This evening T-Mobile announced their relaunch of the Sidekick brand with the Sidekick 4G, an Android powered device produced by Samsung.

This Sidekick will be HSPA+ 21 (Able to deliver theoretical speeds of up to 21mbps.) and will be the first to feature a Touch Screen. In addition this Sidekick will feature a 1GHz Cortex A8 CPU, and a VGA front facing camera for video calls through Qik. No mention of the rear cameras specifications however. It will also be running Android 2.2 and features a five row keyboard just as previous devices have.

It’s expected to ship later this spring in 2 colors. Matte Black and Pearl Magenta. No pricing information is available, or if T-Mobile will extend discounts to previous Sidekick Customers.

Full press release below.

Source TMoNews
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Here’s a copy of the letter going out to the current Sidekick users. Sidekick users will get 50% off select Samsung phone from T-Mobile as long as they sign a new 2 year contract. They also point out that the new Sidekick is coming in the Spring.

Danger Developers are receiving an email from Microsoft/Danger informing them that the sales of “one-time donload content” will be discontinued as of March 2nd. Yes, as in tomorrow. So if there was ever a theme, ringtone, or app you wanted to purchase from the Sidekick catalog, you better grab it today.

Free stuff and subscription based apps will remain in the catalog. After tomorrow it sounds like the only way to get ringtones or themes will be via the free sites: Sidekick-Themes and Skringers.

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.

TechFlash is reporting that Microsoft and T-Mobile are planning to announce a transition away from the Danger servers any day now.

It’s no secret that T-Mobile is looking to relaunch the Sidekick device on the Android platform, but what this relaunch means to current Sidekick users has as of yet been unknown. The Danger servers, now owned by Microsoft, cost resources and money to run. Whether or not T-Mobile and Microsoft are making enough money on Sidekick users to warrant continuing to run these servers is unknown. Regardless, once these servers are shutdown, it means the end of our good friend, Danger.

No official word yet, but when we hear it we’ll let you know.

source image via Mithun RS

Want to get official notices from T-Mobile about the 4G? There’s a sign-up page up on sidekick.com now.

The moment so many loyal Sidekick fans have been waiting for… meet the Sidekick 4G!

It’s not the sexiest phone I’ve seen, but the physical layout of the 5 row keyboard gives me great hope for this new device. It’s very similar to the layout of the Sidekick LX 2009 keyboard, however most of the alt keys have been moved around which I’m sure will annoy some long time users to death. The Sidekick keyboard has remained virtually identical since the Sidekick II, why mess with it? Also the side buttons appear to be rearranged too, with the Menu button on the upper right and the Jump Menu button on the top left now re-branded as “Home” since it will be running Android.

Other things we can glean from these photos: we’re getting a camera (no big surprise), the trackball still exists, there’s a new Sidekick logo icon on the top right of the screen, we’ve lost the Call/End buttons, there’s a headphone port on the bottom left, much like the SK LX 09, we’ve lost the directional pad (another staple since the beginning), etc.

But the big thing that I know is going to upset people: it slides, not swivels.

Pics via TmoNews

UPDATE: Another pic showing that the Sidekick 4G is running Android 2.2.1

TmoNews is reporting that the Sidekick 4G will be made by Samsung. It was reported by two separate sources, but just for safety’s sake consider it still a rumor until FCC filings or official announcements drop. Personally I was hoping for Sharp, but I’m glad it’s not HTC.

I really think the form factor of the Sidekick 4G will be what makes or breaks it. So many people stuck with the device over the years as the OS became more and more outdated only because of the awesome keyboard and screen. Here’s hoping that T-Mobile/Samsung can

The Sidekick 4G Will Be Manufactured By……………Samsung!

That’s right, the T-Mobile CEO, Philipp Humm, confirmed in a press presentation this morning that the Sidekick will continue!

“…and coming soon, will also be a Sidekick 4G. Everybody knows the Sidekick, and we’re going to relaunch the Sidekick and bring it as a 4G device, Android based, into the market”

As he said, the device will be Android based, and HSPA+ compatible. No word on the manufacturer, screen size, cpu, etc yet. Here’s hoping they figure out a way to combine the Sidekick’s historically awesome keyboard/form factor with the new hotness of the Android OS. The rumored launch date is sometime in Spring. We’ll let you know as we hear more.

via TmoNews

Andrew got his hands on a MobiFlip and walks us through a quick video tour.