A little birdie told me that there’s a new OTA (Over-The-Air) Update that should be coming soon for all you Sidekick LX 2009 owners. It’s currently being tested by the super secret trial users. Once all the bugs get squashed it will start rolling out to the general public in the typical Sidekick fashion (randomly and only a few people at first). No word on exactly what bugs have been squashed, but I imagine it’s going to help with the crashing and freezing that many users (including yours truly) have reported on their Sidekick LX 2009.

Looks like prototype images of the two rumored Project Pink phones have leaked out of Microsoft. Gizmodo posted both the Pure and Turtle devices, confirmed they’ll be made by Sharp, and that they’re going to be aimed at the Sidekick market. So while these won’t be “Sidekicks” per-say, they are the devices that Microsoft expects you current Sidekick users to be interested in. So, what do you think?

via Gizmodo

It’s looking more and more like the next “Sidekicks” won’t really be the Sidekick we know and love. With the purchase of Danger by Microsoft, the team behind the Sidekick has been moved over to a project codenamed Pink. I’ve mentioned this project before, but 9to5mac has some new info on Pink. They’re reporting that the first two devices to come out of Project Pink will be landing in early 2010. The devices will be sliders, so the familiar screen flip will be gone, but they will be manufactured by Sharp like the current ‘kicks. There are two devices rumored to be coming out. Their code names are “Turtle” and “Pure”.

Turtle will be a “squircle” shaped device with a slide out keyboard. The image you see above is a supposed drawing of it. The slide out keyboard will also have a mic so you’ll need to have the keyboard open when you’re making a phone call. The Pure device is more along the lines of a standard candy-bar slider style device. So far no pics of Pure have leaked out yet.

They’re both rumored to be setup to use an App Store model of application delivery and I wouldn’t be surprised if behind the scenes it was the same technology running Danger’s Download Catalog. However probably most controversial news to die-hard Sidekickers: It’s looking like the new devices might be running on Windows Mobile 7. What do you think? Does Microsoft have a chance to jump back in the market or is it too late as everyone jumps ship to iPhones and Android devices.

In some very sad news, it looks like T-Mobile Germany may actually be bringing down the axe on the Sidekick. There is a post over on teltarif.de that gives some cause for concern. What, you can’t read German? Here is the content of the article, translated via Google:

T-Mobile announces Sidekick services on 31 December
The reason is termination of service by American producer Danger

T-Mobile announces the remaining value of a current Sidekick, the Sidekick service as well as the Sidekick Data option on 31 December this year. This confirmed a spokesman for the company over teltarif.de. The reason for the termination of the options is to set the Sidekick service by the American producer Danger. The smartphone of the Californian company, originally under the name Hiptop become known in Germany and were initially exclusive to E-Plus markets. Later, T-Mobile devices on the German market. The mobile telecoms subsidiary called smartphones, but – as in the U.S. – Sidekick.

Termination option, but not termination

As the T-Mobile Press Office notifies the service center Danger for the whole of Europe on 31 December, so that any user of the device – no matter under what name – which is affected. In the U.S. offer Danger’s service, however, continue to converge, as there are also more recent Sidekick devices are sold and they are enjoying great popularity. From the termination had several thousand T-Mobile customers affected, the spokesman Dirk Wende.
The affected customers are in the tariff options, but not the whole contract being terminated. As it says in the letter: “Your T-Mobile contract shall remain unaffected and continue to exist.” Turning points, however, if the customer is at the T-Mobile hotline turn, will be a “solution together with the customer” can be found. Here you will also offers customers to switch to current equipment and fares subject. Wool partout but the customer terminate the contract, there will be also a possibility, since each Hotliner a “some leeway”, so the T-Mobile spokesman.

It’s a bit difficult to read, but it looks like Germany is losing the Sidekick, but that it will continue on in the United States: “In the U.S. offer Danger’s service, however, continue to converge, as there are also more recent Sidekick devices are sold and they are enjoying great popularity.” Unfortunately the only English article we can find on this says “A company spokesperson attributed the move to the Sidekick service being terminated by Sidekick manufacturer Danger” and a similar statement is given in the sub-headline of the German article. Hopefully this is just a translation mistake and they intend it to mean that Danger is terminating the German service and not across the board for all Sidekicks. Regardless, it’s a sad day for all the German Sidekick/Hiptop users.

Thanks Mike!

When Microsoft bought Danger, the speculation of the future of the company and the Sidekick began. It seems like over the last couple of months we’ve started to see some of the direction things may go in. We do know that a lot of the old Sidekick crew has left Microsoft, but we also know that Microsoft was hiring to replace those positions, but nobody really knew for what purpose. Would there be a new Sidekick? A completely different device? Would the technology get rolled into something else? Well, we’ve got some more clues.

According to ZDNet, Microsoft has selected an ad agency for their codenamed project known as “Pink“. From the ZDNet article:

Pink — last I heard — is the codename for a Microsoft-branded phone and set of accompanying premium consumer services being developed largely by the Danger team that Microsoft acquired last year. Pink will build on top of the core Windows Mobile 7 platform, my sources have said, but will look different from other third-party Windows Mobile 7 phones.

They also say:

Microsoft has been keeping close to the vest details about Pink. I’ve heard from my tipsters that there will be one Pink phone manufacturer. Some are saying it’s Motorola or possibly Sharp, both of which have manufactured Danger-based phones. Pink’s “user experience”/user interface, which is codenamed “Purple,” is meant to appeal to an audience not so different from the traditional Sidekick audience.

We can’t imagine how the Windows Mobile will appeal to the “traditional Sidekick audience” but we’re hoping Microsoft does pull it off. What do you think? Would you use a Windows Mobile device if it was similar enough to the Sidekick we know and love?

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!

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.

We got the below memo from an anonymous T-Mobile employee:

Get Ready for the New Sidekick LX

T-Mobile is preparing to launch the thinnest Sidekick ever, with blazing fast 3G connectivity for customers to connect with friends quickly and easily. The new Sidekick LX will come equipped with GPS enabled Live Search, a 3.2 megapixel camera, and free bundled social networking applications including Facebook, My Space, and Twitter. Customers will also be able to watch and download You Tube videos directly from the device. The new Sidekick LX comes equipped with the features that customers love including a full QWERTY keyboard and an enhanced swivel screen that is larger and sharper than any other Sidekick.

Additional information regarding launch dates, pricing and availablility will be available on the Retail Communication Home Page on April 17.

Action Steps
Check the Retail Communication Home Page on April 17 for additional information regarding the Sidekick LX launch

It basically says what we’ve been saying for months now about the new Sidekick LX 2009. It’s nice to see things confirmed though. It looks like T-Mobile is going to stick the new device under the Sidekick LX line though. So like the Sidekick 2008 is officially just the “Sidekick” then based on this memo the Sidekick LX 2009 will be the “Sidekick LX”. Hopefully we’ll hear more in the way of official news on Friday!

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?

Ever since Microsoft bought Danger there’s been much speculation on the marriage of the Zune line with our familiat Sidekicks. While there haven’t been any official announcements on whether or not we’ll ever see these two technologies merge, it’s still interesting to think about. In a recent talk with Steve Ballmer he made some comments about the future of Zune and Microsoft’s vision for smartphones:

SB: “We’re going to keep going with Zune”. It’s two things: Service and a device. The Zune service, that’s going to fan out its footprint. Hardware will continue to improve. “The question is whether even if we flog them heavily, is their profit upside”. We’re going to keep going “I won’t say full steam ahead, because that implies acceleration of investment, but we’re going to sustain our investment.” We like it and the future may be the software/ecosystem on other devices.

On to smartphone market:

SB: Smartphones will go from 10% to 70 or 80% of market next few years. So what will people want? Good experience built in, w/out downloading stuff. You want good price range. iPhone is very expensive phone, without a keyboard. Some people can’t afford them. Sweet spot is phones that cost $150 to $200 to make — forget retail price. iPhone is about $500. We want to provide vendors with ability to make Windows phones up and down the price scale.

Unless you assume Apple and BlackBerry are going to sell the lion’s share of most phones, which I don’t, I think the play for us is to provide broad innovation at many price points.

A $500 phone is not going to work for everybody in every market. The most popular phones in China and India cost about $25 to build. We can’t get our software on that.

SA: Do you care about “touch” on phones? The blogs say you are.

SB: Windows Mobile 6.5 has touch on it. The way Apple does touch drives cost. They way they do it on the iPhone is not an inexpensive component. We’ll do it in a way that you can afford to do it on most phones.

My first thought was “No, please don’t replace the DangerOS” but was then it was pointed out to me that the Zune software integrated into the DangerOS, replacing the current MediaPlayer could be a nice change. This is something that we won’t see for the Blade for sure, but it’s an interesting possibility for future devices. Steve comments on the sweet spot for prices on smartphones gives hope that the next Sidekick may not cost a fortune. Here’s hoping! If you want to check out the full Q&A with Steve Ballmer, here’s the article.

via engadget. Thanks Mike!