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Communications Handhelds Hardware

New Hiptop (Sidekick II) Photos 149

Posted by timothy from the keeping-it-real dept.
s4xton writes "Some new photos of the upcoming Sidekick II from T-Mobile have been leaked on hiptopinfo.org. In addition to already being one of the best portable GPRS units with SSH2, Web Browsing, AIM and Mail, the new unit, slated for an August release features a built in camera, speakerphone and a number of other features. Thread on Hiptop Forums about it here. Here's some older photos and an owners manual and a previous Slashdot story about the original Color Sidekick."
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New Hiptop (Sidekick II) Photos More

New Hiptop (Sidekick II) Photos

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  • I'll stick with my brand new Verizon Treo... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by bc90021 ( 43730 ) * <bc90021.bc90021@net> on Wednesday July 21, 2004 @07:43PM (#9765710) Homepage
    From the pictures, this looks suspiciously like the old one. I am going to stick with my brand new Verizon Wireless [verizonwireless.com] Treo [handpsring.com]. With a VGA camera, keyboard, Palm OS 5, and 144Kbps download speed, an added 512MB SD card from Kingston, it's got everything I need. Seriously not a troll, if you can get one and you've got the $500 (with a one year activation), it's definitely worth the money. Like the new advertising will say, my laptop does feel really heavy now. (There's nothing like switching away from Yahoo! chat to take a picture and going back with no interruption - while on your phone!)

    • Re:I'll stick with my brand new Verizon Treo... (Score:5, Informative)

      by .@. ( 21735 ) on Wednesday July 21, 2004 @07:49PM (#9765761) Homepage
      In fairness, the Sidekick (and presumably this new one) also multitasks in the manner you describe. I can start loading a webpage, jump back to my current SSH session, and jump from there to read or send email, and from there to respond to an AIM message, all with the click of a button. The sidekick tells me when the web page is loaded, alerts me when I get new email or an AIM message (by the way, it's a real, real-time AIM client, not one of the silly cellphone AIM "clients" that integrate AIM with the messaging subsystem), and I can jump into and out of any app, able to come back to it in the state I left it (e.g., leaving the TCP session open and working during SSH). It's like having screen installed on a cellphone.

    • Re:I'll stick with my brand new Verizon Treo... (Score:5, Funny)

      by Zebra_X ( 13249 ) on Wednesday July 21, 2004 @07:54PM (#9765797)
      Of course you will, you just bought it.
    • "From the pictures, this looks suspiciously like the old one. I am going to stick with my brand new Verizon Wireless Treo. With a VGA camera, keyboard, Palm OS 5, and 144Kbps download speed, an added 512MB SD card from Kingston, it's got everything I need."

      When I can get all that plus 802.11, I'm sold.

      (Please don't read that as a 'shoot-you-down' post, but rather I'm secretly hoping somebody who reads this post works for them. My cell phone recpetion, including wireless net, is nil in my apartment.)
    • I want my phone and PDA to be tough and rugged. I don't want to have to think about it. I like extra features, but it must be in a small, tough form-factor.

      I definately do not want a $500, heavy, fragile, must be careful with, "look at me, I'm middle-management" techno-moron play-thing.
    • Why would I pay $500 for a Treo when I got a Pocket PC Phone for $200 on eBay?

      The HTC Wallaby has a faster processor, TRUE multitasking (your Palm OS device only pretends to multitask), a real filesystem, and 3x the screen resolution.

      And it still has an SD slot, plenty of memory (32MB internal RAM, 32MB internal flash), MP3 playback (WMA too, and Vorbis/FLAC with a free application), WMV/MPEG1/DIVX playback, and a lot more.

      Why would I pay two and a half times more for a device that doesn't do as much? Oh
      • Why would anyone buy an iPod when there are cheaper products out there with more features?

        The Treo is well designed.

        BTW, comparing a new price to a 2nd hand price is unfair.

      • Maybe because it runs on PalmOS?

        The speed difference in getting to the info you're looking for is quite staggering. I had this exact same discussion with a friend of mine at work, so we set up a task list we had to run through, timed; call it a speed trial (yeah, we're geeks...guess what the byline of this website is.). And to make sure that there wasn't an advantage for one person due to quicker reflexes or whatever, after that runthrough we switched devices, and after familiarising ourselves with 'em, di
    • Dude- tmobile offers the same thing with better plans and has for almost a year.
    • What is the service policy with Verizon?

      PalmOne has one of the best advance replacement policies in the business, but it doesn't apply to phones. You have to get your service through the phone provider (because it's a profit center for those guys).

      We have Treo 600s at work, and when one breaks we have to replace it with a new one from Sprint, because Sprint has a policy of not repairing any devices that aren't covered under their (expensive) service contract. If you have several of these it's cheaper to

  • I hope they improved the RF.. (Score:3, Informative)

    by halo1982 ( 679554 ) * on Wednesday July 21, 2004 @07:43PM (#9765713) Homepage Journal
    The original color Sidekick was a great data device but a terrible phone. The RF was dismal and talking on it was awkward. I hope they've improved these points, however with the device being made by Audiovox/Curitel I'm not expecting much.
    But now that the price of the Sidekick data plan with voice has dropped to $20 this new Sidekick certainly looks appealing. I like the design and the camera isn't too bad (for a phone) either.
    • Its like trying to talk into a lumpy brick. Worse $300 I spent...
    • Gotta agree. I've had one for a year and a half now (was an early adopter), and I've almost always had to open the phone (exposing the keyboard) to talk on it. The reception issue is, I think, not as much related to the device as it is to T-Mobile's service. I've heard lots of folks complain about T-Mobile reception, whether they have hiptops or regular phones.

      I stopped looking a while ago: did they ever ease up on the "you have to prove you can code before we'll let you upload your own apps" nonsense?
    • >he RF was dismal and talking on it was awkward

      Ive had a sidekick since they were made available. I'm sporting the color model now and have made 6 returns because of poor manufacturing quality. Three for the B&w and three for the color.

      Its a nice but it has some serious downsides:

      1. Total vendor lock in. The SSH client is free,
      but the upgrade is 10 bucks. Games are 10 bucks.

      This isn't a palm where you can just upload apps onto it (unless youre a developer).

      2. Spotty reception is putting it nic
      • Bought a Sidekick, switched my unlimited GPRS account on T-mobile to SK plan. Used the crap out of it for 2 weeks. Returned it.

        And I got the dev account, uploaded the small smattering of somewhat workable apps. Also, couldn't SIM unlock it even though I paid retail. T-mobile processed the unlock but never sent it - and calling Danger was futile. Terrible customer support from both of them.

        I agree with every single of your downsides as I experienced them first hand. It was nice to AIM in the car

    • I'm really quite sick of everyone that doesn't own a Sidekick (sorry if you do) complaining about the voice quality and its use as a regular phone. Granted it is awkward to use at first, the quality is by no means shiesty. Having moved from the T68i, I'd say the Sidekick offers much better voice quality than AT&T's GSM phones do.

      In closing, I'd like to impress upon y'all just how much I love having, using, and showing off my Sidekick. I tried the Palm thing...twice; not for me. In fact, I was notified
    • I hope they've improved these points, however with the device being made by Audiovox/Curitel I'm not expecting much.

      They are improving those points, and the device is being made by Sharp Electronics. The new device, from what I hear, feels much more sturdy and rugged than the previous models.

      The RF is improved, but from what I know it's not excellent.

      Cheers,
      -s4xton
    • Hello? This is slashdot!

      The features we care about most is the ability to tweak it and hack it.

      Hiptop_sidekick tweaks and walkthroughs [tech-recipes.com]

      SSH and IM alone are worth the money to me. Once I installed the development kit, I couldn't quit playing with this thing!

      Yes, the "phone" part is sub-par... if they fix that, then they are going to sell a billion of these things. Since I often manage systems remotely, this little baby is worth its weight in gold.

      (Sorry, I've plugged my own site twice in two days

  • Pretty neat. (Score:2, Interesting)

    by DP ( 11614 )
    How about IRC [slashnet.org] though? I mean, this is a fine consumer product with AIM and all that, but how about the geek cred?

    I mean, even my dreamcast can run an IRC client.

    • Re:Pretty neat. (Score:3, Informative)

      by .@. ( 21735 )
      It's got a full SSHv2 client. SSH to a Unix host and IRC to anywhere you'd like.
    • That's what I use the SSH client for =)
    • Well, I was IRC'ing on my phone [ironwolve.com] back a few years ago using T9 over CDPD on ATT Wireless.

      Now I'm playing with UMTS A845 [phonescoop.com] Motorola phone in Seattle, bigger screen, just waiting fo the SSH client or a new updated IRC client. Thing has 64 megs, just need an SDK to compile IRC.

      BTW, Wonder if my ISP will hate me for that link.. :)
      • Yeh I used to also IRC on my phone via IR between my handspring platinum and my nokia 6210. But in the end I gave it up because GPRS costs were too high and IR connectivity is crappy.

        Now if only GPRS costs would go down (locally it's around $AUD 99/mth for 3MB worth of traffic!), my Tungsten T3 and Nokia 6600 would be a match made in heaven! ;)
    • From my own experience, I'd say the Sidekick is definitely built with geeks in mind. They've even got different monkies to show you the state of your SSH connections ;-)

      As for IRC, all you need is to hook-up your mini-USB and upload the Cognet [phunc.com] bundle -- presto, IRC! If you're super bored, hop on irc.new-wave.net/otherside [irc] and /whois NewWave[sk]...that's me on my Sidekick, the same Sidekick I posted this coment with.

      Cheers-
      Austin
    • I use PocketIRC [pocketgear.com] on my iPaq, for just that. Tapping out sentences on the onscreen keyboard sucks a bag of cocks, though.
    • well... there is an open development platform for it...

      developer.danger.com [danger.com]

      and, being that developers are geeks and geeks IRC, i'm sure someone has created an irc client for it. If not, you could always code up one yourself...

      btw, I have no idea why there wouldn't be an irc client... I mean, shit.

  • 5 posts, and they're down. It's almost 8pm central. Don't you people have lives?

  • mirror of images.. (Score:5, Informative)

    by vluther ( 5638 ) <vid@lutGINSBERGher.io minus poet> on Wednesday July 21, 2004 @07:48PM (#9765748) Homepage Journal
    seems like the server is getting slaughtered.. for people who just care for the images (not very impressive)..

    http://mirrors.linuxpowered.com/sidekick2/

    get em while it's hot..or before my server crashes.

  • Similar Article... (Score:5, Informative)

    by diagnosis ( 38691 ) on Wednesday July 21, 2004 @07:48PM (#9765749) Homepage
    This article has not been slashdotted:
    Sidekick 2 Revealed [gizmodo.com]
    ...and a couple pics here [mobiletracker.net], if you scroll down.

    --------------------
    Freedom or Evil: Freevil.net [freevil.net]
    G. W. Bush says, "You decide!"
    • Cool and all but how about a phone that fucking works? I mean damn, I can take pictures and schedule meetings and surf the net and play games but I can't have a decent fucking conversation with anyone! So how much for one that just works? The quality of connections with mobile phones is awful. It's like we took a giant leap backwards in technology! Just listen to talk radio and you can easily see what I mean. You can always tell what callers are on cell phones because it sounds awful, cuts in and out and is

  • Well (Score:4, Funny)

    by cubicledrone ( 681598 ) on Wednesday July 21, 2004 @07:49PM (#9765753)
    If you ask the business press:

    If it isn't half the price of every other competing product with twice the features and doesn't triple the company's stock price in days while gaining 80% market share and a Wall Street Journal front page feature and a new solid two-ton 24K gold company logo in the marble lobby of a new corporate headquarters with a leather-appointed 2000 square foot conference room with bean salads all around it is a failure.
  • I own a Sidekick from T-Mobile, the color version. I bought it a couple of weeks ago because I wanted a way to contact/be contacted since I can't hear. It's such a great device but man, the antenna sucks. I get NO signal within my house, only in the outer parts. I really hope they improved that defect. But I gotta say, that device looks fugly compared to mine: Picture here [uct2.net].
    • I bought it a couple of weeks ago because I wanted a way to contact/be contacted since I can't hear

      Same reason why I'm going to buy a Sidekick 2. For 20 bucks and being out and about and having not having enough hotspots to make use of my lapbox's wireless internet, it's nice to know I can be reached through AIM by my family.

      Of course, there is Sprint Relay [sprintrelay.com] But, I don't really feel comfortable!not enough info on the whole relay thing. So far, the Sidekick with the $20 unlimited plan looks like the t
      • Well, to make a correction... For the sidekick data only plan (unlimited megabytes, SMSes, email, etc.) is $30 a month. Although, you will have to pay 20 cents a minute for voice calls. However if you want to have a voice plan, then yes, it's only $20 a month extra on top of your voice plan. Just clarifying it for you. ^_^
  • It has an ssh/telnet client. There's your geek cred. :)

    A Jabber IM client would be a nice touch too though.

  • Hmmmm ... I bought a sidekick about 3 months ago, The phone was great with all the features (SSH) but the phone was very shady on the signal (voice/data) | nice idea - If they get it right .. it should be great! (went through 3 phone replacements - talking to customer service (to no avail) . Sold it on EBAY after all the BS from TMOBILE ... Hopefully others have had better luck with the phone !
  • I think Slashdot should do a comprehensive roundup of the best phones and other multifunctional devices going. Is it really worth it to buy a multi functional device when a seperate mobile and digital camera are better ?

    And it's easy enough to use a laptop to send your images to another person. What exactly is the advantage to having a camera phone unless it is for 3G video calls?

  • hrmm (Score:2)

    by Nate Fox ( 1271 )
    I OCR'd the pictures and got this:
    404
    can anyone tell me what it means?

  • thin client (Score:3, Insightful)

    by 7Ghent ( 115876 ) on Wednesday July 21, 2004 @08:01PM (#9765839) Homepage
    The only flaw with the Sidekick is that it's a thin client device. All your data is on the server and subject to T-Mobile's whim. It's a great device, but it can't do stuff like play mp3s or anything that would require a lot of processing power. Still, it's a great smartphone for people on a budget who don't mind being kind of crippled by their service provider.

    For my money, though, I'll take my Treo 600 any day. It's quite a bit more expensive up front, but it's far more customizable and expandable. The Sidekick is more of a walled-garden approach.

  • Speed (Score:2)

    by weston ( 16146 )
    I've been using T-Mobile's Data plan with a Merlin G100 GPRS Card for the last few months, and I have to say, I'm not that impressed. The speed of dialup, but with latency I haven't seen the like of since 300 baud modems.

    Anyone know if T-Mobile plans to bump speed up?
    • I've been using T-Mobile's Data plan with a Merlin G100 GPRS Card for the last few months, and I have to say, I'm not that impressed. The speed of dialup, but with latency I haven't seen the like of since 300 baud modems.

      Anyone know if T-Mobile plans to bump speed up?

      It doesn't look like T-Mobile will have any speed upgrade for at least a year. If you want speed you're better off going to Sprint's Vision service or Verizon's Express network (which are both CDMA2000 1xRTT...the same speeds), or for even mo

      • ATT Wireless [attwireless.com] launched UMTS also.
      • The parent post asks about competing data services.

        Sprint's service also has very high latency. Ping times are around 500ms. This makes ssh sessions painful. But since the bandwidth is reasonable, other web browsing isn't too bad, and email (even with medium-size attachments) is OK.

        Sprint also intercepts GIFs and JPEGs and sends lower quality versions on (like AOL) with no option to disable this feature. This means that, for example, the Google logo looks dithered and noisy.

        --Pat / zippy@cs.brandeis.e

  • Heh...

    My dad got a sidekick... the fact that it has no bluetooth wouldn't be a problem if you could just take the sim card out and put it in another device (like a bluetooth phone or an aircard) in order to get some of that unlimited data through to a laptop. To use the card in another device, T-mobile wants you to pay another $20/month to get what amounts to another flavor of unlimited data.

    I have been using an ngage with T-mobile's unlimited data [xmission.com]. It works fine as a wireless bluetooth modem to my li

  • ...with just 30-odd comments. Cue the "they must be running the server on one" posts. :-)
    • You must have very little reguard for us...

      *Looks around*

      Nobody's done it yet?!

      They must've been running their server on a Sidekick II!

      Why do I suddenly feel dirty?

  • Holy Cow (Score:1, Flamebait)

    by Saeed al-Sahaf ( 665390 )
    Jesus. Planted ad? Someone to cought up in cell phones? This is a non-story.

  • The ship is going down! (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Who's Online at hiptopinfo..
    There are currently, 2304
    guest(s) and 3 member(s)
    that are online.

  • I have an idea... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by funk49 ( 416343 ) on Wednesday July 21, 2004 @08:22PM (#9765930)
    How about a phone that acts like a phone? I know that the issue is primarily with the telecoms but jesus h. christ...when will someone invest money in making the networks better. At this rate, in 5 years I will be able to remotely cook my food with my phone. I would settle for a phone that has excellent clarity and doesnt drop out. Now that's the phone I want.

    • um (Score:2)

      by cdf12345 ( 412812 )
      Why wait years for a phone to cook your food, when it can cook your brain now!

      Free cancer with every handset!
    • "I would settle for a phone that has excellent clarity and doesnt drop out. Now that's the phone I want."

      Do you have any idea how tall the order is you're asking? I mean, I understand your frusrtration, afterall I can only use my cell phone in one corner of my apartment. (Good thing the couch is there, ouch.) But, come on man, how do you think they're supposed to accomplish this over an area as large as the United States?

      I'm not trying to shoot you down here, rather I'm trying to help you understand
    • What are you talking about? If you live in one of the civilized countries like Czech Republic, you get 100% coverage everywhere you go (I mean, in middle of forest on the bottom of valley, miles from closest city) on all three networks for last five years.

      Of course, if you live in middle of nowhere, let's say here in center of Sillicon Valley, half the way between San Francisco and San Jose, right next to HP, Sun, Oracle and Siebel headquarters, you will be lucky to catch passingly good signal next to one

  • A story on the Family Movie Act was rejected in favor of this tripe.
  • we all know the necessities [navelsex.com] of a mobile device
  • Is the SSH client still only proxy SSH, meaning unencrypted between you and the T-Mobile server, ssh from there to the host?

    Heiko

  • As a former Sidekick owner, I'd skip it (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Wonko42 ( 29194 ) <(moc.oknow) (ta) (todhsals+nayr)> on Wednesday July 21, 2004 @08:50PM (#9766084) Homepage
    I had a Sidekick for over a year. The good: nice UI, good design, useful keyboard, good email app, excellent SSH client. The bad: terrible antenna, unable to run non Danger-approved third-party apps, horrible as a phone, very fragile.

    I replaced it last week with a Nokia 6600 [nokia.com], which, with the exception of the full keyboard, does everything the Sidekick could do and more, only better. Plus it actually works well as a phone.

    • The Treo 600 [google.co.nz]. Phone-like form. Looks good. Better phone capabilities than most phones. QWERTY keyboard, and runs PalmOS.
      And the best think is it feels like a phone and a PDA at the same time. Not a PDA with Sidetalkin' [google.co.nz], or a phone with comprimised PDA capabilities.
      A little more expensive and fragile than a 6600 though.
  • I just ordered a Danger Sidekick (original). Maybe its not too late to cancel and wait for the II?
  • its a laptop that has a touch screen... something like this is what should be replacing the portable market shortly...
    http://www.oqo.com/hardware/basics/ [oqo.com]
    there is a great video here http://www.oqo.com/hardware/video/ [oqo.com]

  • blah... that's a total photoshop job. ;0)
  • I don't care how good it is T-Mobile (Deutsche Telekom) will never ever see another penny of my money.

    After having service for 8 days, I promptly tried to cancel due to maybe 65% service in my HOME area, frequent drops, people on land lines were complaining.

    • Cancelled my service on day #8 (yes I know the official grace period is 7 days), after waiting about 20 minutes for customer support, then got mysteriously dropped, had to call back and wait another 20 minutes.
    • Returned the phone to circuit city tha
    • I'm curious if this is going to be a T-mobile exclusive. I got a chance to play with a pre-release version of this at another major wireless company 4 months ago. This makes me wonder if someone besides T-mobile will be offering this device, though I have not heard if my company will or will not.

  • Treo (Score:2)

    by mabu ( 178417 ) *
    I have had a Treo 600 for almost a year now, and I am quite happy with it. The camera is the worst camera ever created on the planet, but that just means nobody will hassle me in areas where camera phones are prohibited - there's no way anybody would believe the phone could actually take a useful picture.

    The Treo has great battery life, and loads of other features. And it's available for Sprint as well as GSM. I am not aware of anything that much better right now.

  • Why don't reviews measure reception? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by mcrbids ( 148650 ) on Wednesday July 21, 2004 @09:36PM (#9766334) Journal
    Everybody knows some radios have great reception, and others won't pick up the broadcast from the radio tower looming overhead without a 6' antenna.

    Why don't reviewers also measure reception?

    I've seen plenty of feature-laden phones, but refuse to upgrade until I can verify it has reception comparable to my Audiovox 9155 [phonearena.com].

    (Yes, that's my review at the bottom)

    As I said, Photos are nice, and video games are fun, but when push comes to shove, a cell phone without reception is a paperweight.

    How do these feature-laden PDA things measure up in reception? Which one has the best?

  • One owner's story. (Score:5, Informative)

    by megaduck ( 250895 ) <dvarvel@NOspaM.hotmail.com> on Wednesday July 21, 2004 @09:38PM (#9766347) Journal

    I owned one of the first generation devices. I loved it and it broke my heart.

    The software is smooth and elegant, the design is slick, and it's the best portable email terminal ever made. The damn thing was unreliable, though. I went through no less than FIVE units while under the warranty period.

    One had the screen crap out. One refused to turn on. One couldn't charge its' battery. One had a flaky keyboard, and the last one's radio stopped working one day. The last one was a real pisser, since it's a frickin' paperweight without network access.

    Obviously, I'm a little bitter. Each time, I spoke to T-Mobile and they promptly sent me a refurbished unit as a replacement. The "new" phone would last for a few weeks, and then something would fail. The last unit I had for three months. When I called T-Mobile, they said that it was out of warranty because they start counting from the INITIAL purchase, regardless of the age of the one that flaked. They offered to send me a refurbished unit for $70.

    I wasn't willing to shell out $70 every few weeks for my phone, so I switched carriers. That's when the second problem with Sidekicks reared it's head. Your data is hostage to your carrier.

    The Sidekick/Hiptop works like WebTV and merely acts as a terminal for large servers run by the phone carriers. Great, because you never have to worry about backing up your data. Not great, because it makes the phone useless if you don't have GPRS service. I took the phone into Mexico, and I couldn't use any of the PDA functions because all of my data was on T-Mobile's servers in the US.

    Also, it's darn near impossible to extract information from the phone for your computer. Like to sync your address books? Forget it. Your computer only has access to the data through a web interface. They kept promising sync capability "soon". I had the phone for a year. "Soon" never arrived. When I left T-Mobile, I had to hand type all of my addresses and notes into my computer.

    Summary: I loved mine, when it worked. When it failed, it became a nightmare. I'd pass on this new one until they can prove they've got some quality control.

    • Hi,

      I really looked at the Hiptop/Sidekick when it came out, but I heard bad things about durability and reliability, at least of the older units.

      I decided to go BlackBerry (the new color 7280), and I haven't looked back since. They are not as beautiful or fancy as Hiptop/Sidekicks, but boy, they are built like tanks! I've dropped my BlackBerry from 3.5 feet to concrete a couple times, with only minor scruffs to its ruggedized plastic case.

      BlackBerry is more expensive to buy and run, and you still need
    • I went through four sidekicks in six months. Defective screen, permanent lockup, defective keyboard, defective wheel, etc... and reception so lousy that made me take back all my bitching about Sprint, Cingular, and Verizon in the past.

      I loved the interface, AIM client, SSH, etc... all very nicely done. What finally booted me, though, was the lack of sync. Mentioned in dozens of Danger's early press releases, this was never released for the T-Mobile Sidekick. You can't sync your contacts with anything b
      • I went through four sidekicks in six months. Defective screen, permanent lockup, defective keyboard, defective wheel, etc... and reception so lousy that made me take back all my bitching about Sprint, Cingular, and Verizon in the past.
        ...snip...
        If anybody wants it, I have a still-working Black&White Sidekick you can have for $60.

        Man you must be the best salesman at your Radio Shack.

        • Awww yeah. Perhaps it's rare these days, but at least I'm honest. It has a great UI, but reliability sucks. If anybody wants a cheap spare for the inevitable defects they will have with their current unit, super.

          I'm sure as hell not trying to win any *new* sidekick converts, but for somebody stuck in a contract with a broken sidekick outside of warranty, this could be handy.

  • Just a note about T-mo and the internet (Score:5, Informative)

    by MBraynard ( 653724 ) on Wednesday July 21, 2004 @09:39PM (#9766349) Journal
    For those getting a sidekick, they try to push you getting the full-out $30/mo internet connection. For regular phones to get email, etc., they push the stupid T-zones for about $5 a month.

    Truth is, you can have virtually full access with neither. The GSPM internet connection on many of the phones is left open and available and is intended for you to be able to buy ring tones and backgrounds for your phone.

    Turns out that's just enough opening for you to get to your pop3, smtp, and mostly any webpage.

    Furthermore, the time isn't counted against your regular airtime, so while I am only paying $20 a month for the phone service, I am constantly able to check and send email.

  • Mirror [navelsex.com] of just the pics for those that can't get to hiptopinfo.org
  • Try here for the pics: http://handhelds.engadget.com/entry/15353103208184 08/ [engadget.com]. They're unwatermarked, too.

  • WOW! (Score:3, Funny)

    by gnovos ( 447128 ) <gnovos.chipped@net> on Wednesday July 21, 2004 @11:33PM (#9766997) Homepage Journal
    It's got NEARLY everything my free docomo phone had only a scant two years ago, that's incredible!

  • Free! With Every Unit! (Score:3, Funny)

    by dnahelix ( 598670 ) <slashdotispieceofshit@shithome.com> on Thursday July 22, 2004 @12:24AM (#9767248)
    A half-empty bottle of spiderman Dr. Pepper?
  • Really, I wonder if this one will allow users to install 3rd party software. With the current Sidekick programmers can develop and run their own software on an emulator, but aren't allowed to actually install it on the machines. People have implemented handy things like ssh clients [megacity.org], but unless you're an official Sidekick developer, you can't actually run it.

    If they only allowed 3rd party software, I would have bought a Sidekick instead of shelling out the extra cash for a Treo 600.
  • I've been running around various parts of T-Mobile trying to track one of these sons of bitches down, and all I get is "they're not available any more, there should be a new one out in summer". Woohoo! More shit to burn money on. Like Defcon isn't going to fuck my bank account over.
  • I looked into getting the Sidekick because I want a cheap wireless browser and cheap plan. I'd pay for the Treo if the monthly access wasn't so high. Even the T-Mobile coverage isn't as good as Verizon's, the $30 unlimited data makes it very attractive.

    Does anyone know if the new Sidekick will support JavaScript? This is a huge problem (for me) with the current model.

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