Mobile Phone News

Filed under: Multimedia, Peripherals, Motorola

The follow-on to Motorola’s sporty and moderately popular (for a stereo bluetooth headset, anyway) S9 may not have launched yet — a disappointment, considering the original plan for a Q2 release when it was declare at CES — but perhaps a little last-minute paint job was the reason for the delay. We’ve at this time spotted the S9-HD in a bright white getup with blue accents, a far cry from the black of the model shown at CES (and presumably still slated for launch) or the red of the original, but let’s not kid ourselves: this one has a way better chance of finding its way into an ear canal or two. Hopefully we’ll see it within a few weeks — just in time for a successor to be launched at CES 2009, no doubt.

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Filed under: Handsets, Features, Sharp, T-Mobile, Danger, GSM, EDGE

After all the buffoonery over what precisely T-Mobile intended to call its newest entry-level Danger device, they’ve ultimately decided to just go back to basics, drop the acronyms, and christen it clearly “Sidekick.” Make no mistake, though — this little puppy is a far cry from your daddy’s Hiptop launched way back in 2002, thanks to a 400 x 240 WQVGA display, 2 megapixel camera with video recording capability, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, and a microSD slot. Though it’s being billed as the iD’s spiritual successor, the Sidekick comes dangerously close to LX territory, so it should see some solid movement at the $149.99 asking price on a two-year contract. What’s more, the Sidekick becomes Danger’s first device with user-customizable shells, available directly from sidekickshells.com for $14.99 a pop (we’ve got Bot. a really bad and a really frickin’ great feeling about the ridiculous sorts of designs people are plan to be coming up with there). The whole shebang goes on sale starting today.

We’ve spent just a little bit of time fiddling with a Sidekick this week, and in a nutshell, this thing is a killer upgrade for the iD crowd — which just so happens to be precisely what T-Mobile’s going for. On the downside, the pivot mechanism and controls feel just a little chintzier than those on their big brother, the LX — but not distractingly so — and it’s surprisingly hard to downgrade from the LX’s stunning 3-inch display to the Sidekick’s smaller 2.6-inch deal. For those of you with shell design ideas already in mind, though, where else are you gonna turn?

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Filed under: O2, Apple

It’s a far cry from free, so just how badly do you want to avoid that postpaid contract? O2 had posted pricing for the iPhone 3G when purchased through its Pay & Go prepaid program, showing £300 (about $591) for the 8 gigger and a brutal £360 (about $709) for the 16, though the information was mysteriously pulled just moments later and replaced with a promise that details (the very same details they’ve already leaked, we presume) would be available “shortly.” Though those sticker prices will eat holes through even the mightiest of wallets, buyers will take some comfort in the knowledge that they include six months of WiFi access, after which it’ll run £10 (about $20) a month.

[Via TUAW]

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