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T-Mobile Sidekick Reviewed
First up, lets talk about the form factor. This unit is much more comparable in size to my Nokia 5560 than a Palm 5 or Clie. About the same length,a little thicker, and maybe half again the width. You'll find it a little thicker than a Palm 5, but also a bit narrower. What really makes the unit stand out is that its screen does this sweet little flip thing to reveal a thumb keyboard that is actually usable.
The interface is usually a little wheel (which can be clicked as a button as well), a 'Back' button, a jump button, and a menu button. When the screen is flipped out, you have a keyboard as well. The interface largely revolves around a sort of spinning menu which quickly rotates to select your application (Calandering, Photos, Phone Calls, etc). It's surprisingly usable, but I did notice a few glitches- for example when trying to mail a picture, I couldn't return and send the picture... I ended up having to actually go to the pictures, and choose mail picture instead of writing an email and attaching it there.
I might as well mention it: the little $30 camera attachment is just a novelty. Its postage stamp sized pictures are amusing, but practically worthless. Thats probably fine with just 16 megs of memory on board anyway- you wouldn't have room to store a nice 1024x768 image anyway... I think it was more proof-of-concept in this model. And the concept works, so with any luck, a year or 2 will give us a HipTop with more memory and higher res.
The screen itself warrants mention. First off, it is a 16 scale of grey, backlit job that really looks quite stunning. Without going to a color screen, this is quite simply the nicest looking screen I've seen on a handheld.
I found the cel phone functionality to be quite usable. Rings have custom tones, and the sound is that multichannel stuff that sounds really silly thats all the rage with the kids these days. You can use an external ear thingee, or use it in the standard carcinogen position. Reception was fine, but may vary for you depending on how good the GSM network is in your area.
The web browser was also surprisingly functional. Typing in URLs on the built in keyboard is quite quick. Far faster than any graffiti handwriting recognition crap. It rendered the pages I looked at without trouble, although big graphics are quite slow, and requires some scrolling. Slashdot in light mode worked fine.
The PDA functionality is good. Contacts are interconnected with the cell phone functionality. You can use the calandering and TODO tools to keep track of schedules.
The unit also supports POP mail servers. This worked without hitch and was quite nifty. IMAP support would be nicer, but I suspect that it would be horribly slow over the phone's internet connection. There also is IM functionality, but no IRC.
There are a few nifty little games you can play as well. The form factor of the device is fairly similiar to a Gameboy Advanced, and when held in that position, makes a reasonable gaming platform.
Danger says that the phone can auto update itself as new features and bug fixes become available, so hopefully new and exciting features will roll out pleasing users with improved user interface.
Battery life is claimed to be 8 hours in use. I never managed to drain it, although I left it on quite a bit. But its still enough to easily make it through a day or 2 depending on your usage.
The thing to remember is that this thing costs just $200. FOr that you get a fully functional PDA, and Cell phone. You get a good keyboard, a web browser, and a remarkably bright screen. It's a little larger than a cell phone, a little smaller than a PDA. All in all, this is a great combination and one thats easy to recommend, especially at this price. If you have GSM network support in your area, this warrants a serious look. If the next generation adds a color screen, IRC, IMAP support, and maybe shrunk things just a little bit, I think this could truly have the integrated cellphone/pda I've been waiting for. Now if it just had 20 gigs of memory, we'd be all set. Course my fingers aren't crossed.
might as well mention it: the little $30 camera attachment is just a novelty. Its postage stamp sized pictures are amusing, but practically worthless
From what I read, you can use the camera to take pictures of your friends and families and then associate that picture to caller id. After setting it up, when you receive a call, it will show the person's face.
Albeit, 30 bucks seems a little much for crappy pictures and you probably can just import your own picture.
One thing I really do like about the sidekick is the service plan which is flat rate, unlimited usage. The treo plans are all pay per meg.
Live web cams
"their excellent little HoTop PDA/Cellphone"...Hmm...."HoTop"? I think I want one of these after all. Do I have to go to a seedy part of town to pick one up?
My solution is currently an iPAQ H3970 talking to a Nokia 6310i via bluetooth. I can leave the phone in my backpack and send and receive e-mail, SMS, surf the web, even connect to IRC on my iPAQ. Pretty sweet.
My main use for "internet anywhere" would be ssh. I am on call 1 week out of 6, and if there's a problem, I need to log into the server(s) affected and fix it.
Plus, with a remote term, you can basically do anything a unix box can do.
Anybody know if it can do ssh?
For $200, I'd definitly pick one up if it can.
I love the look and user interface.
Beware, though. It acts like a PDA, but it's missing a vital piece of functionality. There's no way to share information with other devices. Sidekick gives you a calendar all right, but you can't sync it with your desktop. Ditto for the ToDo and Address Book.
I'm waiting till it plays nice with other hardware before I plunk down my money.
The unit also supports POP mail servers. This worked without hitch and was quite nifty. IMAP support would be nicer, but I suspect that it would be horribly slow over the phone's internet connection.
What?!?! Are you on crack?
IMAP is the perfect protocol for email over wireless internet connections. If you think it's horribly slow, you've been using Outlook Express's piss-poor implementation too long.
The huge advantage IMAP brings you is you only have to get the headers of the email. If you want to get the message, you can get the message, otherwise you save it for later. Also, your email sits on the ISP instead of in your phone/PDA/whatever with its limited storage space. It's also possible, IIRC, to download message bodies to read but not download attached files until later. Finally, with IMAP you can read your email on your desktop at home, then refer to it later on your (other device).
If I can't use IMAP, I'd rather use Webmail than POP. Blech.
Hey kids, there's only 5 days left 'til Yak Shaving Day!
I believe that the flat rate for unlimited megabytes turns back into a flat rate for 15 megabytes/month then 3.50 dollars for 1 additional megabyte after 1 year.
;-)
Somebody mentioned this in the LAST article about Danger. Not that you bothered to read it.
Hidden somewhere in the EULA I would suspect
-S
We Apprentice Developers and Designers
To my knowledge, all internet transactions, including SSL, are proxied, cached, and even rewritten through T-Mobile's servers. Sort of an institutionalized man-in-the-middle attack. Even if SSH were possible, I wouldn't use it under those conditions. But I think you're limited to the protocols they explicitly support.
* And remember, it's spelled N-e-t-s-c-a-p-e, but it's pronounced "Mozilla."
There are some GSM networks in the US but they are using other frequencies.(T-Mobil is operating one) GSM networks outside of the US are using frequencies at around 900 Mhz and around 1800 Mhz. US GSM networks are using 1900 Mhz.
You need a so called TriBand GSM phone to be able to use it in USA and in Europe. Most european phones are DualBand phones that support only 900 and 1800 Mhz. You also may need to select 1900 Mhz in the setup of your phone.
Jan
After reading some more of the fine print, I also noticed that the camera attachment is free.
Live web cams
I bought one of these gadgets the day they came out. I'm here to tell you that it is truly a marvel. After your phone is activated, it displays a setup screen that allows you to create a tmobile username and acount. This has several wonderful advantages. You get an easy to remember email address (username@tmail.com) instead of using the phone number for mail (777-777-7777@tmmobile.com). tmobile.com has a webpage that they call the "desktop interface". this page gives you access to your email, address book, calendar, to do list, notes, and camera applications. This makes it very easy to make a large number of changes on your device (while using a full size keyboard).
I purchased the device thinking that i'd use it mostly for web browsing. I couldn't have been more wrong. The browser is well designed and the interface is easy to use. However, the always on AIM application has proven to be more useful. So far I've spent 90% of my time on the device using AIM, the email client, and the text messaging(not AIM) client. That other 10% was spent using the web browser for looking up words while I was studying a little physics.
having the ability to have dictionary.com, google.com, and always on AIM in my pocket is definitely worth $200 ($39 a month).
I only have two complaints. Tmobile is only offering the device with one service plan. This plan is great for data, but 200 anytime minutes just isn't enough talk time. I decided to pay the extra $5 a month for 500 tmobile to tmobile minutes. My second complaint is the lack of a calculator. I can't believe they didn't put a calculator on this thing. get rid of one of the stupid games and add something useful. hopefully they'll add this later.
I have a danger hiptop/sidekick. I got it because I wanted a pda with a keyboard. That could do web and email. But the big selling point for me was integrated AIM. Plus unlimited data. So far, the battery ran good for about 20 hours, which is plenty. Plus, you have to factor in new factor, where I'm playing with it everywhere, not just when I need it.
;)
Don't know what it is, but I really don't like the palms. I don't want a touch pad, or handwriting anythng. The keyboard on this thing rocks. Plus the scroll wheel does everything you need it to, and it's relatively quick at doing it.
I haven't gotten into the to do/calendar/PIM stuff yet, but I'm not sure Ill use those excessively. Although the contact manager just makes sense, and makes speed dialing really easy.
I'm giving my own +1 Wicked moderation to this cool little device.
Btw, you can see some of the pics I took with this thing on www.hiptop411.com. I'm MediumDave on there, and yes, that is my dog
Th
Envy my 5 digit Slashdot User ID!
when trying to mail a picture, I couldn't return and send the picture... I ended up having to actually go to the pictures, and choose mail picture instead of writing an email and attaching it there.
All you have to do is hit the menu button while composing a message... There is an "Attach Picture" option right on the menu.