Never before have we dealt with so much naming drama leading up to a new Sidekick's release. Gekko, Gecco, Aspen, Sidekick 2008, the list of candidates goes on, and we finally have a winner: Sidekick 2008 it is! The name comes courtesy of some new internal documentation for T-Mobile reps, which also reveals that the low-end piece will be available come July 30 (seemingly putting the kibosh on Best Buy's July 27 date) with interchangeable shells, a 2 megapixel cam, and a 2.6-inch WQVGA display that'll definitely be a nice bump up from the iD's specs.

A number of shots have surfaced of an upcoming Sidekick that we've alternately known as the Gekko and Gecco, but the rumor du jour on the naming front is that we'll actually be calling it "Sidekick 2008" by the time it launches (later this month if we're lucky). The grainy photography shows a device looking roughly like what we expect the new model to look like -- but more interestingly, it shows the phone wearing a variety of different shells, some of which rock as much bedazzlement as a Swarovski one-off. Pretty cool. Oh, and don't bother trying to go to sidekick.com.shells -- we did, and it isn't online yet.

[Via Hiptop 3]

The rumored Tony Hawk edition of the Sidekick LX is said to be making its first public appearance today, looking every bit the part with a "skateboard look and feel" made complete with "grip-tape-texture" and the skateboarding icon's name plastered across the display's bezel. This one isn't just about branding, though -- it's being said that T-Mobile will use the occasion to launch a rather hearty LX firmware update that includes video recording, stereo Bluetooth, additional themes, some sort of video sharing capability, and more; it'll be available to all LX owners some time this summer via an over-the-air update. Meanwhile, the very special Tony Hawk piece should be made available to buyers in mid-July.

[Via Boy Genius Report]

Rumors swirling around Danger's upcoming Aspen and Gekko Hiptops are approaching a rolling boil at this point, and seeing a new model fly through the FCC's testing procedures certainly isn't going to help to quell them. Honestly, we probably would've passed this one right over had it not been for the big "Powered by Danger" label on the FCC approval sticker here, detailing a new Sidekick known internally to Sharp as the PV210. We've gone through the test reports and we're sorry to report that there still isn't any 3G here -- so despite the device's perfect form factor for consuming gobs and gobs of data, EDGE is going to have to continue to suffice. We imagine we'll be seeing this one announced before too long.

Our first thought when we heard the news that there was an NES emulator in the works for the Sidekick series of text machines was one of pure, unabashed elation. The classic Hiptop form factor is pretty much exactly what the doctor ordered for effective old-skool gaming, after all -- and let's be honest, any time Nintendo playtime comes to a new platform is cause for immediate and overindulgent celebration. Our second thought was, "wait, what?" It's pretty unclear how the emulator would be loaded with legally-obtained ROMs and we have our doubts that Nintendo signed away the rights to any binaries, so we're a little confused about the word that this would be officially offered through the Danger's Software Catalog. Let's all cross our fingers, continue to pay our T-Mobile bills on time, and hope that tomorrow might bring countless hours of Skate or Die while we're... you know, actually skating or something.

Update: While not technically fake, it turns out that this 80s-vintage action is going to remain a pipe dream (and no, we're not talking about the NES game Pipe Dream, either). Danger's developer tools allow arbitrary Java to be loaded into the Hiptop emulator -- not just approved stuff, obviously -- so odds are that someone loaded an NES emulator (like, say, vNes) and went to town with the screen shots. Official offering through the Catalog, though? Not so much. Thanks, Jim!

While we can't help but feel all warm and fuzzy inside whenever a manufacturer owns up to defects that originated on its end, it's even better when affected customers are looked after for their troubles. According to GigaOM, users dealing with a malfunctioning Sidekick Slide can swap their unit for a shiny new Sidekick LX free of charge, and if for whatever reason that doesn't get your juices flowin', you can opt to exchange it and put the purchase price towards another handset. If you're dead set on just keeping your current Slide, you can simply wait things out until a fix is announced, but you won't find us passing up on any offers to upgrade gratis.

So, first the bad news: T-Mobile and Motorola have confirmed that "some" Sidekick Slides are turning themselves off when the display is opened or closed. Now, the good: they're doing something about it. Slide sales have been suspended as of this evening while Moto works to identify just what the heck's going on; meanwhile, existing owners who've experienced problems can call T-Mobile or head into a store to "discuss available options." For what it's worth, neither of T-Mobile's other Sidekicks in the current lineup -- the LX and the iD -- are affected, so Sharp might see a nice little sales spike here as Slide owners look for an alternative. Follow the break for T-Mobile's full statement.

We're no QA experts here, but if your product is called the "Slide," isn't the slide mechanism the one thing you'd test the dickens out of? Alas, folks are discovering that Motorola's Sidekick Slide for T-Mobile has shipped with a devil of a flaw: actuating the display's slide periodically causes the phone to spontaneously reboot or to simply turn off and stay off. We've tested the claim on our own Slide, and yeah, it happens. Granted, it only happened twice out of thirty or so slides of the screen, but by standards of modern electronics engineering, we're pretty sure that's two times too many. As Boy Genius Report points out, to make matters even worse the power cycle is a hard reset, meaning your data's kaput unless you're within range of a T-Mobile signal to download everything from Danger's servers again. An ever-so-slightly loose battery seems to be the culprit here, but seriously, Moto, how did this defect ever leave a factory floor en masse?

Capping off months of rumor and speculation, T-Mobile and Danger have announced two new Sidekicks today targeting decidedly different segments of the market. The Sidekick LX takes over as the new king of the Hiptop hill, boasting a Sidekick-first wide QVGA display -- touted as incorporating technology borrowed from Sharp's AQUOS televisions, no less -- along with configurable mood lighting, 1.3 megapixel camera with flash, and 128MB worth of bundled microSD memory. Meanwhile, the 4.6 x 2.4 x 0.68-inch Sidekick Slide becomes the first Hiptop device to come from Motorola, the first to ditch the trademark swivel display, and the first to go on a serious diet (anyone who's used a Sidekick of old knows that it ain't exactly small) while still packing the same functionality and 1.3 megapixel cam as its big sib. Look for the LX to hit store shelves come October 24 in your choice of "midnight blue" and "espresso brown" for a cool $299 on contract; the Slide slides in (sorry, couldn't help it) two weeks later on November 7 in a black / deep purple combo for a Franklin less at $199.

T-Mobile teamed up a while back with a bunch of fashionistas to design elaborately redone Sidekick 3s to benefit Fashion Targets Breast Cancer, an organization raising money to benefit breast cancer causes worldwide to the tune of some $40 million since its inception in 1994. The results are in -- and while we can't comment on the usability or aesthetic goodness of what we're seeing, we've got to stay focused on the fact that it's all going to a very worthy group. Some of the names on the list of participating designers are big enough to drive prices way up on the auctions, we'd imagine, which all end today. So go place that massively generous bid of yours, and if anyone can figure out what the heck is going on with the Duckie Brown one, do let us know!

[Thanks, Jade C.]

Once Helio's claim to fame, mobile versions of MySpace are spreading across carriers large and small now; seems this whole social networking thing isn't a fad after all. The bulk of the Hiptop user base seems like a key MySpace demographic, so it makes sense that T-Mobile and Danger have joined the fray with a customized version of MySpace Mobile for the Sidekick range. The software's more than a simple mobile web portal, offering real-time status, profile editing, photo management, and communication with other members assembled into a decidedly Danger-like user interface. The companies are undertaking a "multi-week rollout" to the on-device Download Catalog beginning immediately with availability to all Sidekick 3 and iD users by the end of October, so enjoy your last few weeks of productivity while you can.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Is it just us, or does this thing look... well, not that great? This here is allegedly a shot of the upcoming Shuriken / Sidekick LX / Sidekick 4 -- Sharp's next-gen Hiptop alongside Motorola's Sidekick Slide -- doing its thing in the wild. Sadly, the case looks like cheap black plastic, the keyboard looks bizzare, and the chrome speaker looks out of place, though we suppose those bits could all be little pieces of preproduction indiscretion. Fortunately, the rumored 3-inch widescreen display should go a long way toward making up for any lingering ugliness when it launches in the not-too-distant future, but the Slide's looking a little better now, ain't it?

The single picture of the Sidekick Slide from Danger (alias "Zante" in codename parlance) posted yesterday on Boy Genius Report left us wanting for... oh, say, 27 more pictures, to be precise. That gallery is now live, showing the Motorola "M" logo (a first for a Danger device) in all its metallic glory, some comparo shots to a Sidekick 3, and -- of course -- the obligatory iPhone shot. Check it out!

[Thanks, EC]

Field tidbits from Engadget's mobile insider, The Boy Genius.

Yeah, they're just renderings, but they sure do look believable, don't they? Or maybe we just want to believe -- we can't really tell any more -- but for what it's worth, we're allegedly looking at a pair of future Sidekicks destined for Danger's favorite carrier, T-Mobile. Details are slim, but the Sidekick Slide seems to be the Motorola-sourced device we've been hearing about, considering the big, fat "M" logo to the left of the display. The one on the left is a little more mysterious considering that it's merely labeled "Sidekick," but it seems a likely candidate to succeed the 3. Whether either one of these is the oft-rumored "Zante" is unclear, but either way, it seems Danger's got its plate full for the next few months!

A Sidekick for the low price of $99 is enough to get any Danger fan excited -- but just what do you give up in exchange for the price break? That's precisely what T-Mobile is about to push out the door to give the cash-starved (and the frugal) among us a taste of the older, higher end Sidekick 3. LAPTOP Magazine had the chance to sit down and put the iD through its paces, pointing out the glaring lack of MP3 playback, camera, Bluetooth, and expandable memory. On the flipside, though, what's left is still Sidekick through and through: a messaging focus, mobile web surfing and the typical Hiptop form factor that makes voice calling just a tad awkward. More is lacking in the iD, though -- the lack of even 2.5G EDGE data is going to make serious surfing an exercise in frustration. Are there any old-school GPRS fans out there still? We thought not, but there probably are a few Sidekick-for-$100 fans. All told, LAPTOP was digging the myFaves integration (you're next, Sidekick 3 users) but found the nixed features a little tough to swallow, suggesting folks might be better served saving up a little extra coin for the 3 or a Motorola Q to get mobile multimedia done right.