Holding out for the Sidekick Slide on November 7th here in the US? Don’t worry, we haven’t forgotten about you Motorola lovers! Hands on reviews for the Sidekick Slide have been popping up now that T-Mobile has officially announced it (along with the Sidekick LX). Here’s a roundup of posts that we’ve found so far. If you’ve seen any others, drop them in the comments!

Gizmodo - Hands All Over the Sidekick Slide (Verdict: Best Build Quality Ever)
Engadget Mobile - Hands-on with the Sidekick Slide!
CrunchGear - Hands on with the Sidekick Slide
BoyGeniusReport - Sidekick Slide (Zante): Hands On!
CrunchGear - Sidekick Slide review [Update]

Looks like someone at Gizmodo got to play with a Sidekick Slide a little bit early.

They mention in the hands on…

…but having held it and played with it, I do believe it has the best build quality of any sidekick.

Also they mention that the keys on the keyboard are lined with “velvecron a fuzzyish paint for gadgets.”

And that’s pretty much it, hopefully they do a full review of it soon.

Word from BoyGeniusReport is that T-Mobile is going to be updating Sidekick Data plans to include Unlimited MMS for the LX and Slide, and remain at the same price.

Those of you who are buying their LX as their first Sidekick will automatically get this new plan, the rest of us will have to call T-Mobile and be switched over.

Via BoyGeniusReport

It appears as if Telstra Mobile is also in the process of testing and getting ready to release the Zante down under.

Unconfirmed reports of Telstra trying to push out all remaining stock of Hiptop 3’s to make way for the new device, and a Mid November release date. Also unconfirmed reports of the Hiptop LX making an appearance down under sometime in December have trickled in via email.

Thanks to all who sent this in

View more photos.

Some more photos of the LX and the Slide compared to the Sidekick 3 have been posted by our favorite forum admin on Flickr.

View all the photos here on Flickr

Note: The device pictured in these photographs is a pre-production model and may vary slightly from the production model.

Want to see what the Sidekick LX and Sidekick Slide look like in action? There are a couple of videos on YouTube (including one from a well-known forum admin). Check them out below:

Thanks to nic kl for the find

T-Mobile has gone all official with the Sidekick Slide (aka the Zante) finally. The price? A reasonable $199 with a 2 year contract. Official specs are no big surprise either:

Screen: 320×240
Dimensions: 4.6in x 2.6in x 0.6in
Weight: 5.3 ounces
Memory: MicroSD slot
OS: DangerOS v4.0
Messaging: MySpace, AIM, MSN, Yahoo,email (4 accounts), SMS/MMS support. (finally MMS!)
Camera: 1.3mp
Video: No video on release, but we hear rumors that it will support it.
And all the other stuff you’ve come to know and love on your Sidekick 3, just in a new package made by Motorola.
Release date is scheduled for November 7th

Who’s getting one?

…and why won’t Sacha pick up her phone?!

FCC Docs for the Sidekick Slide have finally hit the FCC site today (FCC ID: IHDT56HE1). What’s surprising though is that the user manual has been posted as well as external and internal photos of the device. Normally a confidentiality request is submitted to hold this info under wraps until close to release date. It looks like Motorola skipped on this part, so it means the device is coming out soon. This also means that the device will be released in the states, most likely on October 16th at that T-Mobile Release Party. For those interested in the FCC docs, we’ve mirrored copies here so you don’t have to trudge through the FCC site. They’re all in PDF format though.

Confidentiality Request
Exhibit 1 FCC ID Label and Location
Exhibit 2 Attestation Statements
Exhibit 3 External Photos
Exhibit 6A1 Bluetooth Report
Exhibit 6A2 UL Test Report
Exhibit 7 Test Setup Photos
Exhibit 7A UL Test Setup Photos
Exhibit 8 Users Manual
Exhibit 8A Supplemental Users Manual
Exhibit 9 Internal Photos
Supplemental Response to IHD7621

Thanks to EngadgetMobile for the find and for pulling out the images

If T-Mobile says it, it’s pretty much official. The Sidekick Slide (aka the Sidekick Zante) is coming in October, at least to the UK. On T-Mobile UK’s Coming Soon page they have a listing for the Sidekick Slide with “Expected October” listed (along with a confirmation of a 1.3megapixel camera). We find it pretty odd that the UK would get a Sidekick model before the US based on the history of the devices being released. In the past a device has always launched in the US and then trickled out to other markets. Perhaps this is a change in things and T-Mobile is trying out the Slide in the UK market before releasing it in the US. This would definitely explain the lack of FCC documents so far. It looks like maybe the US will be getting the Sidekick LX while others will be getting the Sidekick Slide, at least for the time being.

Thanks Luca

UPDATE: Looks like T-Mobile has pulled the listing from the Coming Soon page….

Some of those MySpace kids who keep a close eye on things have noticed that DJ AM has a “Private” event with T-Mobile on October 16th listed in his MySpace profile. DJ AM has played previous Sidekick release parties, including the Sidekick II and 3. There’s no information on whether this is for the Sidekick Slide or the Sidekick LX (or both) yet. Our first guess is that it’s for the Sidekick Slide. Our second guess is that it’s for both devices, and our third guess is that it’s for the Sidekick LX. The Sidekick Slide has been out and about being tested longer than the Sidekick LX, but who knows what decisions T-Mobile is making behind closed doors. Regardless, be on the lookout for at least one of the new devices in mid-October.