The Price: $US200 with two-year contract

The Verdict: It’s nice! The flip-out screen, nicely-designed keys and generally usable interface may be attractive to people who’ve never used a Sidekick before, but the Sidekick LX is clearly aimed at people who are already familiar with the platform.

Although it’s larger than the Sidekick 2008, the screen is bigger, the keyboard is better and the UI is improved. The home screen now has larger icons and more fluid animation, but is still so decidedly “Sidekick-like” that longtime users will have no problem adjusting.

The addition of GPS integrated with Microsoft’s Live Search finally brings some kind of map/direction finding to the platform. Although the GPS works alright outdoors (indoors is iffy), the actual usage is awkward. You have to manually tell the phone to find your location, then open up Live Search and select “my location at 9:53 AM” to do anything with it. This is one step in the opposite direction of how we think GPS on phones should work. There’s also plenty of privacy settings that control what can touch your location data, probably because the Sidekick is very popular with kids.

Its keyboard is also noticeably improved from the SK 2008. Each individual key is lower to the ground, but is easier to type on. All the other standard Sidekick keys (back menu, call, etc.) are where they should be. And that horizontal blue LED on the bottom of the screen that lights up when you get an incoming call is really cool looking.

What I don’t like is how the mini USB charging port is now on the bottom right, compared to the top left on the Sidekick 2008, and how it gets in the way of usage while charging. The flip mechanism is also slightly worse, in that now you have to push up toward your face, instead of out away from you, in order to get the screen to open. Perhaps it’s not so much “worse,” but just “different”. And the fact that you have to open up the battery plate to get to the microSD card is annoying.

That 3.2-megapixel camera is so-so for something you carry on you at all times, but it’s not astounding, as the sample shots above show. T-Mobile’s 3G connectivity is still T-Mobile’s 3G connectivity—as in, it’s not that great—but if you live in an area with coverage, it’s better than NOT having 3G.

As for voice calls, the quality is fine, but I hear slightly too much of my own voice when having a conversation. Nothing you’d really be aware of unless you switched phones a lot.

Overall, Sharp did a pretty good job with the build quality other than the fact that they mucked up and placed a few things in weird places, and Microsoft’s Danger did a good job further refining the Sidekick interface. If you were a fan of the Sidekick before, there’s no big reason not to upgrade to the LX. But if you’ve never been interested in Sidekicks in the past, this definitely isn’t going to lure you over. [Sidekick]

Improved keyboard, sturdy body

Who’s going to turn down GPS and 3G, even if it doesn’t work as well as it does on other phones

General UI improvements are welcome

3.2-megapixel camera is decent, but not great

Strange design decisions like placing the microSD card inside the shell and placing the charging port in the way of your hand

Not much new detail in this post, but from last time, here are the rumoured specs:

Social Networking Suite of Apps
– Facebook
– MySpace w/ video upload
– Twitter
– YouTube Mobile Access via browser

GPS Location Based Search
– Turn by Turn Navigation
– Microsoft Live Local Search and Maps

Content Creation
– Blog publishing, editing, and management client
– Photobucket Upload and Management
– Video recorder and upload to MySpace/Photobucket

Communications
– Signature Sidekick IM/SMS/E-mail Experience
– Microsoft Outlook/Exchange synchronization

Hardware
– Large (3.2 inch WVGA) screen with sharp 854×480 resolution
– Thin design
– 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus, flash and video recording
– Large QWERTY keyboard
– Expandable memory up to 8GB via MicroSD

Check out our previous Sidekick coverage here.

[Hiptop 3]

The specs listed in the photo are as follows:

Social Networking Suite of Apps
– Facebook
– MySpace w/ video upload
– Twitter
– YouTube Mobile Access via browser

GPS Location Based Search
– Turn by Turn Navigation
– Microsoft Live Local Search and Maps

Content Creation
– Blog publishing, editing, and management client
– Photobucket Upload and Management
– Video recorder and upload to MySpace/Photobucket

Communications
– Signature Sidekick IM/SMS/E-mail Experience
– Microsoft Outlook/Exchange synchronization

Hardware
– Large (3.2 inch WVGA) screen with sharp 854×480 resolution
– Thin design
– 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus, flash and video recording
– Large QWERTY keyboard
– Expandable memory up to 8GB via MicroSD

It could be a real product, it could be simple market research or it could be nothing at all, but if it’s true the 3G , GPS and YouTube mobile access upgrades will be welcomed by Sidekick fans with open arms. [Hiptop3]

According to the Boston Herald, T-Mobile will only help track the stolen phone (a Sidekick, snatched from a 16-year-old by an 18-year-old) if it’s a “life or death situation”, or if ordered to by a judge. Getting the SK back falls under neither of these two conditions, in this case, so police are hoping a letter from a city council member will sway T-Mobile in helping to track it down.

They’d better act soon, since the theft occurred on November 20, and it’s unlikely that that Sidekick’s battery will hold out much longer for tracking purposes. [Boston Herald - Thanks Patrick!]

Above, two ladies demonstrate how best to hold your Sidekick if you want to get it stolen.

The new Hiptop model will be available in two colours: Blue and Brown, plus a limited edition Tony Hawk design.

The target is to have the LX in time for Christmas to maximise sales, which they’ll be doing by offering a selection of revamped plans tailored for the LX (although exactly what they will be is a mystery).

It makes sense for Telstra to launch the new HipTop just before Christmas, and also that it’s an exclusive Telstra arrangement. Even though technically this is still a rumour, if you are thinking of picking up a new Hiptop in the next month or so, we’d suggest you hold off just a little bit longer for the chance to get the most recent model…

The Price: US$149 with two-year contract.

The Verdict: It’s more features for less money. Not only is the Sidekick 2008 US$50 cheaper than the US$199 you’d currently pay for the Sidekick LX, it comes with more stuff. The best hardware improvement has to be the reduced size, and at 11.9 x 5.8 x 1.8 cm, it’s as long as the iPhone, slightly narrower, but about twice as thick. The second most important feature on a SK is the keyboard, and remains pretty much the same as before: chicklety. If you liked previous iterations, you’ll like this one.

The UI and inputs are definitely trademark Sidekick, with the standard trackball on the right for scrolling and button layout that’s just about the same as the LX’s. It’s got video capture and video playback, which were added to the Sidekick LX in an automatic update. Also unique to the 2008 is the ability to custom-design your own external shells at sidekickshells.com. One for uS$9.99 or two for US$14.99.

The Sidekick 2008 continues the tradition of nicely designed and intuitive apps, like email, instant messaging, picture messaging and video messaging. The Sidekick started out as a data communicator–something it still continues to do well–but now can be safely called just a “communicator” because of its more well-rounded features.

The call quality was very good–loud and clear with only minimal background noise–and thanks to its newly reduced size, speaking on it is much less like holding a plastic taco up to your ear. The battery is only 1030mAh compared to the LX’s 1540mAh, which may partially explain the reduced size. The Sidekick has never been known to take great photos or video, but the video on the 2008 is decent enough for an MMS, and the photos are only slightly blurrier and darker than the iPhone’s. Not fantastic, but manageable.

The most important bit of information that you want to know is if we’d recommend it to T-Mobile users. Definitely. If you’re a current Sidekick owner and you’re happy with the platform, you’ll want to upgrade to this for its improved features and reduced size. If you’re not a current Sidekick user but have always eyeballed the series, it’s a good time to jump on.

“We’re changing the way we work with hardware vendors to ensure that we can provide complete experiences with absolutely no compromises. We’ll do the same with phones–providing choice as we work to create great end-to-end experiences.”

That sounds a lot like making use of Danger, who specialises in consumer OSes. Like say, a Zune phone designed by Danger–a Zune phone, after all, would be such an end-an-end to experience, and fill in Microsoft’s obvious gap in the consumer smartphone niche, which even BlackBerry is getting into. JKontheRun has unspecified info that Zune phone meetings are kicking up, to boot.

Here’s the real question: Would a Zune phone persuade the Zune guy to keep his tattoos? [All Things D via Macrumors]