Sidekick II
Review: There’s a stealth competitor to high-priced, business-oriented devices like PalmOne’s Treo 600 or Research in Motion’s BlackBerry phone models: T-Mobile’s Sidekick.
Like the Treo and BlackBerry phone, it has robust e-mail capabilities, complete with a built-in keyboard. It also makes a great instant-messaging or text-messaging device, and does a good job with Web surfing.
It tends to fly under the radar because it is aimed at young consumers, not business people; it has an unusual design; and it is sold by just one cellphone carrier, T-Mobile.
Since its launch in October 2002, the Sidekick has built a small, cult-like following among its target youth audience.
Now, the gadget’s manufacturer, a small Silicon Valley firm called Danger Inc., is about to roll out a new version, the Sidekick II, which T-Mobile plans to start selling early this fall for $299, plus $20 a month for unlimited data on top of any voice calling plan.
The Sidekick II retains the signature feature of the original Sidekick: a screen that flips up and around with the flick of a finger to reveal a roomy keyboard underneath. But the new model has a host of improvements over its predecessor.Where the first version resembled a bar of soap, thick with a hump in the middle, the Sidekick II is flat, with tapered ends, and is 25 percent thinner. In addition, a number of key controls that had been hidden under the flip-up screen have been moved to the outside of the device, where they’re easier to reach if you’re on a phone call, or just reading e-mail, and don’t need to use the keyboard. The Sidekick II also now has a built-in camera, with the same lousy quality as most other cellphone and PDA cameras; a speakerphone; and a stronger cellphone receiver. The keyboard is different, and now has a clearly marked section you can use for dialing phone numbers.
Like the first Sidekick, the new model also has a built-in calendar and address book, to-do list, notepad, Web browser, and even some games. The Sidekick II works very well for e-mail and AOL instant messaging, which is built into the device. We did run into some reception problems, both in the city and the suburbs, which made it impossible to receive e-mail, even though in some cases we could still make calls. This highlights one weakness of the Sidekick: unlike the Treo and BlackBerry, it’s offered by just one carrier, T-Mobile, so if T-Mobile’s coverage isn’t good in your area, the device itself is pretty useless.
.