Master P and his son, Romeo, are reportedly on board with T-Mobile to help promote the new Sidekick LX. The angle of the campaign? To show that the Sidekick continues to be one of the most popular devices in the “urban communities”. Not only are they praising the device, they’ve also created a song about the Sidekick (entitled “Sidekick” of course) for inclusion in their next album, “Hip-Hop History”. The album is due out Sept 4th. No word on an official release on the Sidekick LX, but it would make sense from a marketing standpoint to promote both the album and the device around the same time. Our guess? Late September, early October.

via MemphisRap

Yawn… oh what? More pictures of the device that was leaked way before its time? Hasn’t BGR done the slide to death in pictures? By the way, where’s that video review they promised? Oh well, here’s a few more pictures for you guys to drool over. A couple things observed from the pictures, OS 4.0 is confirmed to be on the device, and this is a production build of the OS. Basically that means the operating system is ready for release. The device is obviously polished and ready to go. Now we’re just waiting on T-Mobile. Our predictions? Unless something catastrophic happens, this device will be released before Christmas. We’re guessing probably September/October. Oh, and it’s nice to see those stupid T-Mobile people are gone from the Phone splash screen!

via Gizmodo (thanks nic)

We got a tip from a reader about the Sidekick 4. It’s named the Sidekick Shuriken and measures 130 x 61 x 17.9mm (a smidge longer than the Sidekick 3, but thinner), with a 3 inch widescreen LCD (bigger than previous devices), a 1.3mp camera, and uses MicroSD. Unlike the Sidekick Slide, it will be produced by Sharp, like the older devices. We’re guessing the “Shuriken” is an internal name for the Hiptop device, and that this is probably what will end up being the Sidekick LX.

Rumor has it that it will be available first in the US, and then in Australia. Based on the screen cap of a leaked excel spreadsheet, it looks like it’s also geared towards a release in Germany and possibly the UK, which is expected. No word on pricing yet though. We’ll let you know as soon as we find out more. What do you guys think? Sticking with a Sidekick 3? Going for a smaller Sidekick Slide? Or drooling over a large screen Sidekick 4?

We’ve been poking around on the FCC site to see if anything has been submitted for the Sidekick Slide / Zante / Q700. So far nothing conclusive, but here are some suspects and why we think they’re suspect. We’d love to hear other’s opinions.

FCCID: IHDT56HU1

Documents filed on 06/15/2007, 45 day confidentiality puts full release on July 30th unless extension is filed.

Supports GSM 850, 1900, EDGE, and Bluetooth

“The transmitter is contained in a single chip solution, which integrates the Bluetooth baseband, RF transceiver, ARM7 TDMI, memory (ROM and RAM), and power management on one chip using 90nm process manufacturing and Digital RF Processor technology.”

Bluetooth Specification v2.0 adaptive frequency hopping (AFH) and extended Synchronous Connection Oriented (eSCO) is used to deliver a high-quality Bluetooth voice and enhanced data throughput.

Has Class 12 EDGE

Internal antenna: 36.6mm x 8.0mm

User Manual is 1.7megs

FCC Docs

FCCID: IHDT56HZ1

Documents filed on 05/15/2007, 45 day confidentiality puts full info release on June 29th unless extension is filed.

Supports GSM 850, 1900, EDGE, and Bluetooth

Can be connected to computer via USB

Uses batteries: SNN5810A, SNN5808A, SNN5805A. None of these battery models are found by google, new hardware design dictates a new battery?

It mentions some information about CDMA testing as well?

Internal antenna: 40mm x 6mm

User manual is 3.7megs

FCC Docs

But this could all be barking up the wrong tree as the information on the new Sidekick Slide may not even be in the hands of the FCC at this time. The above phones may just be some new thin device from Motorola with lots of Zs or Vs in the name.

Looking back at the Sidekick 3, all the FCC docs were released around April 22nd, with the device hitting stores (for upgrading customers) on June 28th, about 9 weeks. These docs put the guesstimated release date around Aug 30th or Sept 30th. The last leaked docs were talking about August 22nd. Just some food for thought.

We took a closer look at the supposed document and have some more info. It was taken with a Sidekick 3 on 06/19/2007. It appears to be that the Danger PV-400, aka the Sidekick LX/LE is requested for release in Q3 of 2007, but is slated for release sometime between Q4 of 2007 and Q2 of 2008. The Sidekick Slide (SLD?) aka the Motorola Q700 has a “REALESE” date of Q3 2007. Is T-Mobile just bad at spelling or not know where the caps lock key is? And were they really wanting to release two Danger devices in Q3 2007?

Here’s the text from the paper:

6/12/2007 T-Mobile Co.
Danger PV -400 REV
SDK L(X)
SDK L(E1)

DOC. 985334563 PV REV.

FINALIZATION: Q4 2007 – Q2 2008
RELEASE: Q3 REQ. UNDECIDED
PROD. DELAY 699888
DATA. NO. 834

—————————-

CONTRACT. GEN MOTOROLA Q700 GSM
SK SLD** FCC APR: PROCCESSING

BATT LI-ON K38ARBRC

PRODUCT FINALIZATION: AUG 22, 2007
REALESE: LATE Q3 2007
DANGER
NO DATA. JAP. 453

56RT56456HTEGER45

Ryan writes to let us know he found this leaked info on the new Sidekick LX and LE. We’re out at diner, posting from our Zante so we’ll have to look into this further to see if it’s legit or not. Wanted to at least get it to you guys to check out first.

UPDATE: We got copies of the pics in case they were pulled:

Not sure if this is just someone making really bad fakes or if someone is not capable of taking a decent photo. This piece of paper has a weird mix of Sharp, Motorola, Sidekick Slide (SLD and Q700 mentions), Sidekick L(X) and Sidekick L(E) mentions.

More info in on the Sidekick Slide has leaked out.

Sources confirm that it is the Zante, and here are the specs:

•It’s called the Motorola Q700, or Zante
•September 9-11, 2007 Launch [In question, as are all unofficial release dates]
•Danger 4.0 OS
•Assisted slide
•Round keyboard keys
•Transmissive 2.4-inch, 320 × 240 screen
•118mm x 62mm x 17.5mm
•MMS support
•MicroSD
•USB charging
•Voice dialing
•Same 100/30 SMS message limit as previous SKs
•Same 1.3MP camera

Some are speculating that this is an “interim device” to hold people over until the Sidekick 4. This is not just some thrown together device that’s basically the same as the old device, like the Sidekick ID was. This is a new hardware design, aimed at the market of people who complain that the Sidekick is too big and bulky. The new operating system probably won’t be ground breaking (we don’t expect to see video on it), but it will have some nice improvements over version 3.4.

via Gizmodo

Defamer Australia is having a Hiptop 3 contest giveaway. Not only will one lucky Australian win a Hiptop 3, but Defamer will also send them and a friend to the release party down there on May 22nd. In order to enter the contest, Defamer is asking you to:

Entertain us by adopting the persona of either Paris Hilton or Lindsay Lohan – both girls being somewhat “in the poo” at the moment – and tell us in twenty-five words or less what you think would be contained in a message sent from one to the other.

This ought to make for some interesting entries! If you’re in Australia, head over and enter. Sorry yanks, this one isn’t for you.

Thanks for the heads-up Chris!

“Bogus Jimmy” hooked us up on the info for the Hiptop3 on Telstra. He says:

Just letting you know about the hiptop3 in Australia. It is only available through Telstra, on a 24 month contracted plan with unlimited text messages, photo messages, email, web browsing and MSN and Yahoo! messenger (no AIM). The plan includes free 3 minute calls to one other number on the Telstra network and other calls are charged at 30c/30secs. The cost of the hiptop3 is $679 which can be paid upfront or divided over the 24 month plan ($28.29/month).

It has been selling very well in its first week, with a lot of hiptop2 owners upgrading (most by simply adding the $28.29/month onto their existing service).

The website is https://www.telstra.com.au/hiptop/

The Sidekick iD is now available in T-Mobile stores and online at T-Mobile.com. Looks like the retail price on it is $299! Ouch! But if you’re willing to sign up for a two year contract, you’ll get it for $99. One of the big selling points of the T-Mobile Sidekick iD is the fact that it’s customizable. Here’s what they say:

Offered with a number of colorful accessories, the T-Mobile Sidekick iD will be the most personalized T-Mobile Sidekick to date. The customizable exterior provides quick modification so users can mix and match based on mood, personal style, or that evening’s outfit. Along with additional options for ‘blinging’ devices or wrapping them with unique graphic designs, T-Mobile Sidekick iD users will take the look and feel of their devices in all new directions.

All of these new options are in addition to the standard customization choices that already exist on the T-Mobile Sidekick 3. This includes support for one-click downloads from Danger’s on-device premium services catalog to add ringtones, games and even productivity applications1. Users can also create custom audio and visual alerts, and use photos from the photo album as the default key guard screen.

Also of note is this is the first time that Danger has had multiple devices released and supported at the same time. In the past it was one device at a time and you really had only one device to choose from when it came time to buy. Does this mean we’ll see a wider array of different devices from Danger in the future, giving us more choice? We hope so.