Remember how sad you were when you found out Fido was dropping the Hiptop? Well cheer up buttercup, it looks like you may want to keep an eye on Globalive if you live in Canada.  Some leaked slides show that the Sidekick LX 2009 will be available to “Global Wireless” customers.  We’re assuming these are slides for the not-yet-launched Globalive’s Wireless division. No word on prices for the Sidekick LX 2009 yet, but they should be coming at launch along with 14 other handsets.  Launch is scheduled for Q4 of 2009 or Q1 of 2010 so you still have a bit of a wait unfortunately.  Oh and one more tidbit, apparently when you are on roaming in the US you’ll be on T-Mobile.

More info (and plan prices) over at howardchui.com and original leaked slides over at HowardForums.  Super blurry spy shot below:

Thanks Antonio!

It’s been a long time coming, but it’s finally here. The Sidekick LX 2009 is available to everyone through T-Mobile. For those of you living under a rock, it’s the first 3G Sidekick, with a beautiful new high res screen, great new 3.2MP camera, new social networking apps, and GPS + maps. You can pick up your Sidekick LX 2009 Orchid or Carbon from T-Mobile now!

We’re hearing lots of rumors left and right about some lay-offs of Danger employees by Microsoft (who purchased Danger).  There is a lot of hearsay and speculation about what this means.  While Microsoft did announce a general across-the-board series of layoffs, we can’t help but wonder how much harder the Danger group was hit for a variety of possible reasons.  There’s been rumors of Danger employees being moved to the secretive “Pink” project that Microsoft is working on.  (Supposedly the Pink project is very similar to Danger’s back-end service)  The Sidekick LX 2009 is days from launch and so a lot of employees that were needed for that might have been let go.  Or they could have just pulled names out of a hat, who knows.  Lay-offs are never an easy thing.

It doesn’t look like it was the entire Danger team, but definitely sounds like more than one or two. We’ve gathered up some posts to Twitter about the lay-offs. The below are either a) from a Danger employee, b) from a previous Danger employee, or c) directed at a Danger employee.

@ceejbot: Oh look, muscled goons walking around the building: layoffs today. 9:55 AM May 5th from Tweetie

@ceejbot: My officemates all just got laid off. It doesn’t make any sense. 11:02 AM May 5th from Tweetie

@ian: WTF? Microsoft is laying off awesome people from Danger. 11:26 AM May 5th from web

@Perigosa: @jag Ugh. I am so sorry (for everyone else too). 12:44 PM May 5th from hiptop in reply to jag

@dangermikeb: Rough day at the office 12:59 PM May 5th from hiptop

@ahpook: Condolences to dangersoft peeps affected by layoffs, directly or otherwise. 4:50 PM May 5th from web

@dangermikeb: The end of a crappy day at work. 5:29 PM May 5th from hiptop

@robey: that sucks about the danger layoffs. msft really had no clue what they wanted out of that, i guess. 6:21 PM May 5th from Tweetie

@akrasia: Suffocating sadness with a load of cookies. 7:14 PM May 5th from web

@tuony: Condolences to Danger peeps who were laid off today. It’s never fun, however you may be considered the lucky ones after all is said and done 10:27 PM May 5th from Ping.fm

To add to this information, there was also an interesting comment conversation posted on an Engadget review of the new Sidekick LX 2009.  No idea who “Aenar” is or where he is getting his information from, but he provokes some interesting conversation:

Aenar @ May 6th 2009 12:45PM

Enjoy the last sidekick. MSFT just fired the remaining SK staff with armed guards and only made this thing to avoid a lawsuit with TMobile.
Roz Ho congratukated the staff and then fired the employees for making it. MSFT just wanted the IP for WinMo anyway.
Now you get a seriously debilitated “PINK”device from MSFT as your next “upgrade.” From what I have heard, it’s a joke. No PIM apps and no 3rd party development system. A typical MSFT consumer product. Copy,rush to market and FAIL.
No street cred-get the iPhone

LStrike @ May 6th 2009 2:57PM

So that is the second time in these comments where someone claims this…Where is your source? Or are you the same dude that posted this earlier and just change your name?

aenar @ May 6th 2009 3:29PM

Listen there are 200 employees there-in that old Sidekick division. They are hacked off and they talk smack on every message board,social net and twitter. In public. Microsoft has no intention of making another Sidekick. They wanted the service proxy patents and they want to let the CE product lines plus this wacko fantasy called PINK access the proxy. That way they have an instant message leg up on the iPhone which cannot do service-backed/proxy push notifications.
WINMO was horrified by the Sidekick Acquisition and they barked at Balmer to handcuff the PMX division OR the acquisition was just to kill a competitor to PINK off and snag the IP.
Inside talk is PINK is a barely functioning piece of junk-which is unlike the Sidekick. The Sidekick has a following and just needed some capital and decent management to make it a competitor. They have delivered and sold millions of these things and get a recurring service charge for each. UNLIKE the Microsoft consumer product which is 5 years late and billions short. C’mon- it’s a NETBSD Sidekick. There is no way, except for lawsuits threatened by TMobile, that Microsoft would want to sell a Sidekick. Tmobile needed another Sidekick on the way to transition to Google phone. There’s nothing that says a google phone cannot be a sidekick. That name is owned by TMobile.

LStrike @ May 6th 2009 3:58PM

Everything you are saying is hard to argue with but why don’t you provide a few sources with regards to the last of Danger employees being tossed?

Without sources it just sounds like conspiracy theory. If Microsoft has no intention on moving forward with Sidekick than why did they bother bundling in their own software on the phone (which I am sure they threw together resources to code) and promise Microsoft Exchange Support in the coming months?

If I am being sued into something I don’t want as a company I certainly am not going to make the product stronger no? Just because TMobile strong arms them into creating as you are saying a final product doesn’t force Microsoft to build more functionality.

No?

aenar @ May 6th 2009 7:12PM

There is no Exchange support coming for that particular device and if there was, that’s the internal team getting secure IMAP mail from a secure server. The Sidekick engineers, or any other device engineers, are smart enough to access the LIVE search API without getting too many MSFT employees involved- if any-because the Microsoft engineers are as dumb as the day is long. It’s just bits coming from a Microsoft server and the device application has to render them. Microsoft just opens the door-they didn’t do jack after that.

nolatron @ May 6th 2009 4:16PM

The entire SK team hasn’t been fired. I’m a contract worker for Danger via MS/Volt. Sa couple were let go, but not everyone, during a Microsoft company wide layoff.

aenar @ May 6th 2009 4:47PM

30-40 people were let go. The UI team, media teams, hardware and some associated PMs with the Sidekick. Shocking since Microsoft is mostly Political Project Managers with chips on their shoulders.
The remainder of the SK team that the PINK team needs to write in CE(not java or NetBSD) was moved to PINK or WINMO months ago. So the people who shut the lights off on the Sidekick were thanked in an email by the Roz “Dragon Woman” Ho and fired promptly. Then, to keep employees from going apeshitzz, they had the stormtroopers from Securitas(with arms this time) walk the halls and maintain control. Sort of like the Stazi.
So,
a) No more sidekicks. The people that made them are fired or working on the mirage of PINK,
b) Microsoft tried to weasel out of Danger’s contract with TMobile but were threatened with lawsuit
c) To make schedule, MSFT had to ship the Sidekick as designed at that point which was NetBSD and Java. VP of PMX was said to have cried at that announcement.

That’s it. No more Sidekicks.
Naming sources? Do you work for the Dragon Lady-why would I call out these sources. So I can get more people fired? The information is 90% public domain from public feeds anyway.

We don’t want to cause anyone to panic, so we’re not going to make any rash assumptions about the future of the Sidekick.  Just wanted to toss the information that’s flying around up for you guys.  Feel free to speculate in the comments and if you have any hard and fast info, please email admin@hiptop3.com.

T-Mobile is launching the new Sidekick LX (2009) on May 13th, but if you Pre Order yours now online you’ll get it earlier (When, is unknown.)

Here’s the featureset:
3G Enabled
Social Networking apps (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter) built in
GPS Live Search and Geotagging photos
3.2″ TFT LCD (F-WQVGA 854×480 pixels)
Thinnest Sidekick Ever
3.2MP Camera with AutoFocus
Record your own Ringtones
Carbon (Black) or Orchard Finish

Pre order with 2year contract for $199.99 (Plus taxes and fees, and a 50 dollar Mail In Rebate) at Sidekick.com or buy without contract for 449.99.

*Note: When we spoke with T-Mobile we were told we would NOT have to change the old 19.99 plan to use the 3G on the new devices.

Looks like the T-Mobile Sidekick 2009 is starting to show up in T-Mobile’s inventory system.  Not a whole lot of info other than it looks like it will be initially offered in two colors: Carbon (assumedly the black we’ve already seen) and Orchid (probably a purple of sorts). Here’s hoping they hit that May 13th release date!

via Tmonews

It’s the information we’ve all been waiting for. The Sidekick 2009 (Blade) that we’ve all be drooling over for months is dropping on…

That is of course a tentative date and not officially stated by T-Mobile, but I’m calling this a pretty solid date. This info comes from TmoNews, who got what looks like T-Mobile’s a summer release date list from “a trusted tipster”.

So, you’ve got about a month to start saving (maybe even less if they do a pre-release for current Sidekick users), are you getting a Sidekick 2009?

We’ve had the following information for a bit, but haven’t been able to nail it down as true or false, so take it as a rumor. It’s an email from an Australian bloke who says:

ok, excitement asside, i have just travelled down to one of my telstra dealers as i said i would in my last post…

i strolled in and wondered over to the hiptop display and picked it up, having a squiz more or less, when a strapping young lad asked if i needed any assistance.
so i decided not to piss fart around and i got straight into it; “hiptop ‘09 blade” i said, “do you know anything about it?”
to which he positively responded with a “why yes i do”…
i continued with a few basic questions about it:
- is it definitely coming to australia?
YES
- when is it coming out?
Around June/July ish, around the time the new iPhone is released (rivals much??)
- will it still be a $30 plan??
he didn’t confirm this, however he said that that was the main reason it was such a popular phone so he said he believed it would continue this tradition.

that pretty much concluded our chat. and i was happy with the information. (i couldn’t believe it, telstra ACTUALLY knew what they were talking about for once!!)

so there we have it, i hope the info i got is of use to you!!

keep in mind i am in australia, so this only applies to the aussies sorry to those in america still searching for information!!

and yes, i know you may be suspicious about this email but all i can do is give you the information telstra gave me which is legit.
any questions just email back.

He also mentioned in comments that he emailed Telstra, but they’re tight-lipped and said they won’t be carrying the Blade. So take it for what it’s worth. For what it’s worth, a release date of June/July sounds possible, whereas the April 1st guess is looking less and less likely.

Here, you might want this.

Thanks Stevo!

We’re getting a couple emails each day letting us know that PhoneDog is pegging the Sidekick 2009 release date for April 1st at CTIA. While we’re just like you guys, we hope the Sidekick 2009 comes out earlier rather than later, we’re not too sure if MSDanger/T-Mobile will be able to hit that date. Here are the thoughts we have:

* Releasing new products at CTIA isn’t great from a marketing standpoint. Your announcement can get lost in all the press about everything else.
* BUT we did however see the Sidekick iD info leak out accidentally via CTIA. It wasn’t an official announcement, but still something.

* An April 1st release does mean that the Grammy Tour could be used for some excellent marketing opportunities and increase the hype around this long-awaited upgrade to the Sidekick line.
* BUT last year’s Grammy Tour (also around April) saw the Sidekick LX as the showcase device, even though the Sidekick 2008 dropped 3 months later in July.

* We know the device is in the hands of some trial users and is being tested in the wild.
* We haven’t found a filing on the FCC for this device yet. With the Sidekick 2008 we saw FCC docs around May 2008, with the device releasing about 3 months later at the end of July. With the Sidekick LX we found FCC docs in the beginning of August 2007, device was released mid-October, again in the 2-3 month range. This FCC filing is legally required for the device to hit the market in the US, but companies don’t want to file early otherwise us rumor sites get some indisputable proof. Even if we find an FCC filing today, April 1st gives them only a month. Not impossible, but cutting it pretty close. Anyone found the FCC filing yet?

So, like I said, we want to believe, but every day that goes by without seeing any promotional material or FCC filings makes us less and less hopeful.

We got the above screenshot in our email. According to the sender and the contents, it appears to be a memo to a Telstra Manager talking about the plans for the “Hiptop LX 2009“. (The Sidekick is marketed as the Hiptop in non-T-Mobile markets) It says that the 2009 was supposed to be release early this year, but is delayed due to “software compatibility issues” and the necessary repackaging for it to say Hiptop/Telstra instead of Sidekick/T-Mobile. The email goes on to say that they expect these delays will “be resolved in the March/April period” and that more info will be sent out then. It mentions that Telstra is going to release the Sidekick 2009 before T-Mobile, much like the Sidekick Slide was released.

We’re filing this under “we hope it’s true” but are very very skeptical. The proof is lacking in context and easily replicated. Just grab a Telstra logo off the web, type up some text, slap it together in Microsoft Word, and save as a PDF. So, if there are any Australian readers out there that can get us more info, please do so! We’d love to hear that this is a worldwide release.

We got the above image in our inbox. The reader sending it in danielle says she was taking a survey about smart phones on QuizPoints and was presented with this one. Here are the specs it lists in the photo:

Social Networking Suite of Apps
- Facebook
- MySpace w/ video upload
- Twitter
- YouTube Mobile Access via browser

GPS Location Based Search
- Turn by Turn Navigation
- Microsoft Live Local Search and Maps

Content Creation
- Blog publishing, editing, and management client
- Photobucket Upload and Management
- Video recorder and upload to MySpace/Photobucket

Communications
- Signature Sidekick IM/SMS/E-mail Experience
- Microsoft Outlook/Exchange synchronization

Hardware
- Large (3.2 inch WVGA) screen with sharp 854×480 resolution
- Thin design
- 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus, flash and video recording
- Large QWERTY keyboard
- Expandable memory up to 8GB via MicroSD

Everything seems to match up with what a Sidekick LX 2009 would have. It mentions 3G, which is pretty much a given at this point. The introduction of Microsoft Live Search and maps makes a lot of sense since Microsoft now owns Danger. The addition of GPS (finally!) is also a nice complement to the maps and helps the Sidekick compete a little bit with the iPhone and other location-enabled devices. But I’m sure the thing that everyone is freaking out over now is the mention of YouTube mobile access. It’s probably the #1 request for the Sidekick by the majority of the users. It doesn’t seem that out of reach since the Sidekick can play video already, it just needs a way to get it from YouTube. None of the apps are groundbreaking, but they’re things that a lot of us would agree it would be nice to have on our Sidekick.

The hardware looks about right too. A 3.2MP camera isn’t the 5mp camera we hoped for, but it is a god bump up from the 2MP camera in the Sidekick 2008 (not to mention the 1.3MP in the LX). The screen is higher resolution (too early to start working on those new themes?) and of course the familiar keyboard is still there.

Is this the Sidekick Blade that we’ve been hearing whispers about? Hard to tell. We know that “Blade” is a codename and that internally (in software) it’s know as the “m3“. The “m2″ was the Sidekick 3, so one would guess the “m3″ would correlate to the elusive Sidekick 4 and a “large” upgrade in device. (FWIW, the Sidekick LX was the “m2-hd”) Could MSDanger be working on two devices? It’s very possible, but we don’t have anything to back this up or refute it yet.

So is this for real? We think so. At least we think it’s specs drawn up by someone official that is testing the water with consumers to see what they think. Whether it’s what we actually see in a device in the future, I’m not 100% sure. I think it definitely sounds like the next revision of the Sidekick LX. It’s not too ambitious, but does add a few of the most requested features. Seems to be the way that T-Mobile/MSDanger like to do things with the Sidekick.