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They may want to change this page then. This looks like a promise:

Data is always synchronized and backed up

Danger-powered devices are always connected to the Danger service. All user data is automatically and securely backed up over-the-air, and emails, photos, and organzier data are automatically synchronized with a Web-based application. All changes that are made on the device are instantly and automatically reflected on the user's computer, and vice versa.

And if you're wondering, yes, archive.org does have a backup copy of that page.

We're reshaping the mobile Internet landscape

Danger is now a part of Microsoft's new Premium Mobile Experiences (PMX) team, a group within the Mobile Communications Business (MCB) of the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft.

T-mobile will let you can unlock a Sidekick.

You'll be able to use your Sidekick as a phone, but will lose alot of the Sidekick functionality. T-Mobile uses Danger's servers for that functionality and those servers won't be accessible from the AT&T network.

Ballmer's craziness is also reflected in their other acquisitions. Why would they buy http://www.danger.com/ which has no integration with Windows Mobile? Only to make fight with Google's Android.

MS supposedly cost $10bn to develop (depending on what sources you read) and MS was prepared to spend $40bn for Yahoo. Surely MS should be thinking of spending more on fixing their core business.

Hey Ballmer, if you want to survive then you need to be less competitor focused and more customer focused. Don't let you megalomania divert you from core business.

Buying Danger Inc http://www.danger.com/ was to make fight with Google Android (Danger was founded by the Google Android guys). Again, no synergy with MS's current mobile offerings.

Most folk working at Yahoo and Danger would probably rather quit than get Borged, so trying to acquire skills is pointless (and neither Danger nor Yahoo use Windows so would really not help anyway).

The first is that nobody has figured out a reasonable UI with the screenspace that is available.

Danger has with the Sidekick family. It's unfortunate that they haven't kept up with anything else that the device has to offer (the camera still fucking blows, there might be GPS inside but it isn't enabled for user accessible location-aware apps, and T-mobile is holding the rest of it by marketing it to douchebags and teenagers rather than who they should have).

The Hiptop's OS is incredible (multitasking, useful hotkeys, and "macros" for shorting your typing time. It's just the physical device has a shitty build quality (my menu button ceases to work every 6 months) and T-mobile hinders the device and developer created applications.

My Hiptops haven't crashed (I have gotten a java trash collector spinner a few times that went away after awhile) and it smokes the crap out of Microsoft's solutions.

To answer another commenter that the phone's screens should be renamed iSquint is clueless and has obviously not used a decent handheld device including the Sidekick (which has a shitty resolution compared to other options out there).

Ah, yes, but the original developers of BeOS are still great engineers, so it's newsworthy to hear about their new pursuits. As a former BeOS hacker and an intern at Be in 1997, it's great to see what's happened to the various engineers that I used to work with. Dominic Giampaolo is now at Apple where he is the chief architect behind Spotlight and other cool stuff, and several Be engineers, including myself, are now working at Danger, Inc., the company behind the Hiptop/Sidekick and Hiptop2 smart phones.

I remember Benoit as an über-hacker who wrote something like 50% of the original BeOS single-handedly. It was great to hear about his new job while I'm waiting for KDE 3.5.0 beta 2 to compile on my Gentoo box.

Ah, yes, but the original developers of BeOS are still great engineers, so it's newsworthy to hear about their new pursuits. As a former BeOS hacker and an intern at Be in 1997, it's great to see what's happened to the various engineers that I used to work with. Dominic Giampaolo is now at Apple where he is the chief architect behind Spotlight and other cool stuff, and several Be engineers, including myself, are now working at Danger, Inc., the company behind the Hiptop/Sidekick and Hiptop2 smart phones.

I remember Benoit as an über-hacker who wrote something like 50% of the original BeOS single-handedly. It was great to hear about his new job while I'm waiting for KDE 3.5.0 beta 2 to compile on my Gentoo box.

You might try out the hiptop, or as tmobile calls them the sidekick. Its a nice little phone with qwerty and an ssh client. Gets the job done for me. Check out the manufacturers website.

The reduction in power will enable a new class of devices to be created at the 0.5W marker - the Handtop.

Also known as the video iPod, perhaps?

AKA the Hiptop http://www.danger.com/

In fact, you can even buy a plan from T-Mobile that has no voice minutes built in -- only data.

OK, so I should have RTFA first.

So if Nokia has already licensed the tech (years ago), where the heck are the devices?
As far as I've read, none of the Nokia 9x00 Communicator series (9210, 9290, 9500, 9300) support the blackberry protocol... if they did I would already own one. (clue to Nokia)

If anyone at Danger is reading this: Please take your form-factor and license the blackberry communication protocol... expand your target market beyond teenagers (you'll find a tremendous number of people in the IT field already are customers that you are neglecting/annoying). You have the best human-interface of any of these devices I've used, but I can't use it for work.

> Look at your keyboard, it makes sense.
Yes, I typed it on my hiptop.
Full disclosure: Danger is located in Palo Alto. I don't work for them. They're near Fry's though and I do sometimes go to Fry's.

Don't forget the Danger Hiptop, a.k.a. T-Mobile Sidekick. You can sign up to be a developer at no cost, and you'll be able to load your programs on your phone if you can convince Danger that what you are developing is of any real interest (not that tough). The SDK is Java so it works anywhere, and program loading is done via USB.

Maybe they should buy a device aimed at the youth market and priced to match? You get unlimited SMS, unlimited messaging (via AOL Instant Messenger), unlimited E-mail, plus a voice plan, starting at around $30/month. Anything else is just a rip-off.

• Danger's hiptop.
• Motorola's RAZR cellphone.
• Segway
• and, inevitably, the iPod.

(Yes, the Segway is still being sold.)

now having two people who rarely venture outdoors except under duress

Easy: get them wireless access. The Danger Hiptop might work.

And, don't worry, once they discover real sex, they will venture outside again.

Do you ban them from using MSN?

Sounds like a good idea. They should be using Jabber.

Do you limit the number of hours they can be online?"

Oops, darn, what a shame, Windows crashed again. Kids, it will take me a few hours to reinstall. Sooner or later, they'll catch on and just install Linux for you, but at least that's educational.

Many Slashdot readers must have confronted this situation; how have you dealt with it, and what were the outcomes of what you did?

Yeah, I know, being a Slashdot reader myself, my parents have been trying to get me away from the computer as well, but with little success so far :-)

Personally, I've ejoyed the following lately:

• PSK-31 -- a cheap soundcard-based text-to-text mode that uses only 31Hz of bandwidth and goes around the world on 5 watts
• XML for Ham Radio -- I've started a consortium to develop XML standards for ham radio, starting with an extensible logging format, and working with everyone from QRZ and eQSL.cc on the server side to xlog for Linux and Ham Radio Deluxe for Windows and others.
• RPSK -- a TCP/IP based protocol for remote operation of a PSK station with a Java applet client and a hiptop client. (The antenna is not hooked up right now so don't expect the applet to work.)
• HFPack -- portable and picnic table operation with HF radio; I talked to Estonia with an Elecraft KX1 and about 4.5 Watts
• An RSS feed for APRS -- working with APRSWorld I developed an APRS to RSS converter to help HFPackers let people know where and when they are operating, so people can listen for them.
• Kit building -- I have built an Elecraft K2, one of the most sensitive ham transceivers in the world, their KX1 (one of the smallest and most featureful), a Small Wonder Labs PSK-20 specific to PSK on 14.070 MHz, and a variety of American QRP Club and Four-State QRP Club kits. For more power, I built an 50 Watt HF Amplifier in a group project and am working on a 100W one.
• CW -- I learned Morse Code at 5 so it was easy to pick back up after a couple (ok, a few) decades of disuse, and it's been a blast as well.

Check it out and take a look at my Ham Web Log for more stuff.

Even so, here's what I want out of a PDA, and the Axim comes close, but not close enough.
The Hiptop comes closer: it gives you 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, and GPRS instead of WiFi for #1. Why don't you try one while you're waiting for the ultimate to come out? (There's also a VNC client on #6, for when you absolutely have to...)

To answer your concern, Danger has decided to switch who's building their hardware and they've chosen Sharp.

Here's a Press Release about it.

-Aaron

The Hiptop displays Japanese and Chinese fine, and if you become a developer you can install a Japanese dictionary , or use one online in its browser.

Danger seems like a very creepy company.

The Woz sits on their advisory board. How creepy can they be?

But still no (real) sync yet.

The Sidekick II will include InteliSync. See the top feature listed at http://www.danger.com/consumers_hiptop2.php.

It will also be available for the original Sidekick around the same time.

this handheld is great except it has very little advantage over a laptop... untill a device has a built in querty keyboard, it cannot be an "on the move" hand held. Graffiti is obviously only good for 1-10 letters at a time... Onscreen keyboards Ditto foldable keyboards basically require a desk to operate (especially if there is no rigid connector between the device and keyboard) I have Tmobile hotspot and a Wired PDA, I still use the Sidekick at airports despite my 800k connection on the pda and the way crappier browser on the Sidekick. Sure I occasionally set up my foldable wireless keyboard at a table, put the PDA on the stand and go to town sending e-mails to this boss and that boss, but when everything is said and done, it is just as much of a pain to use the PDA as the laptop. Try balancing a keyboard that trys to fold itself back up and typing, while trying to view your tiny screen and balance the pda on your knees... it does not work. this device (indeed most PDAs) would be perfect with a thumb querty keyboard. Without it you can do Nothing at 2x the mHz as my current hand held! yay!

developer.danger.com

and, being that developers are geeks and geeks IRC, i'm sure someone has created an irc client for it. If not, you could always code up one yourself...

btw, I have no idea why there wouldn't be an irc client... I mean, shit.

You havn't checked in a long time then. I'm a registered Danger Developer, and trust me...I have/run tons of non-approved software. The reason this isn't "easy" to-do, is because Danger supports all of the software you can purchase through the Catalog.

Sidekick Developer Resource
Danger Developer Center

What about the Hiptop (aka T-mobile Sidekick in the US)?

More links here, here (they sometimes go for as low as $29.95), and here.

I know several people that use this as their only method of connecting to the Internet. I guess it's not the best as a word processor but the developer OS allows for Java applications to be written and uploaded to the device.

Why not a Danger hiptop. It's a phone, PDA, HTML web browser, has AIM, does pop email (pushed down to you, you don't have to explicitly check emails) and includes a handy notes type program. You could also type notes into your e-mail or blog on the go. It has a full qwerty keyboard and the T-Mobile version (aka sidekick) is available for $70 (after rebates) from Amazon (if you get new service). Unlimited data access for $20 with any voice phone plan. There's even a telnet/SSH application you can snag for $10. The kicker is that the only way to backup your data is when it is automatically synced when connected to the GPRS network... so if you're not in or going to be in an area where T-Mobile (or whichever carrier you'd go with) has data coverage and the battery dies, then you're notes or email drafts will be history. But as long as your in a coverage area, it's great!

The updated design is unusable on my Danger hiptop, as all the article summaries get squeezed into a narrow column one or two words wide. Classic Slashdot comes out fine. (Yes, I know, this is almost certainly a problem with the hiptop and/or the Danger proxy system, not with the webpage itself).

Danger's Hiptop is great for this. Its GPRS, so it should work across the ocean there. T-Mobile's the provider here in the states, I'm not sure who would be doing it over there, but that's the place I would start.

The Hiptop has built in IM clients, web browser, and email client capabilities in addition to being a cell phone. The latest software update allows you dowload a ssh client as well. You can also register and download the development kit from Danger to be able to put any sort of software on it.

Its wonderfully portable and the UI is snazzy with a wheel to control menus and a better-than-average thumbpad for text entry. I'm getting on as soon as I can get my grubby arse out of my current cell contract.

If it's more than $200 as a ballpark figure, I don't care. $450 for a phone is utterly stupid, especially when Danger's Sidekick (available from T-Mobile and others) is $249 - and has similar functionality to the Treo 600. Note that even the Treo 300 costs $100 more.

If Handspring dropped their prices in line with the competition they would actually sell a significant volume of their products.

Put me in this race with my hiptop and I'll have an unfair advantage... perl and python accessible on my cell phone via a telnet/ssh window. Math conundrums tremble in fear. Not to mention the web, but probably all contestants have that.

I'm going to sell the sidekick on ebay. [...] No outside development means I'm stuck with a locked box

I'm going to sell the sidekick on ebay. [...] No outside development means I'm stuck with a locked box

I already have a Sprint phone but it isn't a PDA so I can't even get trade in credit. So what is the price to *me*?

I've always been confused by these discounts and how they apply to existing customers - the small print always says something like "only valid new service activation", implying that I have to not be a customer to get the best deal. I have more incentive to jump networks when I upgrade if this is how they reward customer loyalty.

And even at $450 for this, the $299 Sidekick (on the T-Mobile network) is looking like a better and better deal all the time. As soon as mobile numbers become portable here in the US, I'll have no reason left to not switch networks..

The Sidekick is getting OS 1.1 this month sent via wireless to all devices. It will finally give us a download manager, copy and paste, and some minor but needed tweaks. The lack of influx of third-party software is really going to make it look bad if the treo launches before the SK has a chance to update and give us a download app. You can see the sneak preview here:

http://www.danger.com/developers_peek.php

But the real tragedy ... [is] about the millions of people who could have benefited from Be's amazing and innovative software ...

Those benefits may still be realized, albeit a bit indirectly. The innovations in BeOS weren't sent to Earth by aliens; the ideas came from brilliant people, and those people are still around -- thinking up even better ideas, and putting them into practice all over the place. Consider also the many developers and users who have been inspired over the years by their Be experiences. I'd be willing to bet that conceptual descendants of the designs and decisions that shaped BeOS and BeIA will probably have a non-trivial impact on computing for some time to come.

I've been working on an app for my Danger hiptop to play incoming SMS and email subjects/senders in code...

I am just about to order the T-Mobile Sidekick (a.k.a. the Danger Hiptop). It has an actual keyboard, and an ssh client is promised (a beta is available with the SDK, which is available through the developers program).

It is called HiptopOS, it's a Java based OS that Danger rolled for the device.

I've heard that the SDK comes with source and a binary for SSH.

The Danger Hiptop has an undocumented flashlight feature. Type Menu-F at the jump screen.

Oh, btw, it also does an admirable job at email. Again, sometimes it's easy enough to use the Sidekick even though you're sitting at the computer.

Oh, btw, it's a darn good web browser too. In fact, I'm using it right now to post this reply.

Oh, btw, it's also got all the usual PIM functions of a PDA.

Oh, btw, it's also an okay cell phone. Seriously, the fact that it's a phone is an afterthought to me. It's not that great as a phone.

They've just begun letting people play with a development kit too so I have high hopes of making it fill other needs too. It really rocks. I do have some complaints but this a damn fine tool.

Oh, btw, it also does an admirable job at email. Again, sometimes it's easy enough to use the Sidekick even though you're sitting at the computer.

Oh, btw, it's a darn good web browser too. In fact, I'm using it right now to post this reply.

Oh, btw, it's also got all the usual PIM functions of a PDA.

Oh, btw, it's also an okay cell phone. Seriously, the fact that it's a phone is an afterthought to me. It's not that great as a phone.

They've just begun letting people play with a development kit too so I have high hopes of making it fill other needs too. It really rocks. I do have some complaints but this a damn fine tool.

Sadly, the Segway keys are easily-hacked, unencrypted I-Buttons, as Andy Rubin of Danger has discovered.

Just because an IDE or a text editor is written in Java doesn't mean it can only be used to create other Java apps. That's the silliest thing I've ever heard.

She also worked on some of the icons at Eazel (she did the first Nautilus vector theme) and some of the fonts for Danger (who make the hiptop/sidekick).

have you looked at the t-mobile sidekick? i bought mine the day they came out (oct 1) and i love it. it fits your criteria pretty well;

a. desktop synch

not exactly, it syncs with a 'desktop interface' at the t-mobile website. i actually like it better because it's constantly synched. if i enter an address in my sidekick and the battery dies 2 seconds later, it'll still be there when i charge back up because it intsantly synchs with the backend server.

b. a decent, usable screen/browser

more than decent, the 160x240 screen is excellent, as is the real (xhtml, not wap) browser. about the only thing it can't do is javascript.

c. a smallish form factor (less than my currrent clunky rig, but super-duper small isn't a big deal to me)

i don't know how big your current rig is, but my sidekick is 6 ounces and resides in my front pants pocket all day every day.

d. palm-like features (handwriting recognition, scheduler, phonebook, to-do list)

everything except the handwriting recognition, which it doesn't need due to the excellent thumboard.

e. lots of third party developers and apps

give it a little time, the sdk just came out (in beta) last week. it's java, so i expect to see a lot of development in the near future. go to www.hiptop.com and and check out the developer forum. also see developer.danger.com

f. total cost $100

i paid $250 for mine on opening day, but amazon recently had them for $50 or even $0 after rebate.

g. good coverage (very important)

i don't have any problems in my hometown or anywhere i travel but, since i have no idea where you live ymmv.

h. 1 meg/day of transfer for data

unlimited

i. under $50/mo.

two plans - $40 and $80, both have the unlimited data

j. 250 primetime minutes, free weekends/nights

the $40 option has 200 anytime minutes and 1000 WEEKEND minutes. i'm not sure about the $80 plan but i'm sure it has a lot more.

i find that i can live within the restrictions of the device, and even the voice plan, because of the excellent data capabilities. i don't talk as much because i always have AOL instant messenger on, and i hit my corporate email with pop3 so it's constantly updated. oh yeah, it comes with a crappy (but fun) camera.

Ahh... Great Idea! My 120 just recently died on me after a 3' trip to a concrete floor and I really don't want to throw it away. Either that, or sell it on eBay for parts. Anyone want a broken, but other wise well cared for Newton 120 w/leather case, Newton modem, etc.?? :)

The only thing that gets me through my day now is knowing that my T-Mobile SideKick (aka Danger HipTop) is on it's way. I can't wait!

Ahh... Great Idea! My 120 just recently died on me after a 3' trip to a concrete floor and I really don't want to throw it away. Either that, or sell it on eBay for parts. Anyone want a broken, but other wise well cared for Newton 120 w/leather case, Newton modem, etc.?? :)

The only thing that gets me through my day now is knowing that my T-Mobile SideKick (aka Danger HipTop) is on it's way. I can't wait!