Looks like Gizmodo is jumping into the speculation and rumor business even more than us! Looking way back to the roadmap that was leaked out, they’re speculating on limited editions being available in October. We haven’t heard anything about Limited Edition Sidekick 3s yet, and we would wager that TMobile/Danger would hold off on releasing these for awhile.
The Sidekick 3 has only been out officially for a month. Yes, the device that we’ve all grown to love is still an infant on the market. If we go by the timeline floating on the tubes and adjust for the real release date, that puts limited editions scheduled in Jan 2007, 6 months after to release. This would make sense from a marketing and business perspective. Drop the first device, enjoy the hype for 6 months, then when it’s starting to die down, drop the limited editions, pumping up the marketing hype again. We all know that the Sidekick works off of viral marketing, and that the best advertisement is not necessarily flashy commercials or shiny flyers, but someone showing it off to a friend.

There have been rumors of TMobile rolling out UMA sometime in the near future. Looks like some pictures of TMobile’s UMA beta test kits have leaked out recently. The kit appears to consist of a UMA enabled phone (Samsung T709) plus a wireless router (DLink or Linksys). So why the heck are we reporting this on here? That’s no Sidekick 3! Remember that old post about the Sidekick roadmap? Here’s the pic:

Notice the Sidekick 3 with UMA? Does this mean the roadmap was an lucky fake or does it give some validity to it? The release of the Sidekick 3 was pretty close (about 2 months) and we all have heard about the Sidekick 3 Razr. Are we just grapsing at false hope here? What we’re wondering is how they’re going to fit anything else in the device without absolutely killing the battery life.

Article on Engadget

What’s going to happen on August 11th? www.sidekick.com says to check back for more on August 11th. We haven’t heard anything about what this means. It may just be goodies on the websites, more flash fun or something. Maybe they’re releasing a Game Boy emulator? Or just an OTA? Some people are speculating video playback, although we doubt it. What do you think?

We heard that TMobile is planning on rolling out an Over The Air Update in order to address some of the battery issues. No details on when or what else it will address. We can only assume that it’s intended to fix the 400% battery display and hopefully some of the tendency for the Sidekick 3 to suck more power than it should. As we hear more, we’ll let you know

Anyone that’s traveled with a Sidekick II knows not to put it in the same pocket as a hotel key card. Otherwise you’ll find yourself at the front desk asking for a new one as it will wipe out the info on it. The Internet Patrol is reporting that the Sidekick 3’s magnet may be strong enough to wipe out a credit card! The magnet is really strong, but strong enough to kill a credit card? We faintly remember an episode of Mythbusters where they had a heck of a time wiping a credit card with a normal magnet. However we have heard of the Sidekick wiping out BART cards too. Who knows. Anyone willing to do some more testing?

On the health side of things, we have heard that the Sidekick 3’s magnet relieves pain, improves circulation, reduce swellings, minimize stiffnesss, and increases overall performance. Taken as a whole, these seem to be conflicting reasons as to whether or not you should carry it in your front pocket.

UPDATE: While there’s still no support for mp3 ringtones on the Sidekick 3, you CAN add mp3 ringtones to the new Sidekick LX 2009! You can download Sidekick friendly ringtones for the Sidekick LX 2009 over at Skringers.com

So everyone is clamoring for the ability to set MP3 ringtones. Let us start by saying, “Not gonna happen” (well at least not this way). Here’s the original info that was floating around the net (Don’t bother trying, it doesn’t work):

Hello everyone! My name is Melissa Trepan, and as well as working for Random House Canada, I am a software technician for Research In Motion (RIM), makers of the Blackberry family. Being in the handheld device “industry”, I’m very interested in my field of work, and after visiting New York City last week, I’m very interested by the T-Mobile Sidekick 3. I understand that many of you have complaints about MP3 files for the player. sonicBOOM, not being ‘transferable’ into the ring tone application on your Sidekick 3. Working with Blackberry’s latest 8700 series, I’ve been trained to have a feel for the whole MP3 file transfer, as it was implemented on our newest devices.
Well, enough of the long intro! Let’s get started!
What you’ll need to begin:
Your T-Mobile Sidekick 3 (fully charged, ready to go)
A working USB cable designed for the Sidekick 3.
An hour or more to get this done.
Unlike the Blackberry 7290/8700/07), after inspecting the OS COD. files, it’s got what we call at RIM, a “ventilation” file, which is blocking the transfer of mp3 files from your sonicBOOM/MiniSD, to the actual hardware of the Sidekick 3 – keep in mind, that all of your MP3s aren’t actually “ON” your Sidekick, they’re just temporarily there, and housed by your SD card.
The “ventilation” file is known as VENDOR.XML , and is (almost) encrypted into the device – this is something that Danger obviously does not understand, because the VENDOR.XML is on the Sidekick 2/Hiptop 2 as well. Throughout the rest of this tutorial, I will refer to that file as Vendor.
The Vendor file is completely pointless (other than blocking out certain options). This file HAS to be deleted in order to transfer files to your Sidekick 3. If you have a blackberry, you may know what I’m talking about. Often on blackberries, the system will crash to a “JVM” error, most commonly errors 102, 103, 507 and 544. To fix this on a blackberry, the Vendor file must be removed as well.
Lets get deleting! Now, you’re going to need a device that is specifically designed for Blackberry devices, Blackberry JDE Component Package v4.1.0 by Research In Motion. This is also known as Javaloader. This is not designed for the Sidekick, but it will work. This can be downloaded at https://www.blackberry.com/developers/downloads/jde/index.shtml , click the first option, Blackberry Java Development Environment v4.1 .
Once downloaded, you will be prompted to install the software to your computer.
Now, the satisfying part – lets delete Vendor! If you chose to run JDE upon finishing the download, close it now. Click the following on a Windows operated PC:
Start>All Programs>Research In Motion>Blackberry JDE Component Package v4.1.0>JDE Components Commands Prompt.
You’ve just opened the Command Prompt, kind of like a DOS Prompt that some of you may be familiar with. For those of you that are a little intimidated by it’s look and feel, don’t worry, this is simple. What we’re going to do now is tell the prompter that we want to delete all ventilation files (there’s only one, Vendor). We’re going to do this by simply typing in the following:
Javaloader -usb wipe
This is going to wipe the ventilation file on your device clean, i.e., no more Vendor.
Press enter.
You’ll notice the Sidekick 3 and computer communicating. Don’t worry, you’ve done everything right so far.
Now, we’re going to need to download the Blackberry Desktop Manager, which is also compatible with most handheld devices. We can get this through the T-Mobile SE site, https://software.se.t-mobile.com/ . Scroll down until you see “8700g”, and download the Desktop Manager version 4.1.1.12. You will be redirected to www.T-Mobileapps.com where you will be prompted to download.
Once downloaded, close and restart. Now, click Options>Connection settings>select USB>Connect.
Once connected, minimize.
You’re almost done! Now you’re going to transfer your MP3 files to your Sidekick 3. We downloaded 3 files from a file share program called BearShare (this is not required, it’s used to download music etc). Save the selected MP3 files to My Documents. Make sure that they are MP3 files.
Now, back to Blackberry Desktop Manager. Click on Application loader. You should get a message saying that no additional software was found. This means that you need to scan manually for your files. Go to Add. From My Documents, select the MP3 files you wish to transfer. Click next, and voila! When we tested this, we tried to transfer 40 MP3 files to the Sidekick, and only 32 transferred due to space restrictions. You may want to delete some of your default Sidekick 3 ringers to make space, if you need it.
Disconnect your Sidekick 3 from the USB cable.
The selected files should appear in your Ring tone library in a name format like the files we transferred, which appeared as “SKI_Jealousy_Paris_Hilton”, which is “Jealousy” by Paris Hilton. After setting this as your phone’s ringer, you’re DONE!
This process takes a while, but once completed once, it should take you only a few seconds to transfer additional files.
Now there’s something you don’t learn at Danger High! Good luck! Happy transferring!

And here’s the word from appletech as posted on the hiptop.com forums:

Just a little note to yall that the recently posted MP3/Ringtone “hack” thing is nothing more than an elaborate prank by a troller to get your hopes up and waste time.

There’s absolutely no way the trick will load an mp3 on the device. The procedure won’t even work on a blackberry. The vendor.XML file is a PC-side file not a device side. There’s nothing we can find at all with respect to the term “ventilation” and a blackberry, and that javaloader cmd will indeed wipe a blackberry device but the tool won’t talk to an Sidekick at all.

The good news you won’t brick your device trying to do so. We’ll keep banging away at the app to make sure though because if you do manage to screw up your device with this “hack”, Tmobile won’t replace your device and you’ll be out a few hundred dollars.

But its a good way to make someone kill 3 hours trying

Does this randomhouse person really work for RIM? I doubt it. Looks more like a recently banned user, kickside2, who attempted to start a bashappletech website. His/her blogger profile ID even was “RIM!”, the company randomhouse claims to work for. Coincidence? I think not.

And why would a RIM software tech work for a book publishing company (Random house Publishing) anyway?

So again folks, don’t waste your time. Nothing good, or bad, will come from this little prank…only a few hours of wasted time.

So you’re having bad battery life on your brand new Sidekick 3. Before you open your mouth and start complaining, give this a try:

We tried this and noticed a significant increase in battery life right away. We got to 12+ hours with heavy internet usage all day long. One thing we did notice but aren’t sure of the validity: When indoors and with a bad signal, it seems the battery drains more quickly as it searches for a tower.

On a similar note, yes you will see the battery having weird percentages sometimes after charging. Ours likes to show more than 400%. Either reboot the device (1+@+0 at the same time) or plug/unplug a charger and if should go back to normal.

Finally, hang tight, since the battery is now removable, there are companies out there working on extended life batteries that will keep you going for much longer. Be prepared to drop a few $$s for them though.

We received the following from one of our most reliable sources:

Effective Wednesday, June 28, T-Mobile is pleased to announce the launch of a voice barred version of the $29.99 Sidekick Unlimited Plus rate plan. This version of the Sidekick Unlimited Plus plan is being introduced to cater to those who do not require a voice plan on their device. This plan acts the same as the stand-alone Sidekick rate plan, but without the ability to place voice calls.

You guys asked, and appletech was kind enough to answer. Here are some of the most common and most interesting questions we received (cleaned up and combined as necessary):

1. What features does the Sidekick 3 support that TMobile has chosen to leave out? MMS? Save as Ringtone in email? Etc.

The “Save as Ringtone” email feature and MMS application are not present as before. The new “Record a Ringtone” feature has also been removed.

2. Can MP3s be used as ringtones?

No. All ringtones will come from the catalog

3. Can the Sidekick 3 be used as a modem for a laptop?

No.

4. There is no support for video capture/playback/streaming videos/etc, but are there any plans to implement this in a future
OTAu (Over-The-Air Update)?

If there are any, I’m not at liberty to share that information. Keep in mind, any future features would be up to your carrier.

5. Can MP3s downloaded from iTunes be used on the Sidekick 3?

No. Any MP3s bought online that have DRM Encryption will *not* play on the Sidekick 3.

6. Can you listen to MP3s over a Bluetooth headset?

No. MP3s will play only over the device speaker or through a wired stereo headset (included I believe)

7. What are the plans for release in other markets? Suncom? UK? Would a Sidekick 3 purchased from the US work in these markets?

I’m not allowed to discuss plans for future carriers. A Sidekick 3 bought from TMobile USA would need to be unlocked for use on another carrier, but as before you would get only Phone/SMS service. Data is tied to the original carrier.

8. How much faster is the web browser compared to the Sidekick 2?

It’s definently faster. Depending on your EDGE coverage and network traffic in your area, browsing I found at times to be at least 50% faster than the SK2.

9. What downloadable apps will be available at launch time?

Don’t know.

10. What was motivation in the switch to a different kind of keyboard?

I probably guess to avoid all the problems the SK2 had with keyboards peeling, keys breaking, letters rubbing off etc… The new keyboard virtually eliminates all those problems with a more solid piece of hardware.

11. Are Danger’s servers prepared for the large increase in usage?

Yup. I don’t see any problems coming up with the introduction of EDGE for browsing. There’s plenty server power there already for the job and more.

12. What will happen with regard to Mac syncing? Will the current Missing Sync still work? Will it still be necessary?

Syncing will happen just as before. The Sync apps themselves (PC & Mac) are what determines what data is synced from your computer. They will continue to sync to the DI via the internet.

13. Does the Bluetooth support for the Sidekick 3 include being able to sync data (contacts, calendar, mail, mp3’s) with a Bluetooth-enabled computer (PC and/or Mac)? Or is it strictly limited to support for Bluetooth headset devices?

Bluetooth is limited to the usage of a Bluetooth headset and the sharing of Vcards only.

14. What is the story with the screen? Is it the same screen as the Sidekick 2? Has the resolution/color depth changed at all?

The sk3 screen is the exact same screen as the sk2.

15. Is the audio port a shared mp3/stereo and headset port? Can I use regular headphones with it? Does it require a dongle? If I’m using regular headphones, does the phone think there’s a headset plugged in and mess up routing the audio?

The headset/headphone jack is 2.5mm headset jack. Your device will come with a stereo headset for phone use and for listening to mp3s. They don’t sound all that bad either. Give them a shot before running out a buying something else. If you wanna use standard headphone, you’ll need a 2.5mm to 3.5mm adaptor.

16. Will it be possible to create custom wallpapers, ringtones, etc?

Doesn’t appear to be. All content looks be to catalog purchases only.

17. What is the limit of the size of the miniSD card?

At this time, we say 2GB because that is the current largest MiniSD available. There’s nothing on the device imposing a limit, so larger cards should work. However, until one exists that can be physically tested there is no 100% guarantee. I’d say 95% the only limit the available sizes.

18. Is there going to be a trade-in program like the Sidekick 2 had?

Doesn’t look like it. Current info shows it’s just gonna be a straight upgrade.

19. Have there been any improvements to the browser itself?

Other than the EDGE browsing speeds, the browser is roughly the same.

20. Will the applications, games, ringtones, etc. purchased on the Sidekick 2 get moved over to the Sidekick 3?

All games and applications will need to be repurchased for the SK3. Ringtones I think will transfer over as those are not device/OS specific like the apps.

21. What color is the backlight on the keyboard?

It’s an orange color. Here are some pictures of it:

22. Can the chargers from the Sidekick 2 be used with the Sidekick 3?

Yes. The charges are interchangeable between the two.

23. What can be done with the USB port?

The USB will allow you to mount the SK3 on your computer to transfer MP3s the MiniSD card. You can also transfer pics you took and saved to the card to your PC. The SD card mounts as a standard external drive (like a USB Thumbdrive, or an iPod), so you can really store anything you can think of on the card for whatever reason. Of course, they won’t be able to be read by the SK3, only stored.

24. Will you be able to view buddy info in AIM? Can you change the “via hiptop” info?

No and No still.

25. Will there be limited edition Sidekicks, like the Mr Cartoon orJuicy SK2s? Different color Sidekicks?

Unknown. If there are, Danger/Tmobile does not pre-announce launch dates or share details about upcoming products

26. Does playing MP3s have an effect on the speed of other applications?

Nope. You can multi-task as usual. I have notice any kind of lag due to playing MP3s in the background.

27. How long is the battery life on average?

It all depends on your usage of course, but I’m averaging about 1 1/2 days on a charge with constant IM/YIM/MSN and Terminal sessions running. I usually charge nightly anyway.

28. Does the Sidekick 3 have full IMAP support, including folders?

It appears that IMAP support is still limited as before. This is more of a server side issue than device, as the server is the one interacting with the mail account and just pushing data to your device.

29. Do you like your job?

Of course!

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A HUGE thanks to appletech for taking the time out of doing battle with the overwhelmed hiptop.com forums to answer these questions for us. 🙂 You rock!

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