I've been playing with my brand new Sidekick 3 for the last few hours, and I'm pretty impressed.
I owned an original Sidekick way back in 2003, but while it was a great Internet gadget, it was a pretty crappy phone. I ended up dumping it for a Nokia 6600. Sadly, my trusty Nokia has begun to show its age (and refuse calls), so I have once more laughed in the face of Danger and taken a bold leap into Sidekick land.
The Sidekick has gone through three hardware revisions and countless software upgrades since I last looked at one, and the end result is pretty slick. The Sidekick 3 is much smaller than the original, and even than the Sidekick 2. It's still just a tad large for a mobile phone, but at least it doesn't look like a brick anymore. It actually feels like a phone when I hold it up to my ear, which is pretty sweet, since talking on the original Sidekick was a little awkward.
Everything about the Sidekick 3 is slick. The new shell, the flip-out color LCD, the backlit qwerty keyboard, and especially the translucent trackball, which lights up in a variety of sexy colors when certain events occur (like incoming messages or phone calls). I'm also mightily pleased with the inclusion of a ringtone that sounds more like a normal telephone ring than any actual telephone I've heard in the last five years. It's such a convincingly normal ring that it's a little hard to believe it's coming out of this sexy, sexy gadget.
There are the usual downsides, of course. The built-in 1.3 megapixel camera takes horrid photos (although the photo application itself is really sweet). I still think it's ridiculous that you can't install unsigned third-party software unless you obtain a special developer key from Danger. The Sidekick has the best mobile OS on the market, an excellent user interface, and a great API, but any innovation is effectively stifled since users can only install commercial software distributed through official channels (and the official channels have no interest in distributing free and/or open source software).
Nevertheless, I'm pleased with my purchase. Now I'm just trying to think of a semi-useful application I can submit with my developer key request so Danger will let me install unsigned code on this thing. If anyone has any ideas, I'm all ears.
Comments
Arrg
Bah, and I just had to go back to Verizon...
Grrrr...
You just wait until the Sidekick 4 comes out, bucko. I'll have your number then!
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price with sell-soul-to-tmobile contract?
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$299 with a 2-year contract. I think it's $399 without a contract.
Useful application...?
If only...
Good, but needed to stay in the test lab a bit more.
The Sidekick is the ultimate device for people my age group (I'm 16, but I would say anyone could use it). The only things that would make it perfect would be to add a zoom to the camera, add video recording, and they should really go to Sony Ericsson for some tips on the camera quality, cause these 1.3's aren't looking to sharp. Putting the Mini SD card slot somewhere on the outside for quicker access, fixing the Bluetooth glitches (like turning off when you turn the phone off) & allow it to connect & send/recieve files with Bluetooth enabled computers & other cellphones. There are still a few more things that could be improved, but thus far it's a really great device. The scroll ball is a nice addition, and navigation thru this phone has always been a breeze. Adding a high resolution screen would make it even more enjoyable. It's nice to be able to text message, be on MSN, and check my E-mail & MySpace all on the go, and all on the same device. Plus last time I checked my laptop can't make calls or recieve text messages. Making the Sidekick one of the ultimate devices for teens, and pretty much anyone on the go who don't always have there laptop on them, or who don't always have time to sit in front of a computer. I'm enjoying this phone to the max and I hope the Sidekick 4 addresses all concerns, comments, and things I wrote for it.
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Hi, my daughter asked Santa Claus for a Sidekick II, I live in Mexico, he bought it from Ebay, but its locked and cant be used, could you please help`me to have the special code only for her to be able to make calls? My e-mail is julietamendez@mail.com
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hi i recently bought i sidekick 3 from ebay and it works okay but it keeps asking me for a special code to enable the sim card can any one help me please please please
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hi i recently bought i sidekick 3 from ebay and it works okay but it keeps asking me for a special code to enable the sim card can any one help me please please please
unlcoking sidekick 3
Hello!
I got an Sidekick 3 D-wade. I want to use ith with T-mobile Germany (got a contract allready)and all the features such as yahoo, msn and aol messenger. That is all I want-the messengers. Can you help me??
Greetz,
unlock code
i just bought a sidekick 3 and i dont know the unlock code can anyone help me with this problem???