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Hiptop/Sidekick Sequel Unleashed
powerline22 writes "After years of waiting, the second Hiptop (or Sidekick, depending on the carrier) has been unveiled to the public. After the terrible hardware reliability of the first version, the second one, manufactured by Sharp, looks a lot better, with longer battery life, built-in camera, more buttons, better radio, new software features and more. Also, according to T-Mobile, sync is going to finally be here real soon now. There are reviews at CNet, over at PCMag, and at MSNBC." We recently covered leaked Hiptop II photos.
For years their synchronization solution has been vaporware. It exists, but it hasn't been released. They keep saying "any month now"...
If you buy one of these things, start learning now how to write a screen scraper. It's the only way to get your data if your phone ever breaks.
I'm wishing the next Treos will just get a browser as nice as the SK's. Then they will be a great solution.
Let's see:
My Sharp phone (DoCoMo SH251i) died within 3 monthes of me recieving it. Exchange for new one. died again within 1 week. Exchanged new one - still kicking but the battery life has become quite questionable.
My Sharp Electronic Dictionary: keys become non-responsive after about 6 monthes; the hinges are almost gone, and the letters SHARP has been falling off one by one, first to read SHAP, and then SHP - I think if it gets to SH in a few weeks I will write "IT" beside it.
As a comparison my NEC phone had never had *any* problems including my stupid action of plugging it (100V device) into a 220V socket. My Seiko dictionary is holding up quite well with about double the usage recieved on the Sharp, etc.
Just some ancidotal evidence...
My life in the land of the rising sun.
Besides, this thing looks HUGE to me, not exactly a svelte device to slide in your pocket or clip to your belt.
Ok, so maybee it is a cheap Treo or Blackberry, but if you are buying a device for robust email access and PDA functionality, then the extra money spent would be well worth it, wouldn't it?
Even as a gaming machine, the Nokia N-Gage would blow this thing away... not to mention the QD.
Maybee i'm too old.... :)
Is there such a thing as too connected? This is just a personal opinion of course, but sometimes I wonder if we are driving ourselves out of our own privacy and personal sanity by making ourselves always available all the time, no matter where we are. If I require a device which always tells me where I am supposed to be when, what kind of life am I leading?
I work for a company which produces software used by hospitals, and I am required to be available 24x7x365 in case something goes wrong. They pay me well for what I do and I enjoy the work, but I've spent the last 3 years in the "most connected" job of my life and sometimes I feel like I can't escape.
What ever happen to returning a phone call or an email the next day?
The sidekick, mark 1, suffers from having a fantastic java based architecture.. and -zip- all for software.
.. and if not a touch screen at -least- a less awkward way to dial numbers.
.. and cubed.
In fact, at first all the ringtones you could want were free. A few months later, the SAME ringtones cost anywhere from $.99-->1.99!
One of the most useful applications, an ssh client/terminal was also free.. and now costs $4.99.
The carriers are afraid to deploy software, especially T-Mobile. Software updates are few and far between.
Things I would have liked to have seen on the sidekick2? Oh, simple things like an SD memory slot, on-device synchronization of contact information, bluetooth (it's funky to hold and have a conversation with)... oh
Oh well. Danger has yet another cute device, but if all we get is a digital camera out of it? what's the point.
Nice going, Danger. Try again. Maybe the design team will do ACTUAL MARKET RESEARCH next time, and get it right when the sidekick gets cubed.
As for now, the existing device should probably be crushed
-feh-
"Don't worry about the problems you have in mathematics, I assure you mine are much greater." - Einstein c.1919
Danger seems like a very creepy company. They immediately snapped up the first viable online discussion forum devoted to the Sidekick, and have controlled it almost from day one. They apparently control many of the other Sidekick related sites and photo blogs by giving free stuff to the compliant site owners and nothing to the naughty ones. I've heard about ops in #hiptop even bragging about getting stuff from Danger. Basically legal bribes, if you ask me. If you watch their behavior it seems to be what you would expect from a company where lawyers make most of the decisions. Any company that would build a platform where an upgrade means free applications are removed from the device, has a very disturbing set of ethics. I could go on but it's not worth that much time. Danger creeps me out.
No Bluetooth.
No sync.
No world standard GSM.
No storage slot.
But we DO get yet another new, hip, happening crappy camera. Just once, I wish someone in the pda/phone/mobile attachment would get it right. It's not about how hip the damned thing is. It's about how functional it is. If Danger (or Handspring, or Sharp, or whoever) could get it right, I'd only have to carry one device on my belt instead of three. Please, God, Treo 610. And none too soon.
Using a Symbian series 60 device (3650, 7650, N-Gage, etc...), would probably provide a lot more flexibility. That coupled with the fact that you can buy an original N-gage for around $100 factory reconditioned, IMHO, makes the Sidekick pretty damn unattractive. I had seriously considered buying one before settling on my first smartphone (Nokia 3650), and I'm glad I didn't waste the money.
My N-gage, however (original, not the QD, which is basically a more expensive downgrade) is just about the best money I've ever spent. MP3/AAC player, FM radio, USB interface lets you mount your memory expansion card like a pen drive, full featured web browsers, IM clients for any network, IRC, telnet/SSH, ebook readers, interactive maps, tons and tons of games (Symbian, Java, and N-gage, all way more playable with the nice directional pad), and that's just to name a few. It's my electronic Swiss Army-Knife. 'Course you do look like a complete jackass talking into it edgewise...
Over the years, SE released many firmware revisions that addresses these issues, mainly speed and reception. Even to date, the t68i has the best battery life and the best bluetooth implementation, except for the new SE's of course.
:)
(now i'm getting off topic)
The hiptop2 looks great tho, finally they addressed some of the issues the original hiptop had. Mainly size imo. Some say danger should allow you to sync directly with your PC but what many don't know is that part of the hiptop's advantages is that the calendar, phonebook, and a few other things are sync'd up as soon as you login. You can managae your phone over the web via danger's server. It's really neat once you play around with one.
One thing i like to point out is that pcmag's review said you can't connect to a vpn however there is a pretty good SSH client available for the original hiptop. With that client, you can do whatever you want. (ie: irssi for irc, icq in text mode, manage your servers, etc..) Also, t-mobile and fido (canada's hiptop provider) have special unlimited GPRS plans for the phone.
Overall, it's a great toy and a great phone to have in your collection (if you're into that sort of thing)
I've used almost 99% of all GSM phones over the past two years yet the hiptop remains one of my favorite phone for a few reasons (look above). Sure you can ssh with a p900, treo600 and those SPV/xda phones but those costs over 1k CDN.
(and again, this is just my opinion)
The SSH app (Terminal Client) is a downloadable program, it's not preinstalled on the device.
End of Line.
this guy has a pretty good side by side comparison of a Treo 600 and 1st gen side kick.
Sorry, but I think you don't get it. I have had a hiptop for 1.5 years now, and I really like it. This _IS_ the most functional pda/cell device out there. Perhaps bluetooth would be nice, but I don't really care - it would be of no use for syncing, because the device is already connected to the internet. You will sync with danger's servers, not with your device.
Sync is finally coming. This is one hundred percent T-Mobile's fault, not Danger's. There have been several sync solutions ready to ship for quite some time now. The only holdup is T-Mobile.
Last I heard, the new hiptops have triband GSM. Is that not standard enough?
As for the storage slot, all I can think of to do with it (that would be actually useful in any capacity) would be to store mp3s, which I don't care about. I have an ipod for that.
The camera? I truly couldn't care less. Maybe the new hiptop will have a usable camera. If so, great... Whatever.
The hiptop has a very very good user interface, it has a very good OS (I am slightly biased because I know some of the people who wrote it). It sets out to do certain things, and it does them very well.
You are right: it is not about how hip it is, it is about how functional it is. Danger makes it extremely functional, and T-Mobile is annoyingly pushing it as a hip toy for teenagers. To me (and the dozen or so other users in my nerd-universe), it is a highly useful tool in our daily lives. You don't realise how useful it is to have an always-on internet link on your cellphone until you get it. It becomes hard to live without.