youth with the best seats at the game. T-Mobile will highlight Rookie performances and help provide special analysis and content about the NBA Rookies through the T-Mobile Rookie Report on NBA.com. T-Mobile will have a presence at all major events for the NBA Rookies, including the NBA Draft, NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, NBA Rookie Photo Shoot, and the Rookie Transition Program.

“Since the inception of our relationship, T-Mobile has been one of the NBA and WNBA’s most active partners creating a variety of innovative basketball-themed programs that have brought our fans closer to the game and players both on and off the court,” said Mark Tatum, NBA Senior Vice President of Marketing Partnerships. “This extension of our very successful partnership will expand the scope of our relationship to new areas, such as the NBA D-League and NBA Europe Live 2008, and will give us the ability to develop an even greater number of exciting programs that will reach more basketball fans than ever before.”

“T-Mobile has achieved great success over the past three years with the NBA,” said Mike Belcher, vice president of brand communications, T-Mobile USA. “With the multi-year extension, we have the opportunity to continue creating unique and memorable experiences for our customers and avid NBA supporters. From integration during NBA All-Star to making a difference in communities by supporting local teams and the NBA Rookie Programs, T-Mobile, with the NBA, helps bring our brand to life for millions of fans.”

T-Mobile will continue to work with the NBA to create innovative and integrated programs that use technology to connect fans to the game and make their voice heard during key periods of the NBA season like NBA All-Star and The Finals, through interactive voting programs: NBA All-Star Balloting presented by T-Mobile, where fans can select their favorite players as starters for the NBA All-Star Game; and a Finals Fan Vote presented by T-Mobile, where fans can select the top performers (Player of the Game, MVP) during The Finals.

In addition, T-Mobile also will be heavily involved with various high profile events during the season, including NBA Nation presented by T-Mobile and Kia Motors, NBA All-Star Jam Session presented by adidas, the McDonald’s NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, and the NBA Draft. As a new partnership element, T-Mobile will partner with the NBA in Europe, where they will serve as an Official Partner of NBA Europe Live 2008 presented by EA SPORTS in the host cities of Berlin and London. T-Mobile will also continue to build close relationships with various NBA teams in key local markets, which will allow them to engage with fans on a more local level.

Following these activities, T-Mobile will launch support surrounding its WNBA partnership, which is focused around WNBA Draft, WNBA All-Star Balloting presented by T-Mobile, the WNBA All-Star Game, WNBA Summer Jam, and the WNBA Playoffs and the WNBA Finals.

As part of this expanded partnership, T-Mobile will engage with NBA D-League fans for the first time. T-Mobile will reach a new group of basketball fans through NBA D-League All-Star Balloting presented by T-Mobile, at the D-League All-Star Game at NBA All-Star, and during regular season games by way of special in-arena promotions, signage, and concourse displays.

So, I just wanted to make a post about the status of the 2008 Halloween Hunt… there is none this year. Why you may ask? A few reasons. Allow me to explain.

First off (And this is a big one), the code that powers the halloween hunt is more trouble than it’s worth. Things are so not efficient. It takes HOURS to set everything up, insert items into the list, create team emails (That task alone takes 4 hours), adjust teams, etc. It’s a hassle. Approving posts takes days, and is hard to do with multiple people. (This was tried last year and just caused more problems) The original plan was to recreate the whole site, and make everything light years better. Unfortunately this didn’t happen. (The reasons for this will follow too.)

Second off, I have no time. I’m busy working on paying projects. There’s no money in the Halloween Hunt. It’s not sponsored by anyone, no one pays me to do it. It’s all out of my pocket, which is looking pretty empty these days, as my paying projects haven’t yet paid off. I keep the site ad free to save bandwidth on the device and make it load faster and frankly, I hate ads. If I got paid hourly for the work that goes into the hunt, I’d be a very rich individual. Let’s just say when there is a hunt, the whole month of October gets devoted to it, and it’s still not enough to do everything.

Now, up until a hour or so ago I was highly considering still doing a hunt… although scaled back. (It’s tradition… it has to go on, right?) However, the actions of some individual or individuals has led me to say, “F**k it.” An individual sent me a link to an urban dictionary post containing the following;

exiva

a larger than average male (we are not sure on the fact that he is a male… will get back to you on that one). He loves Danger Inc. with his heart, and will suck their c**ks to get their attention. Unfortunately, (s)he is a failure at life and his/her apps suck c**k (not Danger c**k though)

God damnit, that dude(tte) is trying to submit his lame ass app and is being an exiva by sucking danger c**k.

Now, why would I waste my time and put off my projects and squeeze in time to do something entirely for free for someone who decides to post that? I wouldn’t. I don’t care anymore. The hunt was something I had volunteered to do… out of courtesy to the community. But if people go ahead and post this crap, why waste my time? Is it fair to kill off the hunt for the actions of one or two individuals? No. But, again, I don’t care. It’s [now] my hunt, and I’ll do whatever I so choose with it. Should MikePop or divinity choose to continue the hunt, more power to them. I will not be putting it on this year.

I had considered posting a name of the individual who I think did this, but I’ve chosen not to. It’s not worth it.

Oh, also, Volcom? I don’t care about your prizes. Seriously, they might end up in the trash tomorrow. Call Danger and whine to them about it.

So, Happy Halloween everyone and thank you Hiptop3 for the space to post this. Maybe I’ll be back next year with the hunt… Who knows.

-exiva

Six years ago today (Oct. 1st, 2002), the first black and white Sidekick was released to the public. It was groundbreaking, and a completely new approach to the cell phone market. Happy Birthday Sidekick! For more important dates in Sidekick history, check out our Sidekick Timeline