Friends, I freaking loved the Sidekick. Seriously. I would have married it. I carried it from about 2004 until 2007, almost all versions. It was literally the best messaging phone I ever used.

Well, all that’s gone, my friends, because as of July, T-Mo is pulling the plug on the device. They write:

As T-Mobile looks to further innovate and raise the bar for the next iteration of the T-Mobile Sidekick, as of July 2, the Sidekick LX and Sidekick 2008 will no longer be available through T-Mobile, including retail stores, care, telesales and online. While we work on the next chapter of our storied Sidekick franchise, T-Mobile will continue to provide our loyal Sidekick customers with product service and support. Stay tuned for exciting updates in the months ahead, which we expect will provide customers with a new and fresh experience.

Goodbye, my friend. Goodbye.

via BGR

With the huge announcement of Windows Phone 7 out of the way, we’re anticipating what was rumored about another Microsoft phone last week: news about a project Pink revival. Before Microsoft can say anything officially, however, the folks over at WMExperts have unearthed some gritty details about the coming phones.

The Turtle, pictured above, is a GSM handset but its CDMA counterpart is named Pride. Both versions feature a 320 x 240 resolution screen and, obviously, a slide-out QWERTY  keyboard. Judging by the phone and screen size as well as its resolution, this may be an enry-level phone, but it’s said that it will incorporate some serious social networking features and media.

Microsoft’s Pure may be somewhat of a successor to the Sidekick, whose reputation is now slightly tarnished due to what could be remembered as the Danger Server Fiasco of 2009. Its CDMA counterpart is called Lion and both devices have a 480 x 320 screen along with what looks to be a comfortable QWERTY keyboard.

All of these handsets are allegedly strongly tied to NVIDIA’s Tegra system and are constantly referred to as “Premium Mobile Experiences” throughout the documents that revealed these morsels of information. Hopefully we’ll get a lot more from Microsoft regarding these new handsets as Mobile World Congress pushes along.

[via WMExperts]

It’s finally happening. Maybe. According to sources close to the Wall Street Journal, Microsoft is going to make a pretty big announcement at Mobile World Congress on February 15. After acknowledging that Windows Mobile isn’t exactly where it should be in terms of development and platform progression, Microsoft appears to be ready to announce and unveil Windows Mobile 7. But what happened to WinMo 6.5.3?

Microsoft’s bridge between WinMo 6.5 and WinMo 7 is 6.5.3, but if 7 will be announced and ready to go soon, I doubt anyone will be sore about missing an inconsequential update to the latest version of the OS. After all, according to WSJ, Windows Mobile 7 is a slick operating system that “sports a revamped user interface that resembles the look of Microsoft’s Zune HD music player.” If you’re the impatient type who needs time frames, Windows 7 devices are slated to be released later this year.

Windows Mobile 7 isn’t all Microsoft has up its sleeve. Although we’ve been hearing about project Pink for months now, to the point where I’ve personally given up hope, MWC just might be the venue for another surprise. Apparently, Pink is going to be announced as a youth-oriented device geared toward the Sidekick crowd. Let’s just hope that it doesn’t suffer the same fate that Sidekick users did a few months ago.

Be sure to stay tuned for our coverage of Mobile World Congress 2010!

Data problems? What data problems? Oh right, those data problems. Well, its been about a month so, like with any sort of break up or troubled relationship, you’ve had your chance to grieve and be angry…now it’s time to move on, folks.

At least that seems to be T-Mobile’s position. Thus, Big T has resumed selling both its older Sidekick and the newer Sidekick LX, each for slightly less than the pre-data loss prices nonetheless.

After the terrible debacle that was the T-Mobile/MS/Danger data loss extravaganza in which T-Mobile gave affected users $100 gift cards, it wasn’t clear if the ol’ Sidekicks would every see the light of day again. Low and behold, T-Mobile had brought them back from their self-imposed deadpool, only this time, they are cheaper than before. The older Sidekick (2008) is now just $49.99 (w/ contract) and the newer LX is down to $149.99 (w/ contract).

So now’s the time to grab your new ‘kick…that is, if you are willing to be that lightning won’t strike twice.

In a statement, Roz Ho, Corporate VP of Premium Mobile Experiences addresses the unfortunate T-Mobile Sidekick customers and apologizes for the massive fail:

On behalf of Microsoft, I want to apologize for the recent problems with the Sidekick service and give you an update on the steps we have taken to resolve these problems.

We are pleased to report that we have recovered most, if not all, customer data for those Sidekick customers whose data was affected by the recent outage. We plan to begin restoring users’ personal data as soon as possible, starting with personal contacts, after we have validated the data and our restoration plan. We will then continue to work around the clock to restore data to all affected users, including calendar, notes, tasks, photographs and high scores, as quickly as possible.

She adds that there’s now a belief that only a minority of Sidekick users were affected by the outage, but did not share exact numbers. She refers customers who believe they’ve been affected to the T-Mobile Sidekick forum for more updates about when data restoration will commence, and any steps they may need to take on their side. Microsoft says it will work with T-Mobile to post the next update on data restoration timing no later than Saturday.

And about the actual failure, which turns out not to be sabotage after all as we assumed:

We have determined that the outage was caused by a system failure that created data loss in the core database and the back-up. We rebuilt the system component by component, recovering data along the way. This careful process has taken a significant amount of time, but was necessary to preserve the integrity of the data.

Microsoft states it has made changes to improve the overall stability of the Sidekick service and initiated a more resilient backup process to ensure that the integrity of their DB is maintained.

It’s still a giant fuck-up, but at least the users (well, most) will get their data back. But the whole debacle has reflected very poorly on all companies involved, and it will linger for long.

…someone with access to the servers at the datacenter must have inserted a time bomb to wipe out not just all of the data, but also all of the backup tapes, and finally, I suspect, reformatting the server hard drives so that the service itself could not be restarted with a simple reboot (and to erase any traces of the time bomb itself)… If this was an ordinary sort of failure, the service would have come back within a day, so once again, all signs point to sabotage.

’cause what you see you might not get
And we can bet, so don’t you get backed-up yet
Scheming on a thing that’s a mirage
I’m tryin’ to tell you now it’s sabotage

In all honesty, I have a problem with this theory. A three-pronged attack on servers like this is pretty difficult, especially from afar. While it’s obvious that a laid-off employee could have planted this during Danger’s move to Microsoft, Danger’s IT people must be pretty stupid to fall for something of this magnitude, y’all.

via Giz

Slightly better news for anyone who lost data during the recent Microsoft/T-Mobile Sidekick outage. While it initially appeared that user data may have been lost forever, T-Mobile issued a statement late yesterday saying, “Recent efforts indicate the prospects of recovering some lost content may now be possible.”

It goes on to say, “In the event certain customers have experienced a significant and permanent loss of personal content, T-Mobile will be sending these customers a $100 customer appreciation card. This will be in addition to the free month of data service that already went to Sidekick data customers.”

The card can be used for T-Mobile products and services. The company has temporarily stopped selling Sidekick devices and has advised current owners to not allow their Sidekicks to reset or lose power.

[via CNET]

Apparently they’ve gotten many “critical applications” back online, which seems to include everything you’d want to use: “address book and calendar, social media applications, IM, web browsing, media player and camera.” What else can a phone do?!

At any rate, they say they’ll have everything back to 100% by Thursday. anybody out there still having issues?

Earlier today, T-Mobile announced the availability of Facebook and Twitter apps (already available on the Sidekick LX 2009) for its older Sidekicks – the Sidekick LX (including Tony Hawk Sidekick LX), Sidekick (2008), and Sidekick Slide.

While the Facebook app remains free for any ‘kick, the Twitter app is gonna run you $1.99 PER month on the older models. So, you can either dish out $24/yr for a native Twitter app, or you could wire up Facebook to automatically post to Twitter for free. Hmmm, tough call.

via Phone Scoop

Yo, Sidekick LX ’09 owners. Check out the Download Catalog. You should find the Sidekick Sync app somewhere in there and guess what? The app brings push email, attachment viewing, syncing, and Exchange support to your beloved Sidekick. Tits, right? (If you don’t see the app right away, check back a little bit later today)

Now you should know that the app costs $4.99 a month to use and you must have a Sidekick data plan. But think what this means. You’ll finally have real-time email and be able to hook up with your work calander and contacts Exchange server. That must be worth $5 bucks a month, right?

This afternoon, T-Mobile Sidekick LX ’09 customers will find something
new in the Download Catalog – the new Sidekick Sync application.

A highly-anticipated first for Sidekick, Sidekick Sync on the Sidekick
LX ’09 will support real time push email, attachment viewing, full
sync capabilities, full read and respond functionality and
configurable sync schedules.  In addition to email, the application
will sync with contacts from a corporate directory, along with full
sync capabilities with an Exchange calendar and meeting/event
reminders.

Sidekick Sync on the Sidekick LX ’09 is available for $4.99/month.  A
Sidekick data plan is required to download the application.

Sidekick Sync was developed and built by
Remoba<http://www.remoba.com/>, a leading developer of enterprise and
consumer mobile applications, with full cooperation of Microsoft,
Danger, and T-Mobile USA.

Yo, Sidekick LX ’09 owners. Check out the Download Catalog. You should find the Sidekick Sync app somewhere in there and guess what? The app brings push email, attachment viewing, syncing, and Exchange support to your beloved Sidekick. Tits, right? (If you don’t see the app right away, check back a little bit later today)

Now you should know that the app costs $4.99 a month to use and you must have a Sidekick data plan. But think what this means. You’ll finally have real-time email and be able to hook up with your work calander and contacts Exchange server. That must be worth $5 bucks a month, right?

This afternoon, T-Mobile Sidekick LX ’09 customers will find something
new in the Download Catalog – the new Sidekick Sync application.

A highly-anticipated first for Sidekick, Sidekick Sync on the Sidekick
LX ’09 will support real time push email, attachment viewing, full
sync capabilities, full read and respond functionality and
configurable sync schedules. In addition to email, the application
will sync with contacts from a corporate directory, along with full
sync capabilities with an Exchange calendar and meeting/event
reminders.

Sidekick Sync on the Sidekick LX ’09 is available for $4.99/month. A
Sidekick data plan is required to download the application.

Sidekick Sync was developed and built by
Remoba<http://www.remoba.com/>, a leading developer of enterprise and
consumer mobile applications, with full cooperation of Microsoft,
Danger, and T-Mobile USA.

Ah, Project Pink, I haven’t heard anything from or about you in quite a long time. But it looks like Redmond made some key changes to its agency roster and McCann picked up the “Pink” account. McCann also handles Windows Mobile.

According to ZDnetter Mary Jo Foley, Pink will be built on top of Windows Mobile 7, which MS plans to release the code for this fall when WinMo 6.5 devices start to flood the market. Foley goes on to say that she’s heard that Motorola will manufacture Pink alongside the Sidekick. Except she fails to realize that Sharp manufactures the Sidekick; Motorola built the Slide that has since been axed from the lineup. So does that mean Danger is in the mix? Maybe. On a side note, it’s pretty funny that the UI for Pink is codenamed “Purple” because Bing’s earliest codename was also Purple or so I’ve heard.

Going back to early May, Foley detailed purported specs for Pink and the biggest indicator that the device could be tied in with the Zune platform is the use of Nvidia’s Tegra platform. And it wouldn’t surprise me if Danger had a big hand in all of this because they haven’t done much with the Hiptop unit other than including Live Search in the latest Sidekick LX. Just don’t go to Verizon.

Folks, just wanted to keep you abreast on pricing for the 3G Sidekick LX (2009) from T-Mobile. It was originally slated to be $200 after a MIR, but that only applies to existing T-Mobile customers. New customers will have to fork over $250 for the new hotness. That is all.

The bird has landed. We just got our Sidekick LX review unit in and we’ll have a review soon, but figured you’d want to see the obligatory unboxing. Enjoy.

But if you really need to know the important stuff then check here, here or here.

[PSGallery=5sb6y115ot]

The folks at have found the full summer line-up including a prepaid Nokia 1661. Boring feature phones aside, I’m actually quite excited about the new Sidekick – I’ve had a soft spot in my heart for SK since it saved my life back in ‘Nam and generally made email and IM amazingly easy. Full list after the jump.

* “Blade” (Sidekick 2009) – May 13
* HTC “Maple”/”Snap” – July 1st (contrary to earlier speculation, this seems to confirm a T-Mobile variant)
* HTC “Rhodium”/Wing II – July 22nd (also known as the Touch Pro 2)
* HTC “Sapphire”/”Magic” – TBD. Sorry folks.. we’ll keep you posted (a.k.a. G2)
* Sony Ericsson “CS8″ – June 24th (8mp camera? Is this the Android device they’ve been talking about?)
* Nokia 1661 (prepaid) – April 29th (We know, a week later than previously mentioned. But you know the wait will be SO worth it. No… really… it will be… )
* Samsung T349 (prepaid) – May 6th
* Samsung T239 (prepaid) – May 13th
* Samsung T559 – July 15th
* Samsung T469 – July 15th (just a simple two-tone gray, apparently)
* Samsung T749 – July 22nd (2 colors for this one: red/orange and two-tone gray)
* Samsung T659 – August 19th

T-Mobile Sidekick 2008 [LetsTalk.com via dealnews]

Understatement of the day: Apps are in. Having already released an iPhone app, it should come as no surprise that Photobucket has teamed up with T-Mobile and Danger to create mobile Photobucket apps for select T-Mo handsets and Danger’s Sidekick.

More specifically, Photobucket worked with T-Mobile to create an exclusive mobile photo/video service “that enables users to send photos directly from mobile handsets to several destinations: a Photobucket album, a PC hard drive, or any an email address.”

Initially, the app (both free and premium versions) will be available on T-Mobile’s BlackBerry Curve, BlackBerry Pearl, and three select (unnamed) WinMo handsets. According to the press release:

Following the 21-day trial, users can continue using the free version or purchase the full software for a special holiday one-time purchase price of $19.99. The expired trial version allows users to upload only to Photobucket, while the premium version gives users access to Photobucket, as well as the ability to send photos to their home PC or to any email address.

As for Sidekick owners, Photobucket partnered with Danger to develop an app specifically for everyone’s favorite hiptop (screenshots below). The app allows users to upload photos and videos directly to a Photobucket album from their Sidekick where they can add/edit titles, descriptions and tags, and even rotate and/or resize their images.

In addition, users can:

• Create a Photobucket account
• Log into Photobucket to access their albums
• Browse and search images and videos on Photobucket
• Browse other users’ albums
• Share images

The Sidekick Photobucket app is available only on a subscription basis for $1.99/month.

Ahhh, the rumormill.  Nothing like the smell of freshly minted bs theories and speculation. The latest “hot tip” comes in the form of a supposed Sidekick refresh a la 3G flavor. If T-Mobile is serious about keeping this fading classic around amongst the likes of the G1 and other recent releases, 3G is an absolute must at this point.

What will this new high-speed update look like? How much will it cost? Will it ever see the light of T-Mobile day?  Your guesses are as good as ours.

[via TmoNews]