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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."
From the pictures, this looks suspiciously like the old one. I am going to stick with my brand new Verizon Wireless Treo. With a VGA camera, keyboard, Palm OS 5, and 144Kbps download speed, an added 512MB SD card from Kingston, it's got everything I need. Seriously not a troll, if you can get one and you've got the $500 (with a one year activation), it's definitely worth the money. Like the new advertising will say, my laptop does feel really heavy now. (There's nothing like switching away from Yahoo! chat to take a picture and going back with no interruption - while on your phone!)
libertarianswag.com
How about IRC though? I mean, this is a fine consumer product with AIM and all that, but how about the geek cred?
I mean, even my dreamcast can run an IRC client.
-- d'arcy poirot
My dad got a sidekick... the fact that it has no bluetooth wouldn't be a problem if you could just take the sim card out and put it in another device (like a bluetooth phone or an aircard) in order to get some of that unlimited data through to a laptop. To use the card in another device, T-mobile wants you to pay another $20/month to get what amounts to another flavor of unlimited data.
I have been using an ngage with T-mobile's unlimited data. It works fine as a wireless bluetooth modem to my linux laptop or even standalone for IM or basic email if I can be patient enough to type with a number pad.
Too bad there's not something that gives you a decent OS, thumb keyboard *and* bluetooth to a pc. Nokia has it almost right (flip-over keyboard, bluetooth) with the 6820 but it doesn't have Symbian 60 so it's not really extensible enough to benefit from addon programs...
>he RF was dismal and talking on it was awkward
Ive had a sidekick since they were made available. I'm sporting the color model now and have made 6 returns because of poor manufacturing quality. Three for the B&w and three for the color.
Its a nice but it has some serious downsides:
1. Total vendor lock in. The SSH client is free,
but the upgrade is 10 bucks. Games are 10 bucks.
This isn't a palm where you can just upload apps onto it (unless youre a developer).
2. Spotty reception is putting it nicely.
3. Its as thick and big as a bar of soap and sadly this new model doesnt look much smaller.
4. The web proxy isn't scaling. It was usable over a year ago but now surfing anytime during the day means lots of timeouts. The device is too popular for the servers.
Next time I have some cash I'm going to pick up the treo or perhaps just a normal cell phone.
I replaced it last week with a Nokia 6600, which, with the exception of the full keyboard, does everything the Sidekick could do and more, only better. Plus it actually works well as a phone.