Last night we headed out to the Mezzanine in San Francisco for the Sidekick LX 2009 Launch Party.  The place was packed with people!  There were other parties in other cities and upstairs you could hop on a laptop and use Skype to chat back and forth with partiers in different time zones.  There were also screens showing the red carpet in LA.  If you’re wondering what celebs showed up, PopSugar has a good photo gallery.

Downstairs on the big screens the party in LA was being broadcast while DJ Morse Code spun tunes.  The bars were open and I think T-Mobile paid me back for a few months of data service.  The highlight of the night in San Francisco was DJ Jazzy Jeff showing us all that he still has skills on the turntables.  But perhaps even bigger news was from the LA party where Blink-182 reunited and performed a “surprise” set, their first in over 4 years.  They only played a few songs but there’s already video up on YouTube:

I took a couple pictures with the new Sidekick LX 2009 and was pleasantly surprised by the quality in such low-light.  You can check them all out here.  All the photos are without a flash.  I attempted to take a couple of videos and uploaded to YouTube, but after I got home I noticed that the audio had been corrupted somehow.   There are some videos available though, and my favorite is the one where DJ Jazzy Jeff takes you back to Bel-Air:

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: If you have the chance to go to a T-Mobile party, take it.

What’s a Sidekick launch without official parties?  Of course T-Mobile isn’t going to give up the opportunity to throw a party, so they’re having launch parties for the new Sidekick LX 2009 tonight!  Rumor has it that there will be simultaneous parties in several cities across the country tonight: San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Houston and Baltimore are on the list.

I’ll personally be hitting up the San Francisco party tonight, listening to tunes spun by DJ Jazzy Jeff and DJ Morse Code.  And of course I’ll be twittering it live with my shiny new LX 2009 Carbon.  You can follow the official hiptop3.com Twitter account at @hiptop3, or my personal account: @edrabbit.  We may even give some live video a shot and upload it to YouTube.

It’s been a long time coming, but it’s finally here. The Sidekick LX 2009 is available to everyone through T-Mobile. For those of you living under a rock, it’s the first 3G Sidekick, with a beautiful new high res screen, great new 3.2MP camera, new social networking apps, and GPS + maps. You can pick up your Sidekick LX 2009 Orchid or Carbon from T-Mobile now!

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.

Want to watch a video of the Sidekick LX 2009 that’s totally in focus? Here’s T-Mobile’s official press release video:

There’s also the video of this guy using it:

If you’re one for soundbites too, then there’s also these videos from Emily Blair, the T-Mobile Sidekick Manager talking about the features of the Sidekick LX 2009:

T-Mobile has just posted the first unboxing commercial for the Sidekick LX 2009 on their YouTube account. Unfortunately it doesn’t really show much of the device. Luckily Appletech comes through with a video for all of you that want to see what the device actually does. Check out his 7 minute video showing off the Sidekick LX 2009.

We got another internal memo from T-Mobile.  Nothing too groundbreaking, but we figured it was worth posting for the sake of completeness.

Sidekick LX Pre-sale Launch

The Sidekick is going high speed with the launch of the new T-Mobile Sidekick LX on May 13 – the first 3G enabled Sidekick.

Existing T-Mobile customers will get the chance to purchase the Sidekick LX before it’s available to the general public with a pre-sale offer beginning April 17. During the pre-sale offer, existing customers can purchase the Sidekick LX on My T-Mobile at a special pre-sale price.

The sleek Sidekick LX comes with the same great features and functionality customers have grown accustomed to and includes enhancements such as 3G connectivity, GPS enabled Live Search, a 3.2 MP camera, and is the thinnest Sidekick with the largest and sharpest screen available of any other Sidekick. The Sidekick LX also features free bundled social networking applications including Facebook, My Space, and Twitter, which are optimized for the Sidekick making it easy for customers to navigate and view these sites. Customers also have access to Photobucket and You Tube, where they can easily watch You Tube videos and upload their own videos directly from the Sidekick LX. Sidekick LX customers can now talk on the phone while they surf the Web or IM friends with simultaneous voice and data capabilities.

Important: In order for customers to get the most out of their Sidekick LX, they must add the data feature. With the data feature, customers will receive unlimited nationwide text messaging, instant messaging, e-mail and Web browsing (international use is not included). Also, customers can easily download any software updates that become available for their Sidekick when they have the feature on their account. Customers without the data feature will have very limited functionality and will have a substandard Sidekick experience.

Note: The pre-sale offer is not available to FlexPay and Puerto Rico customers due to system limitations or to T-Mobile employees.

Pre-sale Pricing (April 17 – May 12)

2-year contract: $199.99 after $50 mail-in rebate

Delivery Expectations:
Customers who purchase the Sidekick LX during the pre-sale offer should receive their device by May 12 if purchased by April 30.
Orders placed between May 1 – May 12 cannot be guaranteed for delivery by the national launch date, but these customers will receive the special pre-sale pricing.
Customer Interest Form

The Sidekick LX 2009 Customer Interest Form should be used to collect contact information for customers who express interest in purchasing the Sidekick LX at launch.

Existing customers should be informed they can purchase the Sidekick LX online at My T-Mobile and will receive the special pre-sale price. Devices should not be reserved or guaranteed to customers, family members, or friends through store locations.

Action Steps

• Be aware the Sidekick LX will launch to existing customers on April 17, and all other customers on May 13.
• Refer customers to Sidekick.com for more information on the Sidekick LX or to My T-Mobile to purchase the Sidekick during the presale offer.
• Begin using the Customer Interest Form to capture details for customers who are interested in purchasing the Sidekick LX in-store at launch.
• Help right fit customers with the handsets/devices that best matches their lifestyle and needs.
• Ask probing questions to determine how they currently use or wish to use their device.
• Determine if customers currently use or are interested in high-speed Web browsing, GPS, visiting social networking sites, streaming media, instant messaging, text messaging, e-mail, and a full QWERTY keyboard to right fit them for the Sidekick LX.
• Make sure customers add the data feature when upgrading to the Sidekick LX in order for them to have unlimited nationwide text messaging, instant messaging, e-mail, Web browsing, and access to social networking sites.
• Review the Sidekick LX Pre-sale Launch article on the Retail Communication Home Page for additional details about the device.

Want to see every nook and cranny of the new Sidekick LX 2009? We’re collecting all the photos here for you:

Press Images:

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Photos from Gizmodo:

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Check out Gizmodo’s full hands-on review too.

Photos from Engadget:

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Engadget has some hands-on thoughts as well.

The Sidekick LX 2009 is up and official on www.sidekick.com.

You  can order yours here for $199.99.

T-Mobile is launching the new Sidekick LX (2009) on May 13th, but if you Pre Order yours now online you’ll get it earlier (When, is unknown.)

Here’s the featureset:
3G Enabled
Social Networking apps (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter) built in
GPS Live Search and Geotagging photos
3.2″ TFT LCD (F-WQVGA 854×480 pixels)
Thinnest Sidekick Ever
3.2MP Camera with AutoFocus
Record your own Ringtones
Carbon (Black) or Orchard Finish

Pre order with 2year contract for $199.99 (Plus taxes and fees, and a 50 dollar Mail In Rebate) at Sidekick.com or buy without contract for 449.99.

*Note: When we spoke with T-Mobile we were told we would NOT have to change the old 19.99 plan to use the 3G on the new devices.