T-Mobile announces Sidekick LX and Sidekick Slide

Capping off months of rumor and speculation, T-Mobile and Danger have announced two new Sidekicks today targeting decidedly different segments of the market. The Sidekick LX takes over as the new king of the Hiptop hill, boasting a Sidekick-first wide QVGA display -- touted as incorporating technology borrowed from Sharp's AQUOS televisions, no less -- along with configurable mood lighting, 1.3 megapixel camera with flash, and 128MB worth of bundled microSD memory. Meanwhile, the 4.6 x 2.4 x 0.68-inch Sidekick Slide becomes the first Hiptop device to come from Motorola, the first to ditch the trademark swivel display, and the first to go on a serious diet (anyone who's used a Sidekick of old knows that it ain't exactly small) while still packing the same functionality and 1.3 megapixel cam as its big sib. Look for the LX to hit store shelves come October 24 in your choice of "midnight blue" and "espresso brown" for a cool $299 on contract; the Slide slides in (sorry, couldn't help it) two weeks later on November 7 in a black / deep purple combo for a Franklin less at $199.

Gallery: T-Mobile announces Sidekick LX and Sidekick Slide

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[darkstar @ Sep 26th 2007 12:18AM]

why do kids like the sidekick???

i can type sooo fast with my blackberry pearl that people are often surprised im chatting on a phone. n the pearl is super small compare to the sidekick.

[wslcrew @ Sep 26th 2007 12:31AM]

Because it's cheap! Sidekick iD has been hugely popular because of it's sub-$100 pricing. Also T-Mobile has a special data rate for sidekicks with $20 that covers both internet and messaging. The blackberry rate that T-Mobile offers does not include sms/instant messaging and requires extra fee - even though they are still cheaper than ATT, verizon, etc..

[darkstar @ Sep 26th 2007 12:38AM]

oh. i didnt know. hahaha. sorry.
i work for a mobile phone company. have never even seen a phone bill.

[caramelzappa @ Sep 26th 2007 12:54AM]

Yea the sidekick is the most inexpensive data plan you can get. $20 a month get's you everything, where on verizon you'd have to pay maybe $40 for data and another $20 for sms and im's. Just the choice of getting a sidekick instead of say,a motorolla q, pays for itself in a few months.

[Tim T. @ Sep 27th 2007 3:26AM]

I only pay $15 per month with Sprint to get power vision and unlimited texting. $5 less a month PLUS high speed internet. Nevertheless, I have always had a soft spot for the sidekick, and my biggest standing issue (the screen) has now been fixed. Good job T-mobile/Danger!

[Nick @ Sep 26th 2007 9:20AM]

@caramelzappa

not to mention who the hell is able to type on the Motorola Q's keyboard. I know that I want an actual QWERTY keyboard and one that i can actualy type on. Sidekick keyboards are much more User friendly than many of the other Smartphone QWERTY keyboards.

[simon @ Sep 26th 2007 11:18AM]

I think everyone kind of forgot that the sidekick is huge with the hearing impaired community. Dont quote me, but i think that was actually one of their original target demographics.

[Nick @ Sep 26th 2007 11:24AM]

@Simon

now that you mention it I totally forgot about that. When I took an basic sign language course the professor mentioned that. Good Point!

[xo @ Sep 29th 2007 11:06PM]

haha, i can type 52 wpm on my hiptop/sidekick 3.....

[toriesmom @ Nov 13th 2007 8:20PM]

you're right. the original demographic of the sidekick was the Deaf community (btw Deaf people don't like to be called "hearing impaired"). They were doing two-way texting YEARS before the hearing world caught on. The Sidekick enabled the Deaf community to communicate much more effectively than the old two way pagers. The sidekick not only provides real EMAIL on the phone (no character limitations), it also provides Deaf people a way to have their TTY phone access on the go. The other area that Deaf people are way ahead of the hearing world is video phones. They all have them now and rarely use TTY anymore. Video phones allows them to call each other directly and talk face to face.... Just a little Deaf education...

[nxtiak @ Sep 26th 2007 12:17AM]

That swivel on the Sidekick seriously sucks. The Sidekick Slide is a welcomed change.

[Jacob @ Sep 26th 2007 12:20AM]

Something about the Slide's keypad turns me off. Not sure if it's the round keys or the fact they appear to be plastic instead of rubber...

[Chris @ Sep 26th 2007 12:21AM]

What is WQVGA? 480x272? or 400x240?

[Maff @ Sep 26th 2007 11:19AM]

I think its 428x240! http://www.kopin.com/wqvga/

[Adrian Williams @ Sep 26th 2007 12:25AM]

People that wanted the Sidekick never bytched and moaned about not being able to get it since it's locked to T-mobile
//unlike some people we know (cough Iphone cough)

[Brian @ Sep 26th 2007 12:47AM]

what makes you think that?

[Tanner @ Sep 26th 2007 12:51AM]

Thank you, I don't know why apple is always held to different standards than any other company on the face of the earth. Every cell phone provider and manufacturer have teamed up at on point or annother for exclusive contracts it seems. I believe the Chocolate phone is Verizon only, Sidekick is T-mobile only, those are just off the top of my head but there are many, many more. Nobody seems to care then, but as soon as apple releases a product on at&t only all hell breaks loose and people start talking class action lawsuits and how disappointed they are. I just thought that was how the cell phone industry works, I don't see why it would be any different when apple makes a cell phone. On a side note, $299 for a sidekick with only 128mb of memory? For $100 more you can get an iPhone with 8 gigs, or as another poster said a backberry pearl. I don't know who would want this for $299 with a 2 year contract. I guess 15 year old girls maybe.

[enzo @ Sep 26th 2007 2:53AM]

dude I don't even like apple that much, and even I understand that an iphone is on a whole different level of goodness compared to a sidekick.

[Nick @ Sep 26th 2007 9:24AM]

Thats because people were looking for Apple to enter the market and start to change things around. Consumers are sick of having to choose their phone based on who they currently have a contract with or miss out on a great device because it's not available for their carrier. There was alot of expectations for Apple to come in and not give into the bullshit that is the mobile phone industry. Unfortunately they bought into it.

[dcny @ Sep 26th 2007 1:58PM]

@Tanner
tmobile owns the name sidekick the device itself is not a tmobile excusive other companies have released it

[JohnTitor @ Sep 26th 2007 12:46AM]

took long enough to get to QVGA, and still no touchscreen
Sidekicks are for people who like to get left behind

[caramelzappa @ Sep 26th 2007 12:57AM]

Sidekicks are for people who don't spend $600 on their phones, or $40 a month for their data plans with a seperate $20 for texting. Sidekicks are not the top of the line but they are a really nice way to get the features a lot of people want without spending a fortune.

[1234321 @ Sep 26th 2007 1:40AM]

^what are you talking about?
you can get a number of phones for a great price, though in America T-mobile's only PDA is the Wing
but yeah that goes for $300 or even less if you find a good dealer. As for data plan just call T-mobile and say you got a regular phone and you can get for $6 full html internet and AIM
now that's a kick in the Side (terrible joke)

[iMatt @ Sep 26th 2007 1:54AM]

I've been with the sidekick's since Sidekick B/W... haha, i've enjoyed them because its so cheap, and easy to use. I am gonna be getting the sidekick LX Oct. 17th! I can't wait

[Greenwave @ Sep 26th 2007 1:56AM]

ok so in other words the difference in the two is the screen and price? and ppl wonder why i use an iphone on tmobile's network....still no wifi on these things

[Lewis @ Sep 26th 2007 1:57AM]

finally.

now i can own a sidekick 3 while my brother buys an LX

[Megan @ Sep 26th 2007 2:22AM]

If I ever live in an area that T-Mobile actually serves, I'm getting a Sidekick. They're pretty cheap and I'm used to them. That the selling point for me.

[Montusama @ Sep 26th 2007 2:28AM]

Looks nice but I'm kidding myself on getting a phone I want unless I make it myself.....
between the carriers....(ripping you off) and the phones not doing what I want them to do....though I suppose with each new phone it comes closers to an full fledge camera and pmp (XVID/AVI not this WMV junk)

[Virtuous @ Sep 26th 2007 2:46AM]

The popularity of Sidekicks and Blackberries proves that most people don't need touchscreens. It's easy to see why Sidekicks sell so well. Affordable unlimited data plans, good T-Mo customer service, well-designed user interface and QUERTY keyboard, and server syncing. I don't own a Sidekick, but my 37-year old sister does.

[enzo @ Sep 26th 2007 2:56AM]

I always thought the sidekick had a solid form factor, it was just too bulky and underspec'd like some kind of toy. But I'm glad to see improvements.

[Rob Fleming @ Sep 26th 2007 4:05AM]

WHEN WILL IT HAVE GOOGLE MAPS????

[pixel @ Oct 7th 2007 5:44PM]

sidekicks only run sidekick apps, not the java midp apps that every other cell phone can just download from the web. but you never have to worry about compatibility either. about half the midp apps i tried didnt work on my blackberry. googles maps and mail apps did.

so unless google feels like writing a special version just for the sidekick and jumping through dangers hoops to get it in thier catalog, its not going to happen.

does the sidekick browser support enough javascript for google maps? other phones (like the blackberry curve) can do google maps and read a gps (internal or external bluetooth puck)

[patrick @ Oct 10th 2007 2:19AM]

who needs google maps when you have a navigation system in your car

[Elix @ Sep 26th 2007 7:03AM]

The LX is coming to the upgrade program (for existing customers) Oct 17. Retail on the 24th.

[Elix @ Sep 26th 2007 7:06AM]

@1234321 Idiot. That's t-zones. That gets you WAP (not HTML) browsing and email (but not the same that you would get with a full data plan). Instant messaging is counted as text messaging using the built-in clients on handsets. (Yes, the AIM link in t-zones would let you do it for free, but WAP 2.0 handsets cannot access it anymore, so... anything less than 18-24 months old, really.)

[Nick @ Sep 26th 2007 9:31AM]

Tmobile kinda pissed me off when they decided the only way to get updates is via paying for the Data plan. Then ontop of that they decided to only allow phones to update when they push something out over the network, not have the phone check-in with the system when it first joins the network to see if it needs any updates. So here I am running my Sidekick II with factory 2.0 OS because I could end up paying for the data plan for six months and still not get any firmware/OS updates. what a bunch of BullShit.

[Rave @ Sep 26th 2007 2:19PM]

OTAs are sent over the network via GPRS so yes, you'd need a data plan. No other way to update the phone. Also the phones DO send their version info to the Danger servers when they connect, if the OS on your phone is older than the current OS an OTA will be sent to you. Once the OTA has been sent out it is always available for older models. If you do have an older phone and aren't getting the OTA call customer care, they should be able to force an update to your phone, providing you have data enabled on your sim.

[Nick @ Sep 27th 2007 12:54PM]

someone should inform the sales people of this info because they dont know jack shit

[Kenjro @ Sep 26th 2007 11:38AM]

what about europe? i read somewhere were they said that it will be internationally released.. will it come to europe? and the date?

[brian @ Sep 26th 2007 12:54PM]

I had a sidekick of various models for 4 years. This one here is in its last 2 months of operation and has not been turned on for 4 months. The HTC-6800 is far and away the best phone on the market today. Far better than the iPhone.

[bo0gz @ Oct 16th 2007 12:02PM]

its gotta be the FLIP they do one lil change nd make a whole new phone frm my sk1 to my sk2 to my sk3 (minus the horrible camera nd da mp3 all the rest could have been a regular over the air update)

NOT TOUCH SCREEN

NO TV

NO FM RADIO

PROLLY STILL TRASH INTERNET nd DEF NO YOUTUBE (not evn internet tabs)

PROLLY STILL A LIMIT ON EMAILS

CANT RECORD YOUR PHONE CONVOS. . cant record anything

ND THE WORSE THING THEY HAVE IS THEIR CAMERAS (i guess they did not even bother putting wun on the sidekick id) WORSE CLARITY IN PICTURES ND CANT RECORD VIDEOOOOs

VERY SENSITIVE FOR NO REASON [[ITZ NOT A TOUCH SCREEN]]. . (steam frm ur hot breath can give this thing water damage)

ND ALL THIS Hi-TECH STUFF JUST MEANS TO ME EVN SHORTER BATTERY LIFE

www.myspace.com/antbo0gz

[quinthar @ Sep 26th 2007 3:02PM]

Any word if they're updating the applications? I've been a Sidekick fan from the very start, but damn. The applications are a bit dated. A tabbed browser that auto-detects phone numbers would be an awesome addition, and better HTML rendering and JavaScript wouldn't hurt.

Also, any idea if this has improved reception? It's embarassingly bad today.

[evilpimp @ Sep 26th 2007 3:18PM]

THEY SAY ON OCTOBER 17TH TMOBILE CUSTOMERS CAN COME IN TO UPGRADE TO A SIDEKICK LX AND FOR THE NEW CUSTOMERS ITS OCTOBER 24TH!! MY QUESTIONS IS I HAVE A SIDEKICK 3 PREPAID SO I SHOULD BE ABLE TO COME IN ON THE 17TH SINCE I AM A CUSTOMER AND UPGRADE TO THE LX RIGHT?

[Elix @ Sep 26th 2007 3:35PM]

No, prepaid customers are not eligible for the upgrade program. This is the "sign a new contract, get a new phone" deal, and prepaid doesn't have a contract.

[Gonzo @ Sep 27th 2007 11:20AM]

Check out the Sidekick LX on the T-mobile website. The blue has no FM radio where the brown has a FM radio weird???

[tbyron @ Sep 26th 2007 5:19PM]

What about UMA? Any word on that?

[aus @ Sep 27th 2007 10:18AM]

The new devies look kinda cool, but t-mobile absolutely SUCKS!!
Their service is ok.. but their customer service is the worst. I called to speak with someone about a situation my roommate was in the middle of with them and complained that i wasn't happy with how he was treated and if he was treated so rudely and left without any options, who's to say wouldn't be treated with the same disrespect (and we have both been members since 2002. ) The woman transfered me to someone who was supposed to "appease" me and make me feel better about staying with tmobile, but he just argued with me, and told me that my friend's situation had nothing to do with me.. and he didn't listen to my argument. it was absurd that he raised at me, talked down to me, and treated me like a idiot. Since that conversation(which lasted 45 minutes) i have been telling all of my friends to leave them. tmobile will turn their back on you(the customer) the minute you actually need their help.. and they just won't care how loyal you've been to them if it doesn't help their own interests.
That's why I'm checking out helio's stuff. They seem to be a little more edgy, and for the consumer.

[G0DDESS @ Oct 12th 2007 12:30AM]

i THiNK THE SliDE l00KS HEllA UGlY. `N THE SCREEN iS WAAAAAAAAAY 2 PHUCKiN SMAll...THE lX iS WAT i'M GETTiN. CAN'T WAiT 2 DiTCH THiS WACK ASS RAZR.

[kia @ Oct 3rd 2007 9:58PM]

the way you type is "hella ugly"
im gonna take a stab in the dark and guess youre from cali

[patrick @ Oct 10th 2007 2:12AM]

i agree the way you type is rediculous, and to "kia" not everyone who is from california says hella and types like that. only the stupid people not from LA