youngplatinummusic recorded a video with a trick that will help you get the OTA if you’re patient and willing to try something over and over. We recommend doing this late at night when the network isn’t being used as much. You’ll have a better chance of getting your OTA quick and easy if it works. Let us know your results in the comments.

Step 1. Restart your device
Step 2. Do not sign into any apps or send any data……press menu+ o for good luck lol
Step 3. Watch your G7 for 3 minutes if the white swoosh isnt pulsating fast through the 7 then u need to restart (you can even go to network settings press menu + m if ur bytes recieved start counting fast ur good)
Step 4. Restart your sidekick as many times until your g7 continues to pulsate with white streak FAST & NONSTOP…10 minutes later it should still be moving even when ur not logged into messenger or texting or emailing….once u realize its doing the trick…lay ur sidekick down and in about 30 minutes ur OTA will be here…

If you hadn’t heard, it’s finally time for the Sidekick LX Video OTA to roll out to everyone. Over the last week or two the update has been slowly rolling out. The pioneer people that got the users should also receive a new update that brings them up to the latest version. So yes, it’s finally here guys. It’s rolling out randomly, not based on location at all. Good luck trying to guess when you’ll get the OTA. Just sit tight and we’ll all be enjoying the new video and browser goodness before too long.

Everyone keeps asking where their video OTA is for the Sidekick LX. It’s still in the pioneer phase right now. This means it will roll out to a small percentage of the Sidekick LX users first. Things will be tested to make sure nothing is wrong, and then it will roll out to everyone. The OTA has been in the pioneer phase for about a month, with no word on an official full roll-out date yet. It’s unclear as to why things aren’t rolling out to everyone, but it could be anything from a small bug, to larger problems on the back-end servers. Hang in there guys. It’s totally worth the wait!

I’m sure everyone is clamoring to see more samples of what video from the Sidekick LX looks like. We’ve got another for you. This is what it looks like when uploaded to YouTube and re-encoded:

Here’s the original video that will play if you have Quicktime installed:

If you want to see the original .3gp file that was recorded, click here to download.

We’ve been sitting on these videos since they were posted to youtube, but we didn’t want to post them since the quality is pretty bad, and not many of the new features were shown off. But we’ve been getting tons of email about it, so enjoy what you can… I guess. Now stop emailing us about them. We will create our own high quality HD videos as soon as we have the OTA, and properly show off the new features.

The NEW sidekick LX video OTA update – ibarrr

Video Preview – ibarrr

Thanks to everyone who sent these in. (Now stop emailing us about them. Really!)

Over the past few months most of our Sidekick LX 2009 questions have been answered in one way or another. But now that the device is here and actually in the hands of people it’s time to fill in the holes of the questions that haven’t been answered. Exiva was one of the lucky ones who got his Sidekick LX 2009 early. Because he’s awesome, he has agreed to answer whatever questions you have about the device.  This is your chance to ask someone who is actually holding the new Sidekick in their hands.  Here we go!

How does the keyboard feel?
-It’s a harder rubber than the LX. Same style, feels nice. There’s definitely a difference though.

How does the OS look/perform?
-It looks gorgeous on the new LCD (everything does though.) It performs really well. I haven’t noticed any slowdowns yet.

How does it compare to other sidekicks in all areas?
-It’s much lighter than the LX was, It feels more sturdy than the 08 in the few times I played with it. I haven’t tested battery life yet, so I can’t comment on that. The speaker is significantly louder than the LX’s, which is nice.

If you had ringtones on a previous sidekick, were they transferred over?
-Not sure, I never bought any ringtones.

Can we use sounds as ringtones saved from emails?
-Yes, as long as they are 100kb or less. So to get any length in the mp3 the quality will be pretty crummy. You can record on the device up to 20seconds.
Click through for more questions…

Want to watch a video of the Sidekick LX 2009 that’s totally in focus? Here’s T-Mobile’s official press release video:

There’s also the video of this guy using it:

If you’re one for soundbites too, then there’s also these videos from Emily Blair, the T-Mobile Sidekick Manager talking about the features of the Sidekick LX 2009:

Thanks to the folks at the official Danger Device Forums, there are a lot more specifics on features thanks to the moderators who actually have been test-driving the devices for several weeks.  Here is the rundown so far (with some more pics!):

• No Shells like the 2008
• 3 mood lights – new locations: 1 on top and bottom of the keyboard

https://www.poweredbydanger.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1332&d=1240058761

and 1 long one on the top edge of the screen when opened (bottom of screen when closed)

https://www.poweredbydanger.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1333&d=1240058814

• Actual Screen Shot (click for full size)

• no animated gifs
• SDHC Memory – no limit – just what is available on the market (16gb – OK!!)
• Speaker is louder than before
• Video Mode – Low Res is a 176×144 resolution meant for sending via email/mms. This resolution is limited to something like 4 minutes.
• Video taken from an SK09 (Hi-Res Mode – no recording limit!!):

https://s581.photobucket.com/albums/ss259/appletech_pbd/?action=view&current=VID00002.flv

• Photo App  Max size: 2,048 x 1,536

https://img14.imageshack.us/img14/8283/img00061h.jpg
https://img12.imageshack.us/img12/2281/img00062l.jpg
https://img14.imageshack.us/img14/7992/img00064l.jpg

• You can Geotag photos with your GPS location.
• It’s a 3.2MP camera with Auto Focus and flash (no zooming).
• There’s an auto focus mode with options distant and macro mode. There’s white balance controls, and B&W, Sepia, Negative effect options.
• Available resolution options are:
  • 2048 x 1536
  • 1600 x 1200
  • 1280 x 960
  • 800 x 600
  • 640 x 480
• YouTube videos work.
• m.break.com videos work (but not smooth)
• Seesmic does not work
• Facebook app seems to be a souped-up mobile version. No videos, apps, etc.
• Internet Radio Works!! (Ex: ShoutCast):
  https://poweredbydanger.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1342&d=1240089939
• Yahoo Messenger supports animated buddy icons.
• AIM and Yahoo Messenger now support photo sharing
• You can also upload videos to youtube (or photobucket or myspace) directly
• Web Browser still does not support Flash
• You cannot roam on AT&Ts 3G Network due to the ranges being different:
  The LX09 supports UMTS Bands 2100, 1700, 850.
  T-Mobile uses 1700 and 2100 for 3G, while AT&T uses 1900. So you won’t be able to roam on AT&T 3G.
  As for “Other networks”, it depends on what 3G band they are using.
• Still has chrome around the USB/Charger, but appears to be more sratch-resistant:
  https://poweredbydanger.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1338&d=1240087896
• Data plans are grandfathered. T-Mobile will not raise your rates
• When GPS is on, the battery drains faster. (there is an option to turn it on/off)
• Browser is overall the same as the last OTA on the LX. But you have a LOT more room:
  https://poweredbydanger.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1319&d=1239974010
• Still 6MB limit on email/ 100+30 limit on SMS (both same as before)
• No confirmation as to “Free Ringtone downloads” still basing it on info already published.
• Themes can still be user-generated like before
• Social apps (Twitter, Myspace, Photobucket, and Facebook) are all FREE – no monthly charges!!!!

In an attempt to chronicle the history of the Sidekick line, we’ve put together a Sidekick Timeline of release dates and notable days in the history of the Sidekick.
09/06/2001 – Danger unveils the first Hiptop
08/06/2002 – Danger partners with T-Mobile
10/01/2002 – Black and White Sidekick released
06/06/2003 – Color Sidekick released
08/22/2004 – Sidekick II released
10/??/2005 – Sidekick II Limited Editions (Mister Cartoon and Juicy Couture) released
10/??/2005 – Hiptop3.com launches
05/16/2006 – Sidekick II is discontinued
06/28/2006 – Sidekick 3 available to existing T-Mobile customers
07/10/2006 – Sidekick 3 released
10/31/2006 – Sidekick 3 Limited Editions (Diane Von Furstenberg and Lifted Research Group) released
02/21/2007 – Sidekick 3 Limited Edition D-Wade released
04/25/2007 – Sidekick iD released
10/16/2007 – Sidekick LX available to existing T-Mobile customers
10/24/2007 – Sidekick LX released (available in Midnight Blue and Espresso Brown)
11/07/2007 – Sidekick Slide released
04/??/2008 – Sidekick iD discontinued
04/15/2008 – Microsoft acquires Danger
05/??/2008 – Sidekick 3 OTA – Radio Firmware update
05/05/2008 – T-Mobile officially launches 3G rollout
05/16/2008 – Sidekick Slide Scarlet (red) released
06/05/2008 – Sidekick LX Limited Edition Tony Hawk released
07/??/2008 – Sidekick LX Video OTA starts rolling out to everyone
07/29/2008 – Sidekick 2008 Release Party
07/30/2008 – Sidekick 2008 (Gekko) released
08/??/2008 – Sidekick Slide is discontinued
04/17/2009 – Sidekick LX 2009 is officially announced, pre-orders start
05/13/2009 – Sidekick LX 2009 released
10/12/2009 – The Great Sidekick Disaster of 2009
02/22/2010 – T-Mobile discontinues the Sidekick 2008 and the LX 2009 Orchid
04/12/2010 – Microsoft (and what’s left of Danger) officially announces the KIN
04/15/2010 – T-Mobile UK shuts off Sidekick service
04/16/2010 – All Sidekicks gone from T-Mobile.com
07/02/2010 – T-Mobile halts all sales of the Sidekick
02/28/2011 – T-Mobile officially announces that the end of the Sidekick service is nigh.
03/02/2011 – Downloadable content disappears from the Download Catalog.
03/15/2011 – T-Mobile officially announces the Sidekick 4G
03/20/2011 – AT&T announces they plan to purchase T-Mobile, the main Sidekick carrier.
05/31/2011 – The Danger era of the Sidekick ends as Danger’s production servers shut down for the last time.

Got something to add (or correct) to the list? Let us know!

No, this isn’t some new fancy device that’s going to kill the Sidekick. It’s a corrupted 3gp video file that has the potential to hard reset a Sidekick with very little user interaction that’s out in the wild. That’s right, hard reset, as in wipe out all of your data and force you to redownload it from Danger’s servers. Luckily with the way the Sidekick is designed you won’t lose anything, but it’s still an annoyance to have to wait for all your email, settings, etc to download. It’s also a really nasty trick to play on someone you don’t like.

This was first posted in the PBD forums under a thread titled “Virus In Email?! Important!! Read!!”. I know, my first thought too was, “yeah right, Sidekicks don’t get viruses”. Technically this isn’t a virus, and it isn’t even malicious in intent. It looks like it’s just a bug with the way the email application handles a corrupted video. Needless to say though, it is a serious bug that Danger will hopefully fix in an OTA quickly. This currently affects the new Sidekick 2008, as well as Sidekick LXs with the video OTA.

Want to protect yourself from this sort of crash? In your Email, go under Menu->Settings->Attachments->Remove Attachments of these types, and check “Multimedia”. This will remove any movie files that are attached to emails sent to you, including this nasty one.