![]() ![]() ![]() While it’s doubtful Apple would ever embrace the complex simplicity of the Sidekick-type design, it’s possible to think a company with ties to T-Mobile (like OnePlus for instance) could release a re-built Sidekick with modern features and capabilities. This is a phone design that is ripe for resurgence as consumers are clearly excited for smartphone factors of phones of their youth, but not excited by the price points and breakability of what has come to market. It was a shift from the folding phones we were used to and persisted through much of the early iPhone years, the 4G one being released as recent as 2011. The Sidekick, as it was, didn’t have to exist. Plus, people really liked the Sidekick, whereas folding phones existed out of necessity. With only one screen, or even two screens, it could easily be priced under $1000 and be a moneymaker because again - the engineering problem of a screen that moves away from the processor has already been solved. T-Mobile’s version of the Sidekick (Image: KnowTechie)o Plus, if a company was to make a new Sidekick-like device, it wouldn’t have to price it at $1500 All these phones are more physically sound than any double-screen flip phone that has been released. ![]() There were other phones with similar form factors, with slide-out keyboards instead of a screen that slid up. There is still a 4G Sidekick being supported by T-Mobile (also teasing that the phone could come back at any time). And because of its form factor, it should be easier to make sure it’s not fragile. The engineering problem is already solved, we know the slide-out screen works. To the point that the physical keyboard could be replaced by a screen under the slide-out (flip-up, 180-degree rotating, whatever) screen. You want a larger screen? Get a tablet.īut the Sidekick, here’s something that lends itself to modern screen technology, while providing a solid engineering solution for companies looking to slide, fold or otherwise add movement to smartphone devices. Phone manufacturers have yet to figure out how to slam two screens into a phone, a device that really doesn’t need two screens. TCL is apparently working on a phone with a sliding screen, but that also presents an engineering problem that is likely prone to error and fragility. ![]() Sidekicks existed from 2002 to 2011, so even the youth of today might feel nostalgic for a phone they saw their parents use. I’m talking about the original Danger Hiptop with a slide-up screen (re-branded as the T-Mobile Sidekick, the device that basically launched T-Mobile into the mainstream). So forget folding phones, bring back the Sidekick But they are rushed to production, prone to breaking and just not good. It’s been clear to me (at least) that folding phones are an attempt to appeal to the nostalgia of Gen Xers with money. There is a future in which technology folds - fold all the things - but that future is not now. The Motorola Razr is an expensive, fragile mistake. The Samsung Galaxy Z flip phone is trash (and has a screen which you’ll need to replace almost immediately). as the sk4gs instability is far too much for me to handle for an entire contract.Folding phones to this point, have been a bust. I'm willing to wait a few month if that is what it takes but if things look grim ill probably have to trade in for a ****tier keyboard. Hence my curiosity if there was still work in progress. I figure once a recovery is in place things will probably start to build momentum. I know these things take time but there doesn't seem to be hardly any interest or discussion in development at all for the sidekick and while i know there are two people working on it more than half the projects i've seen started anywhere on xda end up abandoned due to lack of interest with out so much as a word about it happening. I'm instead wondering IF itll happen at all. Here, not if but when doesn't seem to apply. The only reason i asked is for the G1 it was never a question of if but when and knowing eventually something would happen was usually enough to keep me quiet. There people often asked far to frequently when whats the ETA whats the eta whats the eta over and over. ![]()
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