The Danger servers shutdown today. It’s hard to put into words the impact that Danger and the Hiptop had on the entire wireless industry, as well as me personally. I know that it also played a personal role in a large number of people’s lives.

For a trip down memory lane you can check out the Sidekick timeline and Geekwire has a recap of the history of the Sidekick.

Some other blasts from the past for Sidekick die-hards:
– The old blue camera that plugged into the headphone port that only did 120×90 pixels?
– The excitement of the silver camera that let you take 320×240 pictures!
– The Hiptop Halloween Hunts
– Danger’s Official Timeline (circa 2007)
– Remember 10 Pin Bowling? Blockade? Cognet? HipPaint? the hacked Google Maps application?
– How about all the code names? Shuriken, Gekko, Zante, m1, m2, Aspen, Blade
– The rise and fall (thanks to Popular Science) of the Developer keys.
– hiptopinfo.com, hiptop.com, hiptop.bedope.com, skdr.net, skholla.com, The Danger Zone, hiptop411.com, hipalbum.com, and more…
– Discovering the hidden feature of custom themes. Thanks Jurai!
– T-Mobile’s Sidekick/Grammy tour and all the release parties
– The countless FCC leaks
– The Snoop Dogg commercial where he was asking for help with his laundry
– Who remembers Johnny Chase?

And last but not least.. where’s my cat remote?

If you’ve got a story or a memory to share about the Sidekick, please leave it in the comments. We’d love to hear how it touched other people too.

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.

If you’ve ever tried to call T-Mobile and get your Sidekick unlocked to use on another carrier, you know they tell you that the Sidekick can’t be unlocked. Well that’s just plain false. You CAN unlock your Sidekick and call and text on other carriers. In fact I just unlocked my Sidekick LX 2009 the other day so that I could use it on whatever carrier I wanted.

UnlockYourSidekick.com is a brand new site where you can get your device unlocked. Rather than sending it off, or waiting for days to get an unlock code, all you have to do is download their software, connect your Sidekick to your computer, and unlock your device on your own.

The guys at UnlockyourSidekick hooked me up with a free unlock because I wanted to see if they were for real. They’re legit and the software (Windows only) is super easy to use. It’ll walk you through step by step. The hardest part for me was getting the battery out of my device. If for some reason you’re not satisfied, there’s a 30 day money back guarantee.

Most of the recent Sidekick models are supported:
– Sidekick 3 (including DWade and Dianne Von Furstenburg Limited Editions)
– Sidekick 2008
– Sidekick LX (including Tony Hawk Limited Edition)
– Sidekick LX 2009
Others are “Coming soon”

You can unlock your Sidekick at UnlockYourSidekick.com.

Wow, Sidekick prices keep dropping. T-Mobile is now offering the following prices on new Sidekicks:
– Sidekick 2008: $49.99
– Sidekick LX 2009: $99.99 (both Orchid and Carbon)

If you don’t want to sign a contract with T-Mobile, then check out Sidekick Shopper, where you can land a Sidekick LX 2009 for around $200, or a Sidekick 2008 for easily under $100

Don’t forget your InvisibleShield from ZAGG! 15% coupon code off for the Sidekick community

Good news! As we posted on our Twitter account (@hiptop3), the Download Catalog came back online this weekend. There was much rejoicing.

Also, we heard from T-Mobile directly and they were very happy I’m sure to be announcing that Sidekicks were no longer “Temporarily Out Of Stock” and were up for sale on T-Mobile.com again! You can snag a Sidekick LX 2009 for $149.99 or a Sidekick 2008 for $49.99. And if that’s not cheap enough, you can even get an open box Sidekick 2008 for $34.99. (All with 2 year contracts of course)

Life as a Sidekick user is starting to return to normal as T-Mobile/Microsoft/Danger slowly announce each piece of data that is restorable as they make progress. We’ve gotten back Address Books, Calendars, To Do Lists, Notes, and most recently Photos. I know a lot of people are still waiting on Bookmarks and I imagine that will be next in line. However one of the hallmarks of the Sidekick is still missing and we haven’t heard any word on when it will return.

I’m of course talking about the Download Catalog, aka the first App Store. The Catalog has been down for over a month and this sucks both for Sidekick users as well as Sidekick Developers. I’m sure T-Mobile is feeling the hurt too as a large source of their income from Sidekick users comes from selling applications, ringtones and themes.

While there are no other ways to get applications (save having a developer key), it is possible to get ringtones and themes while the catalog is down from unofficial sites. Themes for most Sidekicks can be found at Sidekick Themes and if you have a Sidekick LX 2009 you can get free ringtones at Skringers.com.

UPDATE (2009-11-11): We’re hearing through the grapevine that the Download Catalog may be up by Saturday if things go well! Keep your fingers crossed.

Microsoft/Danger has started rolling out an OTA (Over-The-Air) update to all Sidekick users. This update will not make any changes to your device that you’ll be able to see. It’s intended to fix some behind the scenes stuff so that “all Catalog application data will now be more securely backed up in the Microsoft / Danger systems.” This is NOT the Sidekick LX 2009 OTA I posted about earlier, which I assume is on indefinite hold until everything gets sorted out. It’s assumed that this OTA is rolling out to all Sidekick devices. Let us know in the comments if you received the OTA, which device you’ve got, and when you got the update.

T-Mobile posted an update over on their forums and we’ve archived a copy over on skfail.com since the forum updates aren’t permanent.

Don’t have a Sidekick LX 2009 yet and you’re stuck with an older device? Well if you’re a Twitter or Facebook addict, you’re in luck! T-Mobile has released the Twitter and Facebooks apps in the Download Catalog for the Sidekick 2008, the original LX, and the Sidekick Slide. The Facebook app is totally free, but the Twitter app will set you back $1.99 every month. Both of these apps will remain free for the Sidekick LX 2009 users though.

Are you on Twitter? Follow us! @hiptop3

If you’ve been to your local T-Mobile store recently then you probably already know that Tokidoki shells for the Sidekick LX 2009 and Sidekick 2008 are out. There are 4 different shells for the LX 2009 and 3 different ones for the Sidekick 2008. You can pick them up for $14.99-19.99 from T-Mobile stores along with a bunch of other Tokidoki accessories or you can score them online as well via sidekick.com. If you’re cheap, you might have luck finding Sidekick LX shells on SidekickShopper too. You can also pick up some themes in the Download Catalog that match your new Tokidoki shells!

If you’re wondering what the heck Tokidoki is, check them out at www.tokidoki.it.

The age-old debate on whether cell-phones cause brain cancer continues. This time at least it’s good news for Sidekick 2008 users. A study ranked the cell phones with the lowest radiation on the market and the Sidekick is in the top ten! The study was done by the non-profit organization Environmental Working Group and analyzed emissions from 1,268 cellphones. Here’s the report on the Sidekick and you can check out all the available phones on the market too.