There were TWO release dates for new sidekicks. Now, one may be this, but if the other one was the the Tony Hawk limited edition, that is a waste of excitement - if any.

This Gekko also contradicts the interview with Danger CEO, that the prototype if was carrying was thinner, less wide, and had a bigger Keyboard.

Also with the traditional design of the Sidekicks, the ONLY way you cna pull off making a bigger KB with the swivel, would be to change WHERE the swivel take place.

I believe the new Sidekick (top replacement) will be two halves, with a common bolt-type mechanisn, with will split the device in two flat same sized planes. The only thing about that is, they may need to double up on the access button on either side of the screen. Which would mean a new KB layout and design.

So will this be the last hiptop OS'd Sidekick before MS screws it over with Windows Mobile?

Why on earth would anyone release a smartphone-like device in the weeks before iPhone 2?

It's not like Apple's playbook is that difficult. Saturate airwaves and add slight price markup to make device an "aspirational good".

@OMG! Ponies!: For a second there, I thought you were serious. That's how good you're getting dude. Thumbs up ><

I seem to forget that indeed there are still people that use a sidekick. I had the SK2, followed by the SK3 and swore I would never own anything non-sidekick.

Cut to two years later, I couldn't care less what Danger is doing because they seem to be FAR behind the bigger players in the smartphone world. (RIM, HTC, Nokia, Apple, etc.) I now use a Blackberry 8830 for enterprise and hope to replace my iPod touch with iPhone 2.0.

@OMG! Ponies!: you think your so good at making comments!

Well...oh wait. never mind... (sigh)

a hideous interface for a hideous device. well done!

@OMG! Ponies!: Apple's "playbook" hasn't contained price bumps in over ten years. They almost never raise prices when releasing a upgraded product; it stays the same or drops.

And if you haven't been paying attention, rumor has it that the iPhone rev 2 will be available for $200, thanks to AT&T subsidies.

Wow, was the sarcasm really that subtle that I missed it? Damn.

highly customizable features tht will quickly be disabled by t-mobile.

@OMG! Ponies!: I think it's because for some odd reason Danger doesn't think of the iPhone as competition for the sidekick. They think that they are characterized differently, but the thing is most people would rather an iPhone especially because Sidekicks tend to get redundant (I can say this because I'm a former sidekick owner and lack of edge, youtube, and apps that aren't over priced gets boring fast).

@CGrant: That's the thing. The iPhone is closer in many ways to the Sidekick than the Blackberry.

Maybe Danger thinks it's competing with Apple, but (if they've got half a brain) they'll realize differently when Apple is done eating Danger's lunch.

Apple is smart enough to know what it's in the business of selling - things with Apple logos on them. Computers, cell phones, music players - those things, by themselves, do not excite people. It's how you sell it.

Sometimes a company that isn't Apple stumbles on just the right formula. Palm did it once. Treo (formerly of Palm) did it once. RIM did it once. Sony used to know how to do it. And they all fell apart by either giving people the same thing again and again or trying to copy Apple without actually learning what made Apple work.

Palm kept pumping out PDAs with the same ugly UI for a decade until they became irrelevant. Treo failed to keep an eye on what RIM was up to. Sony ignored digital music completely - wasting one of the greatest brand names of all time. And RIM is wasting money copying the iPhone to try to horn in on the consumer market when its strengths lay in the business market.

I've tended to see the Sidekick only in the hands of African-Americans and Latinos. While I'm all for aiming at undertargeted demographics, I think that the Sidekick's time is done. YouTube on the go is more associated with Apple - thanks to the iPhone/YouTube commercial. This is also why the Centro was a flop. It tried entering a niche that had been filled by the Sidekick and was being replaced by the iPhone.

If "customization" is all that Danger can come up with, then its time for its engineers to start looking in the want-ads. Customization is a perk, not a feature. "Lack of colors" is not the reason that Sidekicks aren't on the minds of today's youth.

As far as pricing - $200 is cheaper than the first iPhone, but it's more expensive than the Curve, the Pearl or the Blackjack. The message that sends is that the others are "bargain" or off-brand phones. Why settle for the rest when you can have the best?

Like I said, keep it a little more expensive than the competition to give it the air of luxury.

There is another sidekick.

find out about the 3rd