AndroidActivist - By And For The Community!

Ahh, the Sidekick 4G. It’s the successor to the earlier Sidekick line, with Danger software and Sharp (with the exception of the Sidekick Slide) hardware. It’s not hard to tell that the Sidekick line was toast after Microsoft bought Danger to design their KIN software (yeah, that worked out really well, didn’t it?). But TMobile saw the importance of the Sidekicks, so they teamed up with Samsung (personally, I would have gone with HTC) to create the Sidekick 4G. It runs a skinned version of Android 2.2, with the same form factor as Sidekicks past.

Now, I can see what Tmo is trying to do here: they want to keep the Sidekick alive, because it’s brought a lot of business since its introduction all those years ago. Many Sidekick users have probably moved on to CrackBerrys or Android devices, but there is one crowd that I know from experience is not happy about the new Sidekick: the deaf community. The Sidekick line was very popular with deaf people, offering ease of use, great keyboards, and familiarity. I have a deaf father, and when I told him that the Sidekicks were being discontinued, he was very disappointed. At the moment, he’s rocking my crusty old G1, still trying to get used to it.

Anyway, all of his deaf friends have (or had) Sidekicks as well, and they’re just as upset about the whole situation. Sure, the Sidekick 4G will keep the line going, but it just won’t be the same without Danger’s Sidekick software. Many deaf people are now looking into other devices to use, which is good for Android in the end. But enough about my dad. What do I think about the Sidekick 4G? Honestly, I’m not too sure. It has its pros and cons, but I will say that I think Tmo and Samsung missed the mark on this one.

The hardware isn’t all that impressive to me. It might be to original Sidekick users, but they failed to catch my eye right away. I never liked the Sidekick keyboards. The buttons were always too small and not spaced far enough apart for my liking. Granted, the 1GHz processor, 4G radio, and front-facing camera are nice additions, but the one thing that kills it for me is the placement of the buttons.

Most (if not all) Android devices have the Home, Back, Menu, and Search buttons on the bottom of the device, just below the screen. But the Sidekick 4G uses the same button layout as its predecessors. I won’t be the first to tell you that this wasn’t designed for Android. When using the phone in portrait mode, the home button is all the way above the screen. That’s something I just couldn’t get used to.

If they were trying to appeal to old Sidekick users, they certainly have room for improvement. Sidekick users (and the deaf in particular) aren’t used to touchscreens, or having dozens upon dozens of apps, or navigating Android in general. My dad is so unhappy with the G1, he’s contemplating terminating the service and buying a different phone. The bottom line is this: Tmobile and Samsung really screwed this one up. The Sidekick isn’t a Sidekick without Danger’s software. They’ve wasted a load of money designing and manufacturing this thing. My guess here is that most Sidekick users will buy it, play around with it for a day, and then send it back because they hate the software, 4G speeds or no 4G speeds.

Who wins in this situation? Honestly, I can’t think of a scenario where anyone wins. Samsung loses revenue because their device fails, Tmobile may lose a good bit of customers, and the Sidekick users lose all around, because their favorite device is ruined. The only winners in this situation are the other carriers, if Sidekick users decide to jump ship.