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New Hiptop (Sidekick II) Photos
s4xton writes "Some new photos of the upcoming Sidekick II from T-Mobile have been leaked on hiptopinfo.org. In addition to already being one of the best portable GPRS units with SSH2, Web Browsing, AIM and Mail, the new unit, slated for an August release features a built in camera, speakerphone and a number of other features. Thread on Hiptop Forums about it here. Here's some older photos and an owners manual and a previous Slashdot story about the original Color Sidekick."
The original color Sidekick was a great data device but a terrible phone. The RF was dismal and talking on it was awkward. I hope they've improved these points, however with the device being made by Audiovox/Curitel I'm not expecting much.
But now that the price of the Sidekick data plan with voice has dropped to $20 this new Sidekick certainly looks appealing. I like the design and the camera isn't too bad (for a phone) either.
It's got a full SSHv2 client. SSH to a Unix host and IRC to anywhere you'd like.
.@.
seems like the server is getting slaughtered.. for people who just care for the images (not very impressive)..
http://mirrors.linuxpowered.com/sidekick2/
get em while it's hot..or before my server crashes.
This article has not been slashdotted:
...and a couple pics here, if you scroll down.
Sidekick 2 Revealed
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Freedom or Evil: Freevil.net
G. W. Bush says, "You decide!"
In fairness, the Sidekick (and presumably this new one) also multitasks in the manner you describe. I can start loading a webpage, jump back to my current SSH session, and jump from there to read or send email, and from there to respond to an AIM message, all with the click of a button. The sidekick tells me when the web page is loaded, alerts me when I get new email or an AIM message (by the way, it's a real, real-time AIM client, not one of the silly cellphone AIM "clients" that integrate AIM with the messaging subsystem), and I can jump into and out of any app, able to come back to it in the state I left it (e.g., leaving the TCP session open and working during SSH). It's like having screen installed on a cellphone.
.@.
I owned one of the first generation devices. I loved it and it broke my heart.
The software is smooth and elegant, the design is slick, and it's the best portable email terminal ever made. The damn thing was unreliable, though. I went through no less than FIVE units while under the warranty period.
One had the screen crap out. One refused to turn on. One couldn't charge its' battery. One had a flaky keyboard, and the last one's radio stopped working one day. The last one was a real pisser, since it's a frickin' paperweight without network access.
Obviously, I'm a little bitter. Each time, I spoke to T-Mobile and they promptly sent me a refurbished unit as a replacement. The "new" phone would last for a few weeks, and then something would fail. The last unit I had for three months. When I called T-Mobile, they said that it was out of warranty because they start counting from the INITIAL purchase, regardless of the age of the one that flaked. They offered to send me a refurbished unit for $70.
I wasn't willing to shell out $70 every few weeks for my phone, so I switched carriers. That's when the second problem with Sidekicks reared it's head. Your data is hostage to your carrier.
The Sidekick/Hiptop works like WebTV and merely acts as a terminal for large servers run by the phone carriers. Great, because you never have to worry about backing up your data. Not great, because it makes the phone useless if you don't have GPRS service. I took the phone into Mexico, and I couldn't use any of the PDA functions because all of my data was on T-Mobile's servers in the US.
Also, it's darn near impossible to extract information from the phone for your computer. Like to sync your address books? Forget it. Your computer only has access to the data through a web interface. They kept promising sync capability "soon". I had the phone for a year. "Soon" never arrived. When I left T-Mobile, I had to hand type all of my addresses and notes into my computer.
Summary: I loved mine, when it worked. When it failed, it became a nightmare. I'd pass on this new one until they can prove they've got some quality control.
This
Truth is, you can have virtually full access with neither. The GSPM internet connection on many of the phones is left open and available and is intended for you to be able to buy ring tones and backgrounds for your phone.
Turns out that's just enough opening for you to get to your pop3, smtp, and mostly any webpage.
Furthermore, the time isn't counted against your regular airtime, so while I am only paying $20 a month for the phone service, I am constantly able to check and send email.
Try here for the pics: http://handhelds.engadget.com/entry/15353103208184 08/. They're unwatermarked, too.
I went through four sidekicks in six months. Defective screen, permanent lockup, defective keyboard, defective wheel, etc... and reception so lousy that made me take back all my bitching about Sprint, Cingular, and Verizon in the past.
I loved the interface, AIM client, SSH, etc... all very nicely done. What finally booted me, though, was the lack of sync. Mentioned in dozens of Danger's early press releases, this was never released for the T-Mobile Sidekick. You can't sync your contacts with anything besides their web interface, which itself can't sync with anything and disappears when you cancel service. When it worked, I loved it, and when it didn't work, I still loved it. But the defects and oversights got to be too much, and I cancelled my plan.
The worst part? The sync code is done. It's been deployed on several smaller carriers' networks for the hiptop/sidekick, and works fine. The "conspiracy theory" is that T-Mobile doesn't want to dilute blackberry sales with a cheaper device that syncs, but all they've managed to achieve is looking like asshats and the loss of revenue from people like me.
I went with a Treo 600 on Sprint, and although the interface is not as slick as the hiptop's, I've got IM on all four networks, SSH, VNC, MP3s, XVID, games, reception that works, no need for four replacement devices, and it syncs with all sorts of crap, including my yahoo! account and my office's exchange server.
If anybody wants it, I have a still-working Black&White Sidekick you can have for $60.
Maybe because it runs on PalmOS?
:)
The speed difference in getting to the info you're looking for is quite staggering. I had this exact same discussion with a friend of mine at work, so we set up a task list we had to run through, timed; call it a speed trial (yeah, we're geeks...guess what the byline of this website is.). And to make sure that there wasn't an advantage for one person due to quicker reflexes or whatever, after that runthrough we switched devices, and after familiarising ourselves with 'em, did the runthrough on each other's device.
PalmOS won both times. Duh.
Also, I have to ask: does PocketPC still not really close applications and get bogged down when you've opened (and closed) a couple of apps in a row? Do you think that's normal?
See, the main difference can be found in your post: you only talk hardware. And it is true...PocketPC hardware has been a bit ahead of PalmOS hardware in the past...but so what? If you actually use a PDA, you'd know the only thing that makes it usefull (as oposed to being just a toy) is the software...and PalmOS is so much more usefull.
And finally, have a look at the number of PocketPC's for second hand sale on internet compared to the number of Treo's. Don't there seem to be many more PocketPC's up for sale? I think that's because those with Treo's like 'em so much they dont wanna sell 'em
-- Waht? Tehr's a preveiw buottn?