Now we all know that Danger has always said they’re not a hardware vendor and that they’re more interested in selling their OS and service. However, the past 4 years there has only been ‘one’ device with multiple revisions, the hiptop/sidekick. Nothing too different, just the evolution of this one device. With a large amount of hiring going on, it looks like Danger is finally gearing up to take the Danger OS and backend onto new devices. With some close scrutinization of Danger’s website there are quite a few clues popping up that make us think something big is on the horizon. Take a look at some of the job postings on there. A few snippets from the current job openings that strike us as interesting:

Senior Software Engineer
* Integrate 2.5 and 3G wireless radio protocol stacks to Danger’s OS platform, especially L2 and L3.
* Write device drivers for new peripherals.

Software Engineer
* Configuration Engineering work for assisting in the launch of new wireless operators and/or upgrading existing partners, consisting of the following:
* HiptopSDE (Service Deliver Engine) customization.
* Web interface customization.

OS Engineer
As a member of the Firmware group, duties would involve bringing up Danger OS on new hardware. Tasks may include writing drivers for devices such as lcd, keyboard, timers, trackballs, etc. Other tasks may include working with communications stacks such as TCP/IP, telephony, Bluetooth, and USB. The position would involve working with other groups such as hardware, libraries, and applications.

That’s great and all, but what sort of devices you say? Check this out:

Motorola Ventures is now listed on Danger’s Investors page. Oh, and remember that roadmap from awhile back?

Yeah, that one. Motorola, Sidekick Razr… See where I’m going with this? So to sum it up:
– The Motorola link on the investors page
– Job postings mentioned above that specify new hardware
– Job postings that mention video
– The roadmap being pretty darn accurate so far about devices

Do we have a Motorola device powered by Danger on its way?

By now, we bet everyone’s wondering what the image at the beginning of this post is of. Well, here’s a little kicker for all this. Dusting off the archives (before hiptop3.com was even around) we’ve found some old patents that Danger filed for back in 2004. Could it be that these design ideas are still bouncing around the halls of Danger? Looks like it would fit in well with the RAZR line. Check these out:

Oh, how we love rumors with nothing to back it up save for a post on one of the countless forums out there. But hey, that’s how so many things start, right? The latest rumor on the forums out there is that the Sidekick 3 is slated to arrive in the UK in December, on TMobile as usual. So, make sure you add a Sidekick 3 to your Wish List if you’re one of our friends across the ocean.

via Slashgear

Is video on the Sidekick finally coming?! A recent surf of Danger’s job page has given us an insight as to what the next generation Sidekick might have instore. With the combination of TMo’s EDGE and the eventual roll out of UTMS, it seems that broadband video could become a reality on everyone’s favorite device! As always, this is just speculation at this point, but it sounds like the Sidekick 3/4 might handle MPEG-4, H.263, H.264/AVC, WMV 7/8, VC-1/WMV9 codecs.

For those interested (and hopefully someone qualified) here is the job description:

Senior Video Software Engineer
Department: Library
Location: Palo Alto, California

As a Senior Video Software Engineer, you will be responsible for moving Danger’s hiptop platform into the video age. We already have the best audio system in the mobile industry; now leverage your deep knowledge of video to take our multimedia architecture to the next level.

Responsibilities

* Help craft the video strategy for Danger’s hiptop platform, including evaluating various 3rd-party video solutions, and recommending hardware changes for future devices.
* Integrate 3rd-party video software into the existing platform and audio engine. Optimize, debug, and maintain this code. Most of this work will be done in straight C, but some inline ARM assembly and DSP coding will be required.
* Expose video features through an extensible and customizable Java library API. Tutor application-level Java engineers, both internal and external, on this API, and help them make best use of it in their code.
* Search for innovative ways to incorporate video into the hiptop experience, including leveraging the unique Danger service architecture.
* Create test suites and work with QA to deliver the highest quality mobile video applications in the industry.

Qualifications
* BSCS/BSCE/BSEE degree and 8 + years continuous experience developing in C/C++, preferably in a technical lead role for some of this time
* 2 years experience developing in Java, preferably with some object-oriented library and API development
* 2 years experience focused on video record and playback, including codec and DSP experience
* Familiarity with popular video codec formats, such as: MPEG-4, H.263, H.264/AVC, WMV 7/8, VC-1/WMV9, etc.
* Familiarity with popular video file formats, such as MP4, AVI, etc.
* Experience integrating and debugging 3rd-party source and object code
* A solid understanding of multithreaded programming concepts
* Experience with ARM9 and ARM11 assembly language programming in an embedded environment, and TI OMAP DSP programming, is highly desirable

The Hiptop is available in the US, Canada, Germany, UK, Austria, Cayman Islands, Singapore, the Netherlands, and now Australia. Based on a press release on their site, it looks like Danger is ready to conquer the down under continent. They’ve teamed up with Telstra (Australia’s leading telecommunications and information services company) this time. But you Aussies will have to wait for awhile before you can enjoy the goodness of the Hiptop 3. For some reason Danger is launching with the Hiptop 2 down under. Although one speculates that an unlocked Sidekick 3 might just work. They’re touting unlimited data plans for $30 with a 2-year contract over on Telstra’s site but no indication on what it would cost with a voice plan.

Danger, Inc. today announced the availability of its mobile Internet service in Australia with the launch of the Telstra hiptop2. Danger’s entry into this market is another milestone for the company, building on the widespread popularity of Danger-powered devices, like the hiptop, that are sold in North America and Europe. The Telstra hiptop2 will be offered with unlimited data pricing for Australian consumers. Telstra is the market leader in Australia with over 8 million mobile subscribers, making the company a significant new partner for Danger.

“Entering the Australian market is a promising development for Danger,” said Henry R. Nothhaft, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Danger, Inc. “By entering new geographies, we are positioning the company for further growth.”

Official press release

The Sidekick 3 online manual has been updated to reflect the 3.1 Over-The-Air update of the Sidekick OS. While the Suncom Hiptop 3 is supposedly running on 3.1 already, all the TMobile Sidekick customers are currently stuck with OS 3.0 with the battery issues. This update will fix the common battery issues but hopefully not lock off the Sidekick themes. We’re keeping our fingers crossed!

From the manual:

Release 3.1 Over-the-Air Update for Sidekick 3 Users

This update arrives in two parts: first the operating system, then the firmware. Together, the update delivers overall performance enhancements to your Sidekick 3, including a correction to the battery charge readings.

Andy writes to let us know that there is a picture of the LRG limited edition Sidekick 3 in the November edition of XXL Magazine (page 138 if you want to check). For those wondering, LRG stands for Lifted Research Group. There’s not much info in the magazine, but it looks like this just might be one of those limited edition Sidekicks. So if you’ve been waiting for the name-branded Sidekick in green, maybe you won’t have to wait much longer.

An anonymous reader tipped us off to these new exhibits posted on the FCC site. It’s the normal FCC submissions of confidentiality request and test results submitted by Sharp (the manufacturers of the Sidekick) but definitely a Danger powered device. They’re fairly recent, posted on 09/05/2006 with testing taking place in July-August.
A quick breeze through them and it looks like this may be some sort of updated Sidekick 3. The model number is given as PV200E (the original Sidekick 3 is listed as PV200). In addition, the sticker above matches the current sticker in shape. The only difference we’ve found so far is the GSM frequencies. Instead of 850/1800/1900, this one is 900/1800/1900. Our first guess was this is the (E)uropean version of the Sidekick 3. But that begs the question, “Why file with the FCC?” Perhaps this is an updated model with the intent to release in the US as well as globally, a.k.a. the Hiptop 3. Maybe this is one of those Limited Edition Sidekick 3s? I guess we’ll find out when the confidentiality request expires on October 12th. Drop your guesses in the comments

Gearlog is reporting from CTIA with a new T-Mobile mystery. The logo above was spotted on all the phones on display at CTIA, both low-end and high-end. Anyone have any ideas on what it could be? What does it mean?

Everyone knows that custom paint jobs on Sidekicks have been around since the days of the black and white Sidekick. We’ve seen all colors of the rainbow and then some. And we’ve also seen people try to pass these off as “special edition” Sidekicks from time to time. Usually it’s just to look cool or to joke around with people, but it looks like someone is trying to scam some unenlightened people on eBay with this auction.

The auction immediately throws up some warning flags. We’re not sure when Samsung started making Sidekicks or how a “Never Opened” phone has a picture of it. And why would T-Mobile be giving away an unlocked device? We noticed the tag on the photo pictured in the auction wasn’t tied to the seller, and tracked down the original auction the photo came from. In the original auction, it clearly states that this was a custom paint job. Our sources say there were no black devices that came from Danger or T-Mobile.

So save your money, go get a can of spray paint and make your own black Sidekick 3.

We’ve done a lot of thinking the past few weeks in regards to custom themes/backgrounds on the Sidekick 3. Everyone and their brother knows about the undocumented but easily accessible custom themes feature on the Sidekick 3 now. We’ve even gone as far as to put up a site with with 4000+ Sidekick 3 themes submitted!

At the same time that we’re enjoying this customization, there’s a lot of talk about how the next OTA may disable this feature in order for TMobile to sell Sidekick users premade wallpapers. In all honesty, we’re hoping they’ll realize that for every custom made theme, that’s one more Sidekick 3 that will be pulled out of a pocket to show off to a friend. One more custom hinge sound that noone has ever heard on a phone that will draw the attention of strangers when you flip the screen.

Is it wrong to think that custom themes are a good thing, both for users of the Sidekick 3 as well as TMobile? With the new themes, we all get a chance to make the phone “ours” whether it means loading a background of Jay-Z, a pair of Nikes, Mariah Carey, Tron, or our geeky favorite, a light saber sound for the screen. In our opinion, this makes us even more devoted and attached to the glossy little gadget.