It ain’t easy… being Pink. Techeye is reporting that Microsoft’s Project Pink phones are going to be delayed until sometime in April. The reason for the delay? “issues with the European models and roll out,” but that’s not to say there’s anything wrong with the phones which are already done and ready. There’s just some stuff to work out with carriers.

It’s looking like they’ll be available on Verizon here in the states and Vodafone in the UK. Originally there was talk about unveiling the Pink phones (Turtle and Pure) at CeBIT but now it’s looking like Microsoft is going to throw their own events to herald the arrival of the Pink phones and they’re willing to shell out big bucks to make sure it’s something significant..

This one is for all the Sidekick LX 2009 users out there. There’s an OTA update that will be rolling out shortly to help improve 3G connectivity. Personally I haven’t really noticed any bad 3G connectivity, but maybe some of you guys have.

Same old OTA procedure: it’ll download, install and reboot your device. Figured I’d let everyone know so people can stop emailing me about it!

Thanks to everyone that sent this in.

More info on T-Mobile.com

Has the day finally come? T-Mobile appears to have pulled all of the Sidekick models from their site except for the Sidekick LX 2009 Carbon. And even the Sidekick LX 2009 Carbon is listed as “Temporarily Out of Stock”. Is this just a hiccup on T-Mobile’s site or does this mean the end of the Sidekick?

If you’re still dying for a Sidekick, there are other places to get them.

UPDATE: Confirmed via our sources that at least the Sidekick 2008 is discontinued.

UPDATE #2: The Sidekick LX 2009 Carbon has returned to T-Mobile’s site. More info on T-Mo’s forums.

UPDATE #3: It’s official, the 2008 and the LX 09 Orchid are gone according to an official post on the T-Mobile Forums

Looks like the firmware for the new Turtle and Pure phones has leaked and is being picked apart. @Conflipper is posting details about the OS of these two phones and the many clues hidden amongst the code.

Before we dive in, how do we know this firmware is for the Project Pink phones? Well, there’s this string in there:

ProviderName=”Microsoft Pink” USB\PinkUsbDbg.DeviceDesc=”Pink USB Debug”

It looks like there’s going to be possibly four different devices, well kind of. The Turtle and Pride phones are going to be 320×240 pixel screens with UMTS and CDMA radios respectively. The Pure and the Lion will be higher resolution devices at 480×320 pixels and again UMTS and CDMA respectively.

DEVICE_TYPE=TURTLE RADIO_TYPE=UMTS SPLASH= 320_240
DEVICE_TYPE=PRIDE RADIO_TYPE=CDMA SPLASH= 320_240
DEVICE_TYPE=PURE RADIO_TYPE=UMTS SPLASH=480_320
DEVICE_TYPE=LION RADIO_TYPE=CDMA SPLASH= 480_320

Also of note, it looks like they’ll be based on a version of the Windows CE kernel developed for an ARM architecture thanks to this string in the firmware:

Zune Device.K.E.Y.V.A.U.L.T .A.R.M…W.i.n.d.o.w.s. .C.E. .K.e.r.n.e.l. .f.o.r. .A.R.M.

What version of CE? Well, possibly CE 6 since there’s this:

Microsoft Windows CE Ethernet Bootloader v%d.%d for NVIDIA %s Platform. Partition name %s …..CE6.CE6/

. And yes, that’s an NVIDIA you see in there, most likely the NVIDIA Tegra which also runes the Zune HD.

There’s of course all sorts of references to “PMX” which we already know is Microsoft’s Premium Mobile Experience, aka Microsoft + what’s left of Danger. But one mention of PMX is interesting:

PMX2009 = “PMX USB Modem 2009” PMX2009S = “PMX USB Modem 2009 Standalone” %PMXDevice2009% = QportInstall00, USB\VID_045E&PID_0123&MI_00

Tethering perhaps?

And finally, Conflipper mentions: With reference to Silverlight and Visualizer feeds with a heavy background to social networking I dont think these phone are all that “dumb”

Looks like one of Microsoft’s Pink phones, the “Turtle“, hit the FCC. Model PB10ZU appears to packed with dual-band CDMA, EVDO, Bluetooth, and 802.11b/g. There’s also a reference to PB20ZU (the “Pure” perhaps?) but no details on that one. March 29th is the date to wait till for the rest of the FCC docs to be released. For the record, the FCC ID is APYNAR0067.

FCC Docs via Engadget

The Wall Street Journal and other sources are saying that Microsoft may not be revealing it’s new Pink phone in Barcelona as previously rumored, just the new Windows Mobile OS. However they are saying the rumored Pink phones will be a follow-up to the T-Mobile Sidekick, it will be manufactured by Sharp, and will be heavy on the social networking side. Carriers rumored to carry it? Verizon and Vodafone are said to be carrying it internationally. One has to wonder where T-Mobile is in all of this. Will Sidekick users have to switch carriers to continue with the latest and greatest Sidekick-like device?

Read more at Business Insider because Wall Street Journal has the stupid paywall.

It looks like maybe the Project Pink phones are actually going to see the light of day later this year. In an article on CNET, sources are saying that Microsoft will ship Windows Mobile 7 later this year, but CNET is also saying the “next generation of the Sidekick product line” should ship before Windows Mobile hits the market. If this is true, that means the new Pink devices are coming, and they won’t be running Windows Mobile 7.

The good news is that we’ll know more soon. Microsoft’s Head of Entertainment and Devices, Robbie Bach, said they would have more to tell at the Mobile World Congress in a few weeks.

Is this it, the end of the Sidekick era? BoyGeniusReport posted some rumors they received through a tipster that say T-Mobile will slowly be phasing out the Sidekick line as the new MyTouch Slide approaches. Nobody has confirmed this tip yet, but it’s not too far fetched. We’ll let you know as we hear more.

There are a number of tweets on Twitter over the past few months that specify the client as “Danger” and have a mysterious hashtag of #tmdp or #tmd. The posts started showing up with the #tmd tag but later change to the #tmdp tag.

Many of the tweets have “from Danger” listed as the client, which Twitter links to Microsoft. Usually tweets sent from the Sidekick say “from Sidekick” so this seems to indicate that this could be a new Twitter client from Danger. Whether this Twitter client means a new device, new operating system, the continuation of Project Pink, etc is anyone’s guess at this point.

Here’s some of the interesting tweets:

@JohnMatherly: Thanks to Roz for a #tmdp breakfast in Palo Alto
11:56 AM Dec 7th, 2009 from Danger

@JohnMatherly: We’re counting on ProdUS to be #tmdp
4:52 PM Jan 19th from Danger

@darylw: #tmdp Welcome new team members….we are excited to have you join us.
1:38 PM Dec 16th, 2009 from Danger.

@darylw: #tmdp wish i saw more posts from team members on twitter.com that says posted “n hours ago from Danger”
11:55 PM Nov 18th, 2009 from web

@pbernard: i think twitterfall is working #tmdp
4:22 PM Nov 4th, 2009 from DestroyTwitter

@pbernard: digging xbox twitter #tmd
8:44 PM Sep 24th, 2009 from Xbox LIVE

@pbernard: and we have PINK DONUTS for strat review #tmd
7:41 AM Sep 15th, 2009 from DestroyTwitter

@pbernard: #tmd ta-da.
1:42 PM Aug 27th, 2009 from DestroyTwitter

@terminal4: wow. it’s like stuff is kinda workin #tmdp
10:04 PM Dec 9th, 2009 from Danger.

@JRayZor: This is harder to use than binary mode ftp #tmd
12:08 AM Sep 4th, 2009 from web

@cpicoto: 2311 CD INT – Palo Alto, CA
11:46 AM Nov 11th, 2009 from Danger

@danblack: the #tmdp can fix itself sometimes.
11:37 AM Nov 20th, 2009 from Danger

@danblack: The #tmd is tasty today
3:44 PM Oct 15th, 2009 from Danger

@XuNami: Fun bug bash today. I’m so glad it came together 🙂 #tmdp
7:45 PM Jan 8th from Danger.

Chris Pirich is one of those tweeting with the #tmdp hashtag and a “from Danger” client. Chris is the head of engineering for Pink.

Other Microsoft people in on the Twitter fun include:

• Pete Bernard: “involved in a number of initiatives regarding mobile and embedded devices.”
• Daryl Welsh: Director of Test – Premium Mobile Experiences at Microsoft
• Andrew Clinick: Group Program Manager at Microsoft
• Carlos Picoto: Director of Program Management at Microsoft
• Dan Black: is/was the Lead Developer Relation Manager for Xbox
• Namrata Bachwani: Release Manager at Microsoft
• Chris Sorensen: Senior Manager, Community and Social Media at Microsoft

– It seems like a lot of XBox people are now part of the mobile experience team. This may be the one thing that bodes well for Pink.
– #TMD is happening at Microsoft Studio G in Redmond.
– There are a lot of references to 4 digit numbers in #tmdp tweets. Could these be build numbers for an OS or firmware?
– @DarylW made a #tmd list

What do you guys think? What could TMDP stand for? Have you found any interesting tweets with this hash tag?

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