T-Mobile USA Says Don’t Forget About The Sidekick — And Now It’s In 3G
T-Mobile USA is unveiling a new Sidekick today that may even have Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) scared.
Why? Because the characteristics of iPhone and Sidekick users are frighteningly similar, and the new Sidekick 3G has a couple of things the iPhone doesn’t: a tactile Qwerty keyboard and a cheaper monthly rate plan. T-Mobile’s VP of Product Development Leslie Grandy suggests that the launch of the iPhone is finally giving T-Mobile credit for something it launched so many years ago. “We
No way. Still love my iPhone, zillions of apps and uses, years ahead of the copycats trying to play catch-up. The only thing better than an iPhone is… next year's iPhone.
I would basically agree with Jeff.
Lured by the Sidekick's easy-to-use OS and its great QWERTY keyboard (prob. the device's only real strong point, IMO), I migrated to the Dwayne Wade version from a Blackberry 7290 two years ago.
But like a hot babe who turns out to be a bimbo with whom you have nothing in common, I soon realized I had made a big mistake. The "Kick is almost totally impractical as a phone — which at the end of the day is supposed to be its principal function. Too big, too heavy, and you can't easily dial a phone number not on your Contact list with the screen closed and the device held vertically — which is how you use it as phone (excluding speakerphone). This turned out to be not only a hassle, but nearly disastrous on at least one occasion when I was trying to dial a number while driving, which I don't even do that often.
Battery life was horrible and the screen resolution was a joke (I understand both these flaws have been improved on the LX). Grainy, subpar camera. The 'Kick devices seem to be mainly targeted at the under-25 or so demographic, who mainly use it as a mobile messenger for IM, texting, updating social-networking Websites, and basic e-mail. Def. *not* the right device for a 41 y.o. who prizes the phone function primarily, fast HTML internet browsing and e-mail secondarily, and texting thirdly. I only wished I had fully realized all its shortcomings before the T-mobile 2-week return window had closed. Switched to a Blackberry Curve later that year and was much happier.
I have Iphone 3G now (on AT&T) and while I hate some things about it, it serves my needs well overall. Like a Blackberry, many of its functions (including texting) can be accomplished with one hand. But the big, easy-to-view capacitative touchscreen gives it an advantage over the BB's (including the Storm, whose touchscreen is a joke, lol). If I needed "push" e-mail (esp. over an enterprise network server), I would switch to the BB Bold – prob. the only BB which is roughly on a par with the iphone in terms of functionality.
Here's hoping that the upcoming 3.0 OS update resolves the iphone's long-standing shortcomings (horizontal text messaging, copy/cut & paste functionality, video capture for the camera, MMS picture-sending ability, and push e-mail for clients other than Yahoo). And if the rumored new Iphone(s) also added better hardware — like a stronger battery, voice-activated dialing, stereo Bluetooth, and maybe some surprises — we'd be cooking with GAS !!!