The Danger servers shutdown today. It’s hard to put into words the impact that Danger and the Hiptop had on the entire wireless industry, as well as me personally. I know that it also played a personal role in a large number of people’s lives.

For a trip down memory lane you can check out the Sidekick timeline and Geekwire has a recap of the history of the Sidekick.

Some other blasts from the past for Sidekick die-hards:
– The old blue camera that plugged into the headphone port that only did 120×90 pixels?
– The excitement of the silver camera that let you take 320×240 pictures!
– The Hiptop Halloween Hunts
– Danger’s Official Timeline (circa 2007)
– Remember 10 Pin Bowling? Blockade? Cognet? HipPaint? the hacked Google Maps application?
– How about all the code names? Shuriken, Gekko, Zante, m1, m2, Aspen, Blade
– The rise and fall (thanks to Popular Science) of the Developer keys.
– hiptopinfo.com, hiptop.com, hiptop.bedope.com, skdr.net, skholla.com, The Danger Zone, hiptop411.com, hipalbum.com, and more…
– Discovering the hidden feature of custom themes. Thanks Jurai!
– T-Mobile’s Sidekick/Grammy tour and all the release parties
– The countless FCC leaks
– The Snoop Dogg commercial where he was asking for help with his laundry
– Who remembers Johnny Chase?

And last but not least.. where’s my cat remote?

If you’ve got a story or a memory to share about the Sidekick, please leave it in the comments. We’d love to hear how it touched other people too.

It’s official, T-Mobile issued a press release regarding the end of the Danger Sidekick service as we know it. The servers will go down on May 31st.

Statement: Danger Service for T-Mobile Sidekick

Bellevue, Wash. — Feb. 28, 2011 PST

After May 31, 2011, the Danger Service (a subsidiary of Microsoft) used by T-Mobile Sidekick customers for data services will no longer be available on Sidekick devices.

T-Mobile will provide offers for our Sidekick customers before May 31, 2011, to help make an easy transition from their existing Sidekick device to a new device. We will have more information to share about these offers with our customers in the weeks ahead.

To ensure the best possible transition for our loyal Sidekick customers, an enhanced Web tool is available on myT-Mobile.com to easily export their personal data, including contacts, photos, calendar, notes, to-do lists, and bookmarks, from the Danger service to a new device, computer, or a designated e-mail account. An application is also available in the Sidekick Catalog to make it easy to export personal data to the Sidekick’s memory card. Many T-Mobile stores can transfer data from that card to a new T-Mobile device if the customer brings in the memory card and Sidekick.

I can’t help but be a little sad. We all knew this day was coming, but now we know when. Enjoy the last few months, and here’s hoping the Sidekick 4G can live up to the expectations that the previous Sidekicks set.

Life as a Sidekick user is starting to return to normal as T-Mobile/Microsoft/Danger slowly announce each piece of data that is restorable as they make progress. We’ve gotten back Address Books, Calendars, To Do Lists, Notes, and most recently Photos. I know a lot of people are still waiting on Bookmarks and I imagine that will be next in line. However one of the hallmarks of the Sidekick is still missing and we haven’t heard any word on when it will return.

I’m of course talking about the Download Catalog, aka the first App Store. The Catalog has been down for over a month and this sucks both for Sidekick users as well as Sidekick Developers. I’m sure T-Mobile is feeling the hurt too as a large source of their income from Sidekick users comes from selling applications, ringtones and themes.

While there are no other ways to get applications (save having a developer key), it is possible to get ringtones and themes while the catalog is down from unofficial sites. Themes for most Sidekicks can be found at Sidekick Themes and if you have a Sidekick LX 2009 you can get free ringtones at Skringers.com.

UPDATE (2009-11-11): We’re hearing through the grapevine that the Download Catalog may be up by Saturday if things go well! Keep your fingers crossed.

Don’t have a Sidekick LX 2009 yet and you’re stuck with an older device? Well if you’re a Twitter or Facebook addict, you’re in luck! T-Mobile has released the Twitter and Facebooks apps in the Download Catalog for the Sidekick 2008, the original LX, and the Sidekick Slide. The Facebook app is totally free, but the Twitter app will set you back $1.99 every month. Both of these apps will remain free for the Sidekick LX 2009 users though.

Are you on Twitter? Follow us! @hiptop3

If you’ve been to your local T-Mobile store recently then you probably already know that Tokidoki shells for the Sidekick LX 2009 and Sidekick 2008 are out. There are 4 different shells for the LX 2009 and 3 different ones for the Sidekick 2008. You can pick them up for $14.99-19.99 from T-Mobile stores along with a bunch of other Tokidoki accessories or you can score them online as well via sidekick.com. If you’re cheap, you might have luck finding Sidekick LX shells on SidekickShopper too. You can also pick up some themes in the Download Catalog that match your new Tokidoki shells!

If you’re wondering what the heck Tokidoki is, check them out at www.tokidoki.it.

Ever since the Sidekick LX 2009 came out I’ve been working on a site where you can share ringtones, much like the Sidekick Theme Sites. Well the site is mostly up and running now, there are still some features I’d like to add, but I figured I’d let everyone know where they could get free ringtones for their Sidekick. The name of the site is “Skringers” (get it? SK + ringers) and you can find it at www.skringers.com. Go check it out, there are already somewhere around 400 ringtones uploaded and people keep uploading them. If you want to know as soon as a ringtone is uploaded, you can also follow the official Twitter account: @skringers. Let me know what you guys and gals think of the site!

Note: You’ll only be able to add these ringtones to the Sidekick LX 2009, or if you’re lucky and are running a non-TMobile Hiptop.

Want to take a peek at Danger’s official Sidekick LX 2009 manual?

A lot of people are wondering what the new camera can do on the LX 2009, well here are the shots from exiva’s flickr stream.

Sidekick LX (2007 Model)

Sidekick LX (2009 Model) in Macro mode

…enough said.

According to this recent CNET Review, the Sidekick LX 2009 will have Custom Shells after all (available in the summer).  Also Custom “Laser etching” will be available:

“The smartphone is available in two colors: carbon or orchid. However, if you’re not a fan of the colors, you will be able to create custom shells for the Sidekick LX, much like the T-Mobile Sidekick 2008, and T-Mobile’s even added the option of laser etching the case. Custom shells will be available starting this summer. “

Apparently T-Mobile is causing a bit of a stir with their Sidekick LX 2009 launch. First there is the business of all these pre-orders on “back order” status in the system. Then there’s a small group of people who got their device super early. There are also some concerns that devices won’t arrived by the advertised May 12th date, but we’ve been reassured that they will. There was also some grumblings about how the device was being advertised everywhere as carrying a $199 price tag when in truth it was $400+ for some people. At least this last concern seems to be resolved in a kind of sneaky sort of way with a price drop on the Sidekick.

For those that pre-ordered and didn’t have the option to upgrade their device, they were forced to pay over $400 for the new Sidekick. Those that were eligible for the upgrade paid $250 (and will get a $50 rebate). Now the Sidekick LX 2009 is available for $250 if you sign a 2 year contract, even if you aren’t eligible for an upgrade. The kicker is that T-Mobile is not going to change your old order for you. You’re going to have to call up and request to cancel your order and then place a new order if you want to take advantage of the $200 price drop. We’re hearing from a lot of people who have done this without significant problems. Unfortunately this means that you probably won’t get the device early, but for most of us $200 is probably more important than a few days.