When Apple released their App Store for the iPhone most Sidekick users laughed and talked about how the Sidekick has had the Catalog (aka Download Fun) for years. We’ve been buying, downloading, and installing apps before the iPhone was even around. But as it stands now, there aren’t many phones out there that you can do this with. T-Mobile is looking to change that. They’re basically going to take the Catalog model and make it easy for developers to write applications and get them deployed to multiple devices. And when you buy an application, part of what you paid for it will go back to the developer with a revenue-sharing arrangement.

We don’t foresee anything major happening to the Sidekick platform, as it basically has the capabilities that T-Mobile is looking to implement on other phones. What we do think will change is the quality and quantity of applications and games available in the Catalog. With developers programming apps for multiple devices they will be motivated to make them Sidekick compatible as they wil make more money the more devices their application can be purchased on. T-Mobile is also opening things up for anyone to get in on the action. So you won’t have to be some big software firm that’s partnered with T-Mobile. You can be just some guy sitting on your couch writing programs.

Another interesting thing is that T-Mobile will be doing a revenue-sharing model with the developer that’s based on the amount of bandwidth used. With T-Mobile launching their 3G network, we should start seeing more streaming audio and video in the future. Chances are we won’t see any of this streaming (except perhaps low quality audio) on the current Sidekick models as the EDGE network can’t handle it, but we would be very surprised if the next generation Sidekicks don’t have support for it along with 3G capabilities. And no, we haven’t heard any details worth reporting about a Sidekick 3G is coming yet. If you’re debating on whether you should wait for it or buy a Sidekick 2008, Hiptop3.com recommends buying the Sidekick 2008.

T-Mobile hasn’t dropped an official announcement on any of this yet, but as soon as we hear more, we’ll let you know.

T-Mobile’s Developer Site
via

Looks like Motorola had one shot at making hardware for Danger and they blew it with the Sidekick Slide. A device plagued with a simple, but glaring power flaw is being laid to rest. Rumors are circulating that the Sidekick Slide is no longer being manufactured and that once it’s sold out at T-Mobile stores (looks like it’s already pulled from online), you’ll have to end up looking for people selling the Slide on eBay if you want this small device. Don’t get us wrong, there were some nice things about the Sidekick Slide, and many people out there love it, but in the end it looks like T-Mobile decided that it wasn’t selling as well as they hoped. We’ll agree that this is probably a good decisions, since it would be pretty hard to compete with the other Sidekicks lately as it won’t be getting a video update and only comes in two colors.

via EngadgetMobile

Ever since Microsoft bought Danger we’ve been waiting for the announcement of a mobile device from Microsoft. There have been rumors left and right about a ZunePhone, which would compete directly with Apple’s highly successful iPhone. Add another rumor to the mill, this time it’s from an anonymous source (via jkOnTheRun) that says there was a meeting in Redmond (Microsoft’s headquarters) to help flesh out the details on a Zune phone. According to this source, the Zune phone will be a specialized version of Windows Mobile 7 and will utilize the Windows Live Services. It will also feature a multi-touch touch screen.

If all of this is true, then this could spell bad news for Danger. Basically it’s everything the Sidekick is not. No awesome operating system, no excellent back-end service, and a touch screen instead of a keyboard. We hope that these new rumors about the “ZunePhone” are false, or at least that this isn’t the only phone that Microsoft is thinking about.

image via

It seems to happen with almost every device. A magazine puts out a short article and includes a new not yet released Sidekick. This time it’s the Sidekick 2008/Gekko in Nylon magazine. The article says: “$149 with two year contract, t-mobile sidekick”. The full spread and a close-up on the text:

via PBD forums (thanks to everyone who sent this in)

Our friends over at TmoNews are reporting that T-Mobile will be slashing prices on their Motorola phones (including the Sidekick Slide) on July 30th. This is only for new individual or family plans with a 2 year contract, so all you current Sidekick owners are probably out of luck and are better off going the eBay route. The full list of eligible phones:
* Motorola Sidekick Slide
* Motorola Rokr e8
* Motorola Razr V3
* Motorola Razr2 V8
* Motorola W490

via TmoNews

What if a PSP got together with a Sidekick? Well, design student Samuel Lau thinks they’d go together perfectly. He’s come up with a design for a PSP with a screen similar to the Sidekick Slide, and a keyboard hidden underneath.

Some words from the designer, Samuel:
-Hope to have 50,000 views and 1000 comments.
-Then i will send this video directly to Sony for consideration.
-Once i reach the target, i will make another official proposal video to Sony.
-I am also raising fund for my education which cost about C$50,000. Hope if Sony like my idea and uses it, they pay half of my education fee.
-Hope i can see the real thing before Christmas 2009 (Fingers cross)!
-So be fast, spread the words!
-Last of all: YOU can make it happen!!!

Here’s his video for Sony to take a look at:

via yanko

Before you get all excited, chances are this is just someone with Photoshop that got told “Hey, I need a phone that looks like it has GPS on it” by their boss, so they whipped something up. But we can’t help wonder why the model in the photo accompanying this article is holding the Sidekick 3 so oddly. Then again she is in a mall, and why would you need GPS (let alone being to get a signal) when you’re looking for a new pair of shoes? Regardless, there have been bits and pieces about GPS getting incorporated into a future Sidekick in some way for awhile. Remember that old job posting? From a technical standpoint it would probably be possible to interface a Sidekick with a Bluetooth GPS as it stands now, it would just be a matter of getting a mapping solution on the Sidekick that’s powerful enough. Maybe with Apple’s new iPhone 3G, Danger Microsoft will have some motivation to upgrade some of the hardware capabilities of the Sidekick to keep up with the location-aware mobile computing that is bound to happen in the very near future.

Looks like Rockstar21 over on the PoweredByDanger forums got ahold of some information that maybe he shouldn’t have. He’s posted some blurry pics of a folder of info on the new Sidekick Gekko/2008/Aspen, slated for release at the end of July. He’s also transcribed the contents of the folder for your information:

Pricing: Get yourself a sidekick at an Affordable price. =)

Catalog: Download more apps, themes and games faster from the catalog

Address book: improved intergration. see what friends are online and immediately start chatting. activity logs. easier dialing for phone calls. improved interface.

Shortcuts: QuickFind, SpellCheck, Shortcut key strokes, and QuickJump(unified inbox and recent applications list)

Headset jack: 3.5 standard audio headphone jack

External memory: 512 mb for videos, pictures and music. can take up to 4 gb card.

Notifications: sounds, vibrations and multi colored trackball.

SMS: yes

MMS: yes

MyFaves: capable

Target Customer: Young fashionable, predominantly female who likes to express themselves and be creative.

Demensions: 120×57.5×18 mm “slightly wider, yet shorter slightly thicker than the sidekick slide”

Weight: 140 g lighter than both slide, and lx

Display: 2.6 diagonal viewing “400×240 pixel WQVGA” Mobile advanced Super V LCD (.4 inches smaller than LX)

Camera: 2.0 Mp still camera and video recorder (should be obviously noticable difference in quality of pictures and video recordings)

Instant Messaging: AIM, MSN, Yahoo. with group chat, stealth mode, and links to profiles.

Media Player: video and music player. 3gp and MPEG 4 with WMA and ACC formats.

Web Browser: yes, with zoom, pan, and scan.

Bluetooth: yes, stereo, phone calls, watching/listening to music and vidoes, sending and recieving media files.

standby time for battery: 10 days
talk time: 5 hours
128 mb ram
64 mb flash rom

For several months now, we’ve heard all sorts of rumors on the next Sidekick device, scheduled to come out at the end of this month. We’ve done our best to keep track of everything and weigh out which one is more likely. We’re tired of it. Here are the names so far that we’ve heard:

Gekko

Gecco

Aspen

2008

Style2

Snap

here at Hiptop3.com, we’re going to go with Sidekick Gekko until we hear otherwise officially. It’s the internal name used by Danger and it’s also shown up on T-Mobile things as well. This is a rumor blog, we do our best to check on things before reporting, but sometimes we feel it’s better to report based on what we have and give a disclaimer. Sometimes we get it a bit wrong. Sorry!

Feel free to submit your rumors/thoughts/opinions in the comments below.

Want to know what the full specs on the T-Mobile Sidekick 2008 are? BreatheTmobile has them for you and we’re reposting below:

T-Mobile Sidekick (2008) Specs:

2mp camera w/video
Media Player
Pc-like HTML web browser
Instant Msg
Email
Automatic Backup
Removable Faceplates (customizable at sidekick.com w/your own art or pix!)
2.6″ high resolution wQVGA screen w/ micro-reflective tft lcd
Bluetooth 2.0 w/file transfer
QWERTY keyboard
Trackball
3.5mm headjack
Mirco SD slot w/ 4gb support

Quadband 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
size: 120 x 57.5 x 18 mm!!!!!!
weight: 140 g
standby: 10 days
talk time: 5 hours
Display: 400 x 240 pixel
ram: 128 mb
Flash ROM: 64 mb

It looks like this device is going to be pretty similar to the Sidekick LX, which is no surprise. He also mentions that the device will be “affordable”, although noone is tossing around a price tag yet. His original post can be found on the TmoNews forums.