Sidekick fans get the upgrade they deserve, but is this phone fully cooked? Find out in our hands-on look at the new Sidekick LX 2009 for T-Mobile.

The T-Mobile Sidekick is a venerable brand (to check out our comparison of recent Sidekick phones, click here). Perhaps the original consumer-focused QWERTY messaging phone, the T-Mobile Sidekick counted fans among celebrities and technorati alike. But the brand has faded in recent years as new phones have failed to keep up with the best technologies on the market. With the new Sidekick LX 2009 set for launch next month, that will surely change, but will the new Sidekick LX offer enough new capabilities to compete, especially as the phone's original audience matures?

The screen's the thing

At a party in New York City last night, T-Mobile gave us a look at the upcoming T-Mobile Sidekick LX 2009. Actually, the year isn't officially part of the name, but the new phone is such a significant update from the original T-Mobile Sidekick LX that we thought it could use the distinction. The original Sidekick LX introduced high-quality displays to the Sidekick family, and the new Sidekick LX 2009 ups the ante with an excellent, high-res display. The 852 by 480 pixel screen on the new Sidekick is better than DVD quality, so we're hoping there will be great video playback support to take advantage of the WVGA resolution. Because our hands-on took place at a bumping gallery party, the lighting wasn't ideal for a real assessment, but the interface looked crisp and detailed on the new screen.

Where are we?

In addition to the interface, the new apps looked quite impressive on the Sidekick LX 2009. Thanks to the recent acquisition of Danger, the folks who design the Sidekick interface and hardware, by Microsoft, the folks who buy smaller companies, the new Sidekick gets some decidedly Microsoft features. The phone now uses a GPS radio for positioning, and the phone gets a great version of Microsoft's Live Search. More like a MS version of Google Maps, the Sidekick version of Live Search goes beyond local search and also offers point-to-point navigation, satellite views and other location-based features. There's no turn-by-turn navigation yet. You still have to click from turn to turn while you're on your trip, just like in Google Maps. Danger tells us that turn-by-turn navigation might be available in the near future, but it seems like they haven't nailed down a dedicated app from TeleNav or Garmin or any of the major players.

It would be a shame if Danger used the GPS sensor only for Live Search. Reps seemed interested in the possibility of incorporating Loopt or some other location-based social network, and this seems like a natural fit for the Sidekick crowd. We'd also like to see more robust location-based apps, like you'll find on the Apple iPhone and T-Mobile G1. The Sidekick has always seemed more like an extensible platform than other feature phones, so let's stretch it out a bit.

Do you want to go faster?

In addition to the GPS support, the T-Mobile Sidekick LX 2009 finally includes 3G networking. Surfing T-Mobile's HSDPA network, the Sidekick LX 2009 will be able to surf the Web much faster. In addition, the phone will also be able to upload videos directly to YouTube or MySpace. The video camera has gotten a boost, as well, and it can now record full-length movies, instead of short clips, at QVGA resolution. The phone can also play streaming videos clips, including flash videos from YouTube.

Facebook and MySpace and Twitter, oh my

Perhaps the smartest move T-Mobile made with the new Sidekick was including custom apps for the three popular social networking services. These aren't just Web links, the Sidekick gets its own proprietary apps for each of the big three. Ultimately, we'd like to see the Sidekick, and all messaging phones, go a bit further. We'd like to see Facebook and MySpace integrated into the phone's normal messaging, contacts and calendar app. We'd like to see Twitter expressed as threaded messaging, more like an IM conversation. And, while we're on the subject of IM, we'd like to see some Gtalk support.

Of course, more apps will be coming after the Sidekick LX 2009 launches on May 13th. Most exciting to us is the Microsoft Exchange support, another positive byproduct of the Microsoft shepherding. Exchange support would bring the Sidekick to a whole new level of messaging and productivity for us, especially since we use Exchange for our work e-mail. Danger reps assured us we'd see Exchange support on the Sidekick by the end of this quarter.

Is it time to return to the Sidekick?

Is this the comeback for the Sidekick? Perhaps. Obviously there are better phones on the market, with more features, a more robust selection of apps and superior hardware and interface design. Especially at the $199 price point, competition is fierce. Of course, T-Mobile has a reputation for creative, reasonable pricing, and for the Sidekick, T-Mobile has been offering a unique pre-paid plan. On the older, EDGE-networking Sidekick LX, you could pay $1 a day for data, including e-mail, text messaging, IM and Web browsing, and then an additional $0.15 per minute for voice calls. For text heavy teens, this seems like a reasonable plan. Hopefully T-Mobile will stick to this price scheme. With 3G capabilities, this would be a competitive plan in the growing pre-paid space.

Beyond its price point, the Sidekick has a style and appeal all its own. The new screen is superlative, and the interface has always been solid for folks who simply like to stay connected to friends and family. The new hardware boost is nice, but it's the acceptance of new messaging and networking ideas that will keep the Sidekick competitive. We'll have our full impressions once we've taken a longer look.

source: http://www.infosyncworld.com/news/n/10245.html