Ellington

I miss my Sidekick. Recently the PR folks at T-Mobile were kind enough to loan me what they call the Sidekick II, which is actually the HipTop2, made by Danger Inc. (http://www.danger.com). I expected not to like the Sidekick, mostly because I didn't like anime-style interface at first glance. What I found, though, is that I was able to look past some of the cartoonish stuff because the interface is well-designed for the way I like to stay connected.

The best label I can come up with is something like "portable wireless communicator." It's not quite a PDA, as a PDA tends to offer more applications and storage. The Sidekick isn't quite a smartphone, either, because (1) it's kinda a crappy phone, and (2) its more focused on offering the best Web browsing and live chat I've seen in a handheld.

With the Sidekick, you feel like you're "always on," particularly if you use AOL instant messaging (AIM) and like to get e-mail instantly. It's Blackberry-like, but I found that Sidekick is easier to live with (I've also been testing a Blackberry phone recently), perhaps because the Blackberry is a bit more corporate, while the Sidekick is aimed at consumers.

Since our office is Mac-based, most of the JFP staff is plugged into AIM—it's the same service that Apple's iChat uses. Using my Sidekick, I could keep tabs on people on the office wherever I was—when someone fired up their Mac (assuming they had iChat turned on) they would appear on my Buddy List on the Sidekick, complete with an alert. I could instantly communicate with that person, knowing that they're at their Mac.

As I worked with it, I realized that the cartoon interface has the handy little quirk of offering the top five items in each application's splash screen—the mail client shows you new e-mail messages, the chat client shows online buddies, the calendar showed upcoming appointments and so on. It works.

I really started to like the interface once I got used to the Gameboy-like controls; you flip the screen out (which always grabs people's attention—it's slick) and then hold the Sidekick two-handed, using the right side scroller to move quickly through lists and the buttons on all four sides to bring up menus, make choices and backtrack. Use the Qwerty keyboard to type messages or URLs—once I got used to it, I was flyin'.

There are some down sides. First, the Sidekick is big—I found I could put it in a pocket when I was wearing jeans, because the denim won't sag from the weight, but it's too heavy for khakis (pleated or otherwise) or even a jacket pocket where I usually carry my phone. Purses, of course, work great.

Second, the camera is mediocre. I've seen better picture taking in freebie mobile phones.

Third, your stuff gets stored and managed online using the Sidekick Web site, which is how they hacked Paris Hilton. That makes it handy for desktop access, however, as the Web-based interface is pretty slick, making it possible to sync, edit and access your Sidekick data without special calendaring software—all you need is a Web browser. (And, you can use some desktop add-ons to sync your current calendar over the air to the Sidekick, if you like.)

Fourth, you're essentially holding a PDA to your face to use it as a phone. Nerd. The Sidekick II has a good speakerphone, which I found myself using a lot; you'll also want to program a lot of numbers into your address book, because otherwise you have to flip the phone open to dial a call, then flip it closed to talk. Kinda irritating.

Fifth, it's pricey—about $275-$300 to get into one and then $30 a month for the data plan alone. Interestingly, T-Mobile offers both credit and pay-as-you-go plans for the Sidekick, which probably makes the Sidekick the only data device that can be used pay-as-you-go—it's a $1 per day for wireless service, plus 20 cents per minute to talk on the phone.

So is it right for you? You've got two types of people—synchronous and asynchronous. If you answer your mobile phone every time it rings because you love people or feel driven to "get the job done," then you're synchronous—you like to sync up with people in real time. Get a really nice mobile phone.

If you're an "asynchronous" person, then the Sidekick is a godsend. Answer e-mail or chats when you feel like it, manage your calendar and appointments and send messages when you're running late or spending extra time getting a coffee.