We got the below memo from an anonymous T-Mobile employee:

Get Ready for the New Sidekick LX

T-Mobile is preparing to launch the thinnest Sidekick ever, with blazing fast 3G connectivity for customers to connect with friends quickly and easily. The new Sidekick LX will come equipped with GPS enabled Live Search, a 3.2 megapixel camera, and free bundled social networking applications including Facebook, My Space, and Twitter. Customers will also be able to watch and download You Tube videos directly from the device. The new Sidekick LX comes equipped with the features that customers love including a full QWERTY keyboard and an enhanced swivel screen that is larger and sharper than any other Sidekick.

Additional information regarding launch dates, pricing and availablility will be available on the Retail Communication Home Page on April 17.

Action Steps
Check the Retail Communication Home Page on April 17 for additional information regarding the Sidekick LX launch

It basically says what we’ve been saying for months now about the new Sidekick LX 2009. It’s nice to see things confirmed though. It looks like T-Mobile is going to stick the new device under the Sidekick LX line though. So like the Sidekick 2008 is officially just the “Sidekick” then based on this memo the Sidekick LX 2009 will be the “Sidekick LX”. Hopefully we’ll hear more in the way of official news on Friday!

We’ve noticed a lot of talk in the comments on other posts about whether or not people are going to get the Sidekick 2009 (Blade) when it comes out. We figured we’d put a poll out there to see what people are thinking. So let us know what you’re going to do and drop your opinions in the comments on this post!

[poll id=”4″]

From TmoNews:

New Voice Rate Plans have been released for T-Mobile Handsets (including Sidekicks, of course) The biggest change is the addition of Mobile-to-Mobile calling on top of the myFaves free dialing. So, you can eliminate any T-Mobile users from your myFaves list and still call them for free!!

The other major change is to myFaves for Families plans. the higher end (89.99 or more per month) plans have increased significantly in Shared Voice minutes, though Mobile-to-Mobile has NOT been added. The 89.99 plan now includes 1800 minutes instead of the previous 1000. Higher plans are also available. Go to https://www.t-mobile.com for more details.

Oops, looks like the FCC posted some docs they shouldn’t have!  Remember those FCC docs from Option N.V. that I posted awhile back?  Well it’s been confirmed that they were part of the new Sidekick.  The FCC has posted some additional documents today that confirm it’s part of the Sidekick 2009.  They even include some tasty illustrations of the assembly of a new Sidekick.  In addition there’s also info on the chipset they’re using, Qualcomm’s MSM7200A and/or MSM7201A.  These are the same chipsets that a bunch of recent phones run on including the G1, HTC Magic, and the upcoming HTC Touch Diamond2.  Looks like at least hardware wise MSDanger is going to drop a phone that competes directly with the new Android devices.  If you want the nitty gritty details straight from the FCC filings, here you go:

OS: Danger OS
CPU: QUALCOMM MSM7200A (MSM7201A)
Memory: 128MB SDRAM / 256MB NAND Flash
Input: QWERTY keyboard
RF: UMTS/HSDPA, GSM/GPRS/EDGE
Camera: 2M AF or 3M AF or 3M
I/F: µSD card slot x 1, microphone, speaker, Stereo headset port, USB port, A-GPS, Bluetooth
RF: UMTS/HSDPA Band I, Band IV, Band V GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850, 900, 1800, 1900

The documents posted contain the photo up top as well as the following:

There are a bunch of other computer generated images and photos of the radio for the Sidekick 2009 in the docs.  You can check out the FCC filing (FCC ID NCMOCU1407), or check out the cached PDFs below:

Integration Manual (contains breakdown of Sidekick 2009)

External Photos

Test Photos

Tomorrow is the first concert of The Grammy Celebration Concert tour presented by T-Mobile Sidekick.  Leona Lewis and Gavin Rossdale will be performing at the Hollywood Palladium.  Don’t forget to bring your Sidekick so you can flash it at the door and get VIP status for the night!  Next stop is April 14th in San Francisco with Natasha Bedingfield and N.E.R.D.  Check out the official site for more info on how you can get tickets for future shows in Boston, Miami, and New York.

When it rains, it pours.  We’ve got a release date, we’ve got in the wild pics, and now we have FCC docs.  Is there any belief that the Sidekick 2009 is not on its way?  The FCC docs have some external photos and whatnot withheld from the public under the typical confidentiality rules, but it’s easy to tell that this is the Sidekick 2009, aka the Blade, aka the PV300.  The confidentiality expires on June 13th, a month after release date, May 13th, which makes sense too.  There’s not a whole lot of actual info in the FCC docs that we didn’t already know other than the battery is 1250mAh (a touch more than the 2008) and that the FCC had the devices for testing as far back as December 2008.  But if you want to go through the incredibly boring FCC tests yourself, go right ahead.  The FCC Id for the Sidekick 2009 is ‘APYNAR0065’.

FCC Docs

Looks like the T-Mobile Sidekick 2009 is starting to show up in T-Mobile’s inventory system.  Not a whole lot of info other than it looks like it will be initially offered in two colors: Carbon (assumedly the black we’ve already seen) and Orchid (probably a purple of sorts). Here’s hoping they hit that May 13th release date!

via Tmonews

If history is any indication, the new Sidekick 2009 is going to be expensive. Hopefully not as expensive as previous models though. If you’re the budget concerned Sidekick user, now is the time to pick up a Sidekick 2008 while they’re cheap and still in stock. T-Mobile is running a web-only promotion that will score you a Sidekick 2008 for only $49.99. Head on over to T-Mobile to check it out.

It’s the information we’ve all been waiting for. The Sidekick 2009 (Blade) that we’ve all be drooling over for months is dropping on…

That is of course a tentative date and not officially stated by T-Mobile, but I’m calling this a pretty solid date. This info comes from TmoNews, who got what looks like T-Mobile’s a summer release date list from “a trusted tipster”.

So, you’ve got about a month to start saving (maybe even less if they do a pre-release for current Sidekick users), are you getting a Sidekick 2009?

If you’ve been hesitant to download the Photobucket application because of the price or the recurring fee (or both), the option to try the app out for free has come! If you download the application by 4/30, you have a 30 day free trial period to test it out. This means you can use the full version of the application, risk free for 30 days and then decide if you like it or not. This is a great option and may be what changes people’s opinions about the product. Remember that the application is free only for 30 days from the time that you have downloaded it. After the 30 day free trial period is over, you will be charged a monthly subscription fee of $1.99, which will be billed to you each month until the item is discarded. Check out the information in the Download Catalog for more in-depth information. Download and try it out from the Catalog now!