Danger Zante / Sidekick Slide in the wild

Boy Genius has scored some hands-on time with the undisputed hottest member of Danger's Hiptop lineup, the so-called "Zante," also known (as best we can tell, anyway) as the Sidekick Slide for T-Mobile. Sharp, we love ya and all, but we've got to hand it to Motorola for producing what looks to be a nice lil' device. Hit the link for the goods.

[Tim Goldsmith @ Jul 10th 2007 3:24PM]

take notes stevie...

[Matt @ Jul 10th 2007 3:31PM]

Yes, look at the biggest, fattest phone I have seen in a long time...
No thanks.

[Zeeliv @ Jul 10th 2007 3:33PM]

Yes take notes and put them under the heading "ugly/clunky designs we should never emulate"

[Tim Goldsmith @ Jul 10th 2007 3:52PM]

really? i thought it looked pretty similar in size to the iPhone, i guess my perspective is off...

[turn.self.off @ Jul 10th 2007 5:04PM]

interestingly, one of the founders of danger si the other steve from apple. yep, the one and only woz ;)

[Johan S @ Jul 10th 2007 3:28PM]

Why couldn't they put an 800 px. wide display on it? No, there's no excuse. They would sell a huge amount more because it opens up the possibility of using the web. The web is unusable at 320 px width.

[riggs @ Jul 10th 2007 3:29PM]

eww @ the size of the screen, yall must love women with mustaches as well because that is ugly.

[Simon @ Jul 10th 2007 3:30PM]

ewww...

[Andy @ Jul 10th 2007 3:35PM]

Yeah, that's pretty damn ugly there. I can't see many people carrying one of those around.

[Pedro @ Jul 10th 2007 3:39PM]

Anyone else notice the Motorola icon... did i miss something?!

[ScOObyDoo @ Jul 10th 2007 3:59PM]

Yeah, you missed reading the article.

[daedalus @ Jul 10th 2007 3:40PM]

Go Go Danger Hiptop... You Mighty Ugly Sidekick Zanteeeeeeeeeeyah


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e2/IvanOoze.jpg

[fred @ Jul 10th 2007 3:41PM]

"Take notes"....LMAO. We need to see this in somebody's hands to appreciate the size I think.

[PalCler @ Jul 10th 2007 3:54PM]

Haha..I'll stick with my Curve TYVM..

[anonymouspimp @ Jul 10th 2007 4:06PM]

whoah... hang on... are all the iDorks seriously bashing one of the original (and largest) cult/trendy phones?

I don't know if I have the bandwidth to handle all this irony!

I used to have a sidekick2... i thought it was great for what I needed and wanted it for. I eventually wanted more and moved on. But it was a cool phone.

[Alex @ Jul 10th 2007 4:07PM]

In my opinion, that's probably the ugliest of the sidekick line. I currently have a sidekick 2 and was considering upgrading to the new sidekick whenever it came out, but now, i think ill get the iPhone once my contract runs up next year

[anonymouspimp @ Jul 10th 2007 4:24PM]

"I currently have a sidekick 2 and was considering upgrading to the new sidekick whenever it came out"

Um... the SK3 has been out for quite some time now...

[Alex @ Jul 10th 2007 4:27PM]

Sorry, I should have been clearer. I bought the sidekick 2 last June. That next month, the Sidekick 3 came out. When I said "the new Sidekick", I meant the sidekick that was the focus of the article, not the Sidekick 3

[anonymouspimp @ Jul 10th 2007 4:28PM]

Oh gotcha... i see what you meant now. My bad.

[TrueDis @ Jul 10th 2007 4:08PM]

What "goods" was I supposed to find after clicking through? It's the same image that you have on this site...

[Roberta Shugs @ Jul 10th 2007 4:10PM]

It is amazing how far computers and robots have come in recent months! I am thinking of getting one of these, definitely. I also like the name Zante, which I believe means "God's machine" in the original greek tongue, which seems fitting for something so bright blue!

Blessings,
Roberta Shugs

[Chris @ Jul 10th 2007 4:14PM]

Yeah that looks super for all those teenie boppers out there. I can just see Lindsey Lohan using it right now!

[OctaneZ @ Jul 10th 2007 4:15PM]

Rumors off Wikipedia:
Dimensions: 118 mm x 62 mm x 17.5 mm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidekick_phone#Sidekick_Slide.2FHiptop_Slide

[timatl @ Jul 10th 2007 4:16PM]

is danger, sidekick, and motorola all owned by the same company? i am confused

[london @ Jul 10th 2007 4:20PM]

Was there some kind of review attached to the originally? Did it get pulled down?

[cmos @ Jul 10th 2007 4:25PM]

Danger makes software (and hardware designs?) for the hiptop. The hiptop is called the "Sidekick" by Tmobile. Current sidekicks are actually made by sharp. This is a moto manufactured "sidekick" for tmobile.

[ark_v2 @ Jul 10th 2007 4:27PM]

That's hideous!

[techgeekfan @ Jul 10th 2007 4:36PM]

is it me or am I the only one that notices that the original Zante pics posted on engadget were different? On the left hand side there were like thumb rests almost like dips in the device for your thumb to rest but in this picture there is nothing of the sort? oh this is my first Post on Engadget altough ive been a long time reader...

[DAN @ Jul 10th 2007 4:49PM]

no fucking joke but my friend designed this fucking phone and sent the idea to motorola! he has the e-mails from motorola and the drawings. fine don't believe but im telling u. he told his idea to sum1 that went to our school whos dad worked for motorola. what my friend didnt know that this kids dad was really low in motorola, saying he was not at a hight level at motorola. so then his dad or someone else stole it. so ya hes pissed and hes not suggesting sending motorola an idea for a phone.

[Constable Odo @ Jul 10th 2007 6:40PM]

I believe you. I don't think the Motorola design team has come up with an original design in years.

It has a very practical design, but I can't see much use in sitting down and typing messages on such a device. I'm sure it has it's niche, but a BlackBerry seems a much more capable all-around messaging device. Maybe this is for high-schoolers.

It'd be nice if this Zante can play back videos and stuff. It looks smart, but probably won't sell very well.

[mo kim @ Jul 10th 2007 4:59PM]

I will refuse to use a sidekick until and only if they will support MMS

[Brandon @ Jul 10th 2007 5:03PM]

Looks fat. :-/

[Rick @ Jul 10th 2007 5:16PM]

You people are missing the point. The OS is what makes this phone work. For the Money the Sidekick is still an Great phone.

[Goodman @ Jul 10th 2007 5:32PM]

Yeah, the Sidekick OS is fabulous, and the keyboard is sweet. There's a nice selection of apps available for it now too.

[Shannin @ Jul 10th 2007 5:26PM]

why didnt they use the razr design?

[whatchaknow @ Jul 10th 2007 6:16PM]

I like the sidekick 3 more and I'm planning on getting a sidekick IV when it comes out. sidekicks look really nice!

the zante will not replace the sidekickIV...right?! hopefully it won't!

[Nick @ Jul 11th 2007 12:33PM]

Sidekick3 is really only Sidekick 2.5.. so hopefully Sidekick4 will actually finally seem like a full version upgrade from the version2.

I dont care who designed it.. its ugly.

[D @ Jul 10th 2007 6:33PM]

The sidekick II and III have keyboards that don't horribly suck to type on. This makes up for the size. Hopefully the keyboard on this one has a good feel too.

[russ d @ Jul 10th 2007 7:09PM]

It's a bit misleading when you say "Boy Genius has scored some hands-on time" with the new sidekick. I mean, his site only has the same image you have up; there isn't even any text to accompany it. More than likely an insider sent them the image.

[wOMo @ Jul 10th 2007 8:56PM]

compared to the iPhone.....everything else looks like FisherPrice©

[Marino @ Jul 10th 2007 9:00PM]

I have the SK3 and the SK2 before that. Sidekicks have the best keyboards.
This slide thing up there is fugly. That's fat and ugly.
Looks like a Nintendo.
As much as I love my SK I put it next to an iPhone the other day to compare screen resolution. I looked at the same photo on a webpage. I almost cried. One is like a color xerox from the 70s the other a sharp photo. On the other hand I couldn't type crap on the iPhone.

[marc @ Jul 10th 2007 9:20PM]

maybe motorola shoudlnt of threw out my idea then everyone wouldnt think its so ugly that thing looks like shit fatter than sidekicks put together GAY

[caramelzappa @ Jul 10th 2007 10:34PM]

I own a sidekick and I have to say motorolla failed on all parts with this. It's much too fat, the screen looks just as terrible as it's predecessors, the d-pad looks unusable, and it slides. The nice thing about how all the other sidekicks work s you can just open or close it with one thumb, you can't with this slider. I'm really making that sharp makes a proper sidekick 4, something with the upgrades we would expect in an evolving world. There is no reason to have such a crappy screen in modern times. Youtube is one of the more popular forms of entertainment nowadays and should be supported. (Especially since the sidekick franchise is directed mostly at the type of kids who'd be on youtube all day)

Also, why isn't the keypad for dialing highlighted like in all the other sidekicks?


I was really looking forward to the next sidekick, but Motorollas offering leaves me underwhelmed.

[ElMAGNiFiCO @ Jul 11th 2007 2:43AM]

What does it mean to release a new sidekick with no new features??!! There is no main reason for people to buy it, only for the sidekick plan which is the best deal in wireless.

[WTF @ Jul 11th 2007 7:57PM]

both the new sidekick and psp design are a let down....all the sidekick is just a totaly new design nothing else nothing to be wow'd about. the design is ugly and the colors suck. come hard or dont come at all...i rather stick with the sidekick 3 it is more orginal than that slide deal they changed. and with the current iphone and the rest of the competitors. sidekick is now in last place as far as im concerned....big let down. if you are going to put money into a project make sure it is what the consumer wants and not just picture that looked good and just through it together. thats what it looks like, just a bunch of renderings thrown together at the last minuet... its not even out yet and i already hate it....Motorola could have done alot better. they should have never accepted this project

[esther @ Jul 26th 2007 10:38PM]

the slide looks horrible. motorola?! gross! and the screen is too small, just like the ID, another piece of crap.

[Kay @ Sep 7th 2007 8:19PM]

im in love with the sidekick slide & good thing it's a motorola cause all my phones are motorola's! & it's madd thin like my slvr too bad it aint cingular .. :( but im lovin' it!

[wwingnhux3 @ Sep 23rd 2007 12:50PM]

when is this expected to come out?
i don't care; it looks dope to me :P