Looks like in the near future you’ll be able to walk into RadioShack and pick up a new T-Mobile phone. They’ve announced a “retail agreement” where in RadioShack will be selling T-Mobile phones at over 4000 stores in the US and Puerto Rico starting later this summer. Guess the “radio” in RadioShack now means 3G radios? The full press release is below:

RadioShack and T-Mobile USA Announce Retail Agreement

RadioShack to Offer T-Mobile Products and Services in Stores Beginning This Summer

FORT WORTH, Texas and BELLEVUE, Wash. — July 23, 2009 — RadioShack Corporation (NYSE: RSH) and T-Mobile USA, Inc. today announced a retail agreement to offer T-Mobile® products and services in more than 4,000 RadioShack stores across the U.S. and Puerto Rico beginning later this summer.

The relationship expands RadioShack’s postpaid wireless offerings, and enables RadioShack to offer its customers a selection of T-Mobile’s most innovative, in-demand handsets – including the highly anticipated T-Mobile® myTouch™ 3G with Google™. For T-Mobile, the agreement nearly doubles the number of national retail partner stores offering its postpaid products and services nationwide, and makes RadioShack T-Mobile’s largest national retail partner. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

“RadioShack is focused on growing our mobility category and is committed to providing our customers with a broad selection of the best wireless products and services in the industry,” said Peter Whitsett, executive vice president and general merchandising manager at RadioShack. “The ability to offer a full line of T-Mobile devices, including the hottest exclusive T-Mobile handsets, reinforces RadioShack’s leadership in wireless.”

Doug Chartier, senior vice president of sales at T-Mobile USA, said, “Through our milestone partnership with RadioShack, T-Mobile’s presence in national retail stores expands nearly twofold, giving millions more people the opportunity to readily access our products and take advantage of the tremendous value T-Mobile provides its customers. By combining T-Mobile’s innovative devices and great value with RadioShack’s knowledgeable sales representatives, we expect customers to have an excellent in-store experience.”

With 4,450 company-operated locations, RadioShack offers one of the largest selections of wireless phones. RadioShack’s knowledgeable sales associates are committed to helping customers choose the best technology solution to meet their needs and the company was named one of the top customer service retailers in the nation in the fourth annual National Retail Federation Foundation/American Express Customer Service Survey.

T-Mobile is dedicated to providing the best experience in wireless, and has achieved the “Highest Ranked Wireless Customer Service Performance” in J.D. Power and Associates 2009 Wireless Customer Care Performance StudySM – Volume 1,* which ranked T-Mobile higher than all of its competitors for overall customer care performance. T-Mobile continues to expand its retail footprint, bringing this award-winning customer experience and the company’s wide array of innovative products, such as the iconic T-Mobile Sidekick® and groundbreaking Android™-powered devices, to more people nationwide. T-Mobile currently has more than 1,900 company-owned retail locations and distribution agreements with a number of large national retailers.

For more information on RadioShack, please visit https://www.RadioShack.com. For more information on T-Mobile products and services, please visit https://www.T-Mobile.com

Tour Also Launches ‘T-Mobile Sidekick Live the Rock Life Sweepstakes’ Offering Music Fans a Chance to Win the Ultimate Rock Star Experience

BELLEVUE, Wash., July 16 /PRNewswire/ — T-Mobile USA, Inc. announced today the details of the exclusive partnership with punk band, blink-182, by supporting the group’s first concert tour in five years. The nearly sold-out T-Mobile(R) Sidekick(TM) Presents blink-182 Summer 2009 Tour will go coast-to-coast bringing an energetic rock show to the masses and unique meet and greet experiences for dedicated fans with a national sweepstakes opportunity, T-Mobile Sidekick Live the Rock Life with blink-182.

As the title sponsor for blink-182’s reunion concert tour, kicking off on July 23 in Las Vegas and culminating October 3 at The Borgata in Atlantic City, T-Mobile will give Sidekick fans the chance to text to win seat upgrades, attend meet and greets with the band, as well as enter the sweepstakes for a chance to win the grand prize – all without leaving their spot in the pit to check out the band.

“We love that T-Mobile recognizes that the fans are a huge part of the music for us,” said Mark Hoppus, bassist and singer for blink-182. “They are a great partner to help make the tour happen and we’re going to go out there every night and give our fans exactly what they came for, an amazing concert experience.”

Along the way through the tour, Hoppus, Travis Barker and Tom Delonge will keep fans on their toes with Twitter scavenger hunts, a virtual guessing game for fans to win tickets to shows, band merchandise and T-Mobile Sidekick LX devices. The scavenger hunt and trivia Q&A will lead fans on searches through concert venues, local landmarks and T-Mobile retail stores via clues given by the band members on their personal Twitter accounts using their T-Mobile Sidekicks.

In addition to the headlining blink-182 set, the tour will also feature a full line-up of supporting acts on select dates including Fall Out Boy, Weezer, Panic! At The Disco, The All-American Rejects, Taking Back Sunday, Chester French and Asher Roth.

For more information on blink-182’s concert tour or how to obtain tickets, please visit www.blink182.com/tour. For more information on the T-Mobile Sidekick family of devices, please visit www.sidekick.com. Follow us on Twitter at @ TMOBILE_USA, @markhoppus, @trvsbrkr, and @tomdelonge.

Sweepstakes – T-Mobile Sidekick Live the Rock Life with blink-182

For fans who have always wondered what is was like to be a rock star, the T-Mobile Sidekick Live the Rock Life with blink-182 national sweepstakes promotion will offer one lucky winner and their five friends the chance to experience it firsthand. The grand prize package features a VIP trip to Los Angeles for the entire group with first class airfare and luxury accommodations at a private estate and an exclusive meet and greet with the band. To truly live in luxury, the winner will also receive $20,000 spending cash, $1,820 shopping spree at Barker’s Los Angeles store (The Fast Life), a ride on the official blink-182 tour bus, and the exclusive opportunity to be onstage with blink-182 at the band’s Los Angeles concert.

“T-Mobile Sidekick users have a real affinity to music, and our partnership with blink-182 is giving them an exclusive music experience that only T-Mobile can provide,” said Mike Belcher, vice president of brand communications and experience marketing. “This sweepstakes is giving one lucky fan the opportunity to live out their rock star dreams – and best of all, they’ll be able to share their one-of-a-kind experience with five of their friends.”

Upon arriving in Los Angeles, the winner and their guests will have the chance to attend a sound check with blink-182 and take home their own complete set of autographed band gear including Barker’s drum kit, DeLonge’s guitar and Hoppus’ bass. The winner and their faves will be able to capture and share photos, videos and messages about all of the weekend’s events on their new 3G T-Mobile Sidekick LX devices.

From July 24 until September 27, fans can enter the sweepstakes by texting ROCKLIFE to 95495 or by visiting www.sidekick.com. No purchase is necessary to enter or win. For official rules, eligibility details, and additional information, please visit www.sidekick.com.

T-Mobile has hired a third party research firm to question current Sidekick users about what they feel a “Sidekick” really is. The questionnaire asks what defines a Sidekick, what features could or could not be included, and what features/capabilities would be the most satisfying on a device. The features/capabilities in question seem to be:

– D Pad – directional button/keys for navigation
– Easy to hold and type
– Audible sounds when navigating
– Unique, recognizable form factor
– Home key that jumps to the homescreen
– Controls on both the left and right sides
– Phone’s menu is in a “ring” format on the homescreen
– Visual notification of messages and alerts
– Easy to remember shortcut and jump keys
– Big, high definition screen
– QWERTY keyboard
– Unique, recognizable opening mechanism that reveals a keyboard
– Audible opening (aka Hinge sounds)
– Personalizable shells
– Distinctive “look”/silhouette when open
– Flashing/Colorful lights for messages or alerts
– A screen that swivels open to reveal keyboard
– “Best in class” gaming experience
– Fun to use
– An integrated messaging experience (IM, SMS, E-mail)
– Intuitive to use features and functions
– Access to social networking apps
– Ability to have multiple conversations at once
– A download catalog for applications, themes, music
– Desktop PC-like web browsing experience
– Touchscreen
– The ability to quickly navigate through various features and functions
– The ability to “open” the phone with one hand
– Outside dialing without opening the phone
– Wide variety of free and/or paid apps available for dowload
– Single, unlimited data plan
– Secondary display that shows a preview of messages
– Ample storage for messages
– Ability to use a WiFi Internet connection to make phone calls
– Reliable back up of all information on the phone

What do you guys think? Which of these features defines a Sidekick? Which features are important to you? Which ones could be dropped/added to the next Sidekick? If you want to check out all of the pages in the questionnaire, check out the gallery:

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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’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.