HOT! I know it's not a spectacular phone spec-wise, but as someone who is missing their SKII, this is a welcome addition to my phone museum...

Lansing-Dreiden! nice selection.

How's the battery life? That's my wife's biggest complaint about the SKII.

-p-

THESE PICTURES LOOK FANTASTIC.
My ONLY concerns are tha the CPU is faster and not as laggy as the S2's. I also hope the keypad backing doesn't wear out and warp itself.

I don't think it is a smart idea to have to remove the back of the unit. That leads to damaged covers.
I think they shoulda included a LITHIUM POLYMER battery.

Damn thats sweet. The screwn needs some work though. higher rez. Otherwise, excellent.

wow i really want this......i love my sk2 and this thing is incredible

i dont care i still want one!!!!!!!

Not only are the specs disappointing but the plain lack of ingenuity in design, and the sheer fuglyness, is an embarassment to the t-mobile community and an insult to loyal t-mob users worldwide. May God have mercy on their souls.

Looks like the same transition that happened for the ds , from bulky to thin without the better screen of course.

Damn! no wifi. Screw data plans, someone make a mini-SD 802.11 card, NOW! :D

Have you tried sync with a mac via bluetooth?

I've never had a sidekick, what is the advantage over a Motorola Q? Do you need a data plan?

Well, I guess that's it for me. I had the original Sidekick, migrated to the Sidekick II and have been holding on trying not to buy something else... hoping that the Sidekick III would be great. But by 2006 standards its not great. There are now a lot of options out there with better screens, as good keyboards, and - most important to me - WiFi in addition to cellular networks. Heck, if T-Mobile had a fast and reliable network I might not care. But without WiFi, T-Mobile can't compete with Verizon and Sprint... And then I think about how long it will be before there is a Sidekick 4! and how many new cool devices will come out on the other networks during that time... no, the time for a divorce is now. No sense in dragging it out. Sorry Sidekick! I loved you, but you just didn't grow and change with the times!
Bye!

Eh, the plastic looks cheap. They should've made it in polar white.

Y'know it looks like you're talking to your wallet when you hold that up to your ear?

Which do you guys think is better, the T-Mobile MDA or the Sidekick III??

Personally I JUST got the MDA, and I will be returning it for SK3 immediately.

The keyboard is just 1000x easier to type with.

this units using the same 240x160 washed out display? same UI? no UI customization? no video playback? lousy 1.3mp?

talk about dated technology, its off to get the MDA for me

http://help.sidekick.dngr.com/en-us/manual/m2/R3.0/Desktop/ manual site up some cool stuff sonic boom ,voice rec, record your own ringtone

This thing is nothing more than a toy no one should have high expectations from it, Or ever have had high expectations from it. Its marketed for teenagers. If i was 10 years younger and all i cared about was being to AIM my friends anywhere id get a sidekick. If you want a kick ass PDA phone go with the Treos

FINAL FANTASY (THE BAND) WOW.

Amazing choice in music.

WOW....I was really expecting something greater from you Sidekick 3. What, with your measly 1.3 MP Camera, Low Res Screen, Uncustomizable UI and cheap looking plastic, I am actually feeling a little sick. I was looking forward to your little Blue tooth, Faster Web Browsing and even removable battery but I am sorry to say that all of your mistakes just dont cut it anymore. I am breaking up, and moving in with my beautiful MDA.

Signed
-Sidekick 2 Owner

Sidekick 2.5, just a way to make a quick buck for tmo guess i made a good choice going to the MDA

its phones like these that really get me ticked off at Cingular, does anyone know a way to get an Unlocked Version?

Thank you engadget for the excellent pictures! Hope you don't mind, but we're linking to you from http://www.hiptop3.com and are insanely jealous you guys got a device of your own to check out. :)

It looks good but I'd like to play with it first.

Any information on the music player? I'm interested to know which file formats are supported.

Sidekick in the UK
http://www.sidekick2.co.uk/

tisk tisk tisk

I'm so impressed with that.
I want it I want it I want it!

Maybe hope for a higher res camera, but who cares! It's got a tonne of great features

The screen should have had QVGA (320 x 240) resolution. There's no excuse for a screen that size to not be QVGA.

Good work on Final Fantasy and Bloc party.. shame about Lady S *giggles*

Nice to see MSN supported (it looks like it is anyway)
I hope it can cope with 300 + contacts alright.

Uhm you guys might want to remove the SIM card number there. Some nosey employees can get all the info they want from that.

Does the Web browser support Java and Javascript?

What a 1.3 MP camera. thats a joke Really nice but I wanna good camera shame

As a Sidekick 2 user, I'm looking forward to getting this. According to a test on hiptop.com/forum, many web sites load in half the time with the Sidekick 3 and EDGE.

And to those still wondering what the appeal is of the Sidekick, it's an affordable smartphone, with unlimited data for $20 a month and push email. It has a nice web browser, good keyboard, great multi-tasking, and a simple, elegant interface. It doesn't have every feature known to man (no phone does) but it does what it does well, and provides excellent access to the web, email and instant messaging.

What a slap in the face these specs are...This is more like a Sidekick 2.2.

I'm thinking maybe you guys could just send me one for free? If so, that would be best. Just because this is the only phone I want right now. And it's so awesome. Thanks. :]

So are they only after the 14-19 year old female market? That UI is so cartoonish and goofy! I'd half expect to see Hello Kitty stickers planted all over the thing. I can't believe they don't offer a more "serious" looking interface. Or even a "less dumb" one.

My SK2 was accidently crushed (don't ask) a few months back. I wanted to hold out for the sk3, but couldn't so I bought an MDA. And frankly, it's a POS. Windows mobile, while flexible, is terrible. The phone crashes regularly, the included software is poorly designed (the AIM client is particularly horrific) and lacks the user-centric design of the Sidekick. The phone feels cheap and not as durable as the sidekick. And worst of all, it's a terrible phone. Reception is worse than my SK2. On the plus side, it has wifi and you can download and install whatever you want really (but most of the software out there that I've tried is just pure crap). It's a decent PDA, but a terrible phone. I'll be ebaying mine as soon as I can get my hands on the SK3.

I think the UI response and intuitiveness of the Sidekick OS has to be better than the MDA. I have only tested these units, but folks I know using the MDA complain constantly of the confusing interface, hidden menus and iffy connections (wi-fi, bluetooth). Most of these seem related to Windows Mobile 5. I have to think that the OS on the Sidekick III, however dated and underwhelming, is the clear winner for stability, usability and speed.

WTF is up with no alarm? How hard is it to fit an alarm into your software? I use the alarm on my current phone on a DAILY basis....

Can you use the sk3 via bluetooth as a wireless modem for another device (i.e. laptop) like most other bluetooth enabled phones?

Ummm can you please take a picture of something with the camera for those of us curious about the quality?

Looks like they still have not added MMS (looking at the Mobileburn review). Way to go Danger and TMo! Any word on tethering? (I'm guessing no, despite the fact that you pay the full $30 unlimited internet charge with this thing)

bluetooth with only hands free and vcard send?? WEAK. totally weak. i want wireless data transfer.. at LEAST of photos and music...

Was the price for this new SK3?

I couldn't wait for the SK3 either, and moved to the MDA.

No, the UI isn't as nice. Yes, it crashes.

But:

I can sync easily to my home & work computers.
The battery life is much better.
The reception is much better.
I can add tons of new programs without invalidating my warranty. (Whatever happened to harnessing all the programs SK devs were writing and letting us users download them?)
The web browser's more sophisticated.
Finally: It's much smaller.

The T-Mobile support sucks, but it did for the SK, too.

SK4 coming soon! -winks-

So my big questions is will I be able to use blue tooth for tethering. I've got a Nokia 770 that I'd like to continue to use with my phone...

There is a ton of information in the manual (thanks in2):

http://help.sidekick.dngr.com/en-us/manual/m2/R3.0/Desktop/

There is full featured MMS. Alarms can be set in the Calendar app. There is no sync with bluetooth (sidekicks sync automatically with the web anyway). No wireless modem (I agree, totally weak). It doesn't say anything about stereo bt, so I'm guessing it doesn't do it. It supports AIM, Yahoo and MSN IM. The music player only supports MP3 format, but it does support album art. The web browser supports Javascript, but not Java.

Note though in the manual that it says MMSing may not be available depending on carrier. And there's no icon that looks like that in the screenshots in this article. It sounds like T-Mo had that app disabled. Which would be..irritating. :(