It’s official. T-Mobile has announced the new red scarlet Sidekick Slide. So if the purple color was deterring you before, now you have another option. The T-Mobile Sidekick Slide Scarlet will be available for $199.99 with a two-year service agreement. You should be able to get it online or at stores. There’s not much else different about it, but in case you want the specs of the Sidekick Slide Scarlet, here you go:
· T-Mobile myFaves
· Smaller design with slide screen and QWERTY keyboard
· Available in a black finish with scarlet accents
· QVGA screen
· Web browser enhancements and improved JavaScript support
· Customized MySpace Mobile application available through the Download Catalog
· Personal e-mail access and integrated t-mail account; supports POP3, IMAP FETCH e-mail protocols
· MMS, SMS and IM supported
· Built-in IM clients: AOL Instant Messenger, Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger
· 1.3-megapixel camera
· Built-in music player that supports MP3 and AAC (requires memory card)
· microSD expandable memory slot; support for up to 4 GB of memory
· Bluetooth
· Dimensions: 4.6 x 2.4 x 0.68 inches, 5.3 ounces
· 2 x 1.5-inch display, 320 x 240 pixels, 65k TFT display
· Battery life: Up to 5.9 hours of talk time and 3.6 days of standby
· Quad-band world phone (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)
· GSM/GPRS/EDGE
For those of you wondering what the Sidekick 3 OTA that is currently rolling out brings to your device, wonder no more:
* GSM network feature enhancements
* Enhanced USSD Support
* Retry option for failed Text Messages
* Enhanced SIM PIN protection
* Optimized PLMN scan algorithm to improve network registration time when returning to good coverage
* Faster PLMN searches
So in short about the only thing you’ll ’see’ is better coverage and the ability to resend text messages when they fail.
TmoNews is reporting that the Sidekick Gekko will not be a Limited Edition device, but rather a new device. Similar to the Sidekick iD. It is rumored that this device will have a 2mp camera, and video capture along with some kind of video sharing software. Also TmoNews has reported that the device will be “Highly Customizable” Whether this means it’s customizable in the say the iD was, or they mean the catalog themes we don’t know.
The release date is still rumored to be set for July 30th.
Sounds like the Sidekick 3 is getting a Over The Air (OTA) update to upgrade the radio firmware. Doesn’t look like anything significant or major improvements, but all you Sidekick 3 owners may see it popping up on your device soon. I assume it’s rolling out to the pioneer group first, which is basically a small (random) subset of the Sidekick 3 users. As long as that rolls out without significant problems it will start being sent out to everyone.
I just posted my last post over on the Sidekick Grammy Tour blog. It was a ton of fun and I got to meet all sorts of great people as well as the musicians. My photos and bog entries are all over on the site, so I won’t bother reposting them here. If you’re bored, go check it out.
There are still two concerts left, Dallas and L.A. If you’re in either of these cities (or near by) I highly recommend hitting up these concerts. If nothing else, once you’re in and you show your Sidekick, it’s free food and drinks! Plus Kid Rock, Seal, and Sean Kingston are totally worth seeing for free!
A lot of the tech blogs have been buzzing about the Nintendo emulator that runs on the Sidekick. Here’s the real scoop. Yes, it exists and you can play Nintendo games on the Sidekick 3/LX/Slide as evidenced by the video above. It’s slow and more of a proof-of-concept sort of thing rather than a truly viable gaming application. It was basically taking an existing Java NES emulator (Vampant) and wrapping it for loading on the Sidekick since the Sidekick OS supports java. No, it is not going to make it into catalog unless T-Mobile gets real friendly with Nintendo and the license holders of all the roms that you would want to load. The application is a developer app that is only available to Sidekick developers. So basically if you don’t know how to write java, you’ll never get to load it on your Sidekick. When asked for comment, the developer simply stated “HOLLA!”
Grant Duval, from The Connection (a student newspaper in Sacramento, CA), has put together an editorial titled “What does your cell phone say about you?” In it he mentions Sidekick users:
Sidekick owners have a ton of friends. Even their phone is their “Sidekick.”
People who own Sidekicks are addicted to their friends, not the ones they are with, but the ones at the receiving end of their witty texts.
Sidekick owners are young and may or may not idolize Jay-Z. They are also highly lazy. If spelling out words without using abbreviations and predictive text is too hard, what else is too hard? Getting a job? Paying taxes? I’m on to you Sidekick owners.
Personally I would have said Lil Wayne (based on the number of Lil Wayne Sidekick themes out there) and I’d disagree that we’re lazy and don’t have jobs. How else could we afford such expensive devices? What do you guys think?
If you live in Boston (or anywhere else for that matter) you may want to pause from IMing and texting your friends every now and then to make sure you aren’t about to be robbed! Bostonist is reporting that Sidekick users who are distracted by typing are a target for phone thieves. WBZ TV reports that 23 Sidekicks have been snatched in the last two months from users riding the T (Boston’s subway system).
“Basically they have their heads down,” said Transit Police Sgt Michael Rutledge. “They’re not paying attention to their surroundings and people are taking advantage of that opportunity. When the train doors or bus doors open they’ll snatch the cell phone or Sidekick and run off with it.”
So keep an eye out next time you get sucked into an AIM conversation with the hottie you met last night at the club. Before you know it you may have lost her screenname AND your phone.
Got a Hiptop 3 and a provider that allows MMS like Telstra? Then Viva has written something you might be interested in, how to create your own mp3 ringtones. We’ve posted it here so that it’s preserved for future usage.
Some people will be getting the Sidekick LX for Christmas this year, while others will be getting the Sidekick Slide, but one lucky lady will be getting a one of a kind Sidekick 3 for her Christmas present. A Sidekick 3 made of wood. The creator says that the Sidekick 3 is the favorite phone of his lady friend. However, he also mentions that he did not make the screen flippable because “she’s not THAT special”. *ouch* It looks like it will be a bit bulky for her pocket, but it’s the thought that counts, right?
