sidekick

Android Atlas Weekly 32: The Android phone of the future and a blast from the past (podcast)

We take a look at a pie-in-the-sky concept for the Android phone of the future, the old school T-Mobile Sidekick may return as an Android handset, and a YouTube series shows how an Android phone could save your job if you find yourself trapped under a vending machine for a month. All of that and more on this week's edition of Android Atlas Weekly.

Google Names Co-Founder Page New CEO http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-20/google-profit-tops-estimates-on-ad-demand-page-is-named-ceo.html… Read more

FLASHBACK! Buzz Out Loud 1262: Apple raises the bars (podcast)

You say Flashback, I say Unicorn of Rock! Go!

There's a fix coming for the iPhone 4's antenna problems: Apple will make the signal strength meter go higher, no matter what. Seriously? Yes. Also, Steve Jobs did not say, "It's just a phone," Microsoft doesn't care which way you insert your batteries, and there is no space dust on Hayabusa.

Remember the Hiptop: A Sidekick retrospective

On July 1, T-Mobile announced that it has ceased the sales of the two most recent Sidekick models, the Sidekick LX and the Sidekick 2008. More importantly, it appears that Danger, now owned by Microsoft, will no longer be making any more Sidekick handsets. There have been some rumors that T-Mobile might continue the Sidekick franchise with Android-based models, but the ones with the proprietary Danger OS is effectively dead.

This is a bittersweet end for me, as the Sidekick was my first-ever real smartphone. I owned both the Sidekick II and the Sidekick 3, also known as the Hiptop … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1262: Apple raises the bars (podcast)

Week in review: Smartphone disconnect

It was a tough week for smartphones.

Amid anemic sales, Microsoft has decided to halt work on its Kin phone less than two months after the product hit the market. The social media-oriented phone will not make its planned European debut, and Microsoft is shifting the entire Kin team to work on Windows Phone 7, the Microsoft smartphone operating system due out later this year.

The Kin, which made its debut just two months ago at an event in San Francisco, was the result of several years of work by Microsoft and stemmed from its 2008 acquisition of Sidekick maker … Read more

RIP Sidekick

Thanks for watching Loaded today. We will be off Monday for the long Fourth of July weekend. Why we get off July 5 when the holiday is a day earlier, I am not quite sure. But I am not one to look a gift horse in the mouth! Have a happy and safe Independence Day!

Links from Friday's episode of Loaded:

The U.S. government releases four new smartphone apps Disney purchases Tapulous Google acquires travel software company ITA Microsoft is licensing technology that allows batteries to work no matter how you put them in your gadgets Sex.com … Read more

T-Mobile to halt Sidekick sales

Well, it looks like the Kin's kin is also getting the ax.

T-Mobile confirmed to CNET on Thursday that it plans to stop selling the two existing Sidekick models.

"As T-Mobile looks to further innovate and raise the bar for the next generation of the T-Mobile Sidekick, as of July 2, the Sidekick LX and Sidekick 2008 will no longer be available through T-Mobile, including retail stores, care, telesales and online," the company said in a statement.

Existing customers will still be supported and the company seems to suggest that it is not done with the brand, … Read more

Microsoft's mystery event revealed

Microsoft's mystery event is a mystery no more.

A source confirms I was on target with my prediction that the event will herald the introduction of Microsoft's long-awaited new phones for the always-connected crowd. The devices, code-named Pure and Turtle, are both slider phones, each with a touch screen and keyboard, a source told CNET. In the U.S., the devices will run on Verizon Wireless' network and go on sale within the month following the event.

Microsoft plans to unveil the devices at the April 12 event in San Francisco.

However, those wanting an iPhone should really … Read more

Ray Ozzie's view from the clouds

LOS ANGELES--When Ray Ozzie penned his Internet Services Disruption memo back in 2005, he had a pretty good idea where the computing world was going. He just didn't know how Microsoft was going to get there.

While many are ready to write off Microsoft as an declining icon of computing's last generation, Ozzie sees Microsoft positioned to leapfrog some of the companies that tend to be thought of as the leaders of the cloud computing world--names like Amazon, Salesforce and Google.

"I will never, ever, utter the words 'mission accomplished' for obvious reasons," Ozzie said in … Read more

T-Mobile resumes Sidekick sales

T-Mobile USA said late Monday that it is resuming sales of the Sidekick after pulling it off the shelves in the wake of last month's massive outage.

The wireless carrier said that the Sidekick 2008 will now sell for as low as $49 with a two-year contract, while the Sidekick LX 2009 will be priced at $149 with a two-year contract.

"T-Mobile is pleased to announce that Sidekick sales have resumed," the carrier said in a statement.

The company is still dealing with the aftermath of the outage, which left customers without access to their data for … Read more