T-Mobile Discontinues Sidekick, Ponders Options
By Ed Oswald | Thursday, July 1, 2010 at 2:13 pm
Yesterday it was the Microsoft Kin that got the axe. Today, its a much more popular phone that is riding off into the sunset. T-Mobile said Thursday that all sales of its popular Sidekick QWERTY device would be halted after the close of business Friday. The move would end a six-year relationship with Danger, who is now owned by Microsoft.
It’s not clear whether or not this move has anything to do with the Kin announcement. The Sidekick and Microsoft’s social phone are somewhat related: the Kin was developed with the help of the folks from Danger, although it was based on Microsoft’s code and not the Danger OS.
With the turmoil in the Danger division, including the fact that most of the original team behind the Sidekick is now gone, and you begin to think that T-Mobiile may have decided this was a good time to get out. It’s hard to see how Microsoft comes out with a new Sidekick in the midst of the mess that is its phone division at the moment.
T-Mobile says it is looking at its options going forward for these types of devices, but would continue to support those who stick with the phone despite Thursday’s move. It does sound as if the carrier has some hope that a new version of the Sidekick could be launched sometime soon, however.
Let’s remember that either model T-Mobile sold is practically ancient in phone terms: the last LX refresh was in May of last year which added 3G (although has been around since 2007), while the other model (the 2008) is over two years old.
Either way, it may be a sad day for those still clinging to what was truly the first widespread data phone for consumers. You had a good life, Mr. Sidekick.
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July 1st, 2010 at 9:20 pm
Microsoft kills the Kin, and now the Sidekick is dead…a bad week for Microsoft mobile.
July 1st, 2010 at 5:33 pm
Also happened this week:
– iPhone 4 released
– iPhone demand goes up by 10 times and Apple sells out its entire stock of 1.7 million iPhone 4's in 3 days and only 9 countries
– iOS gets the 3rd party app multitasking that Microsoft is dropping between Windows Mobile 6.5 and 7, and already tens of thousands of apps have implemented it
– iMovie for iPhone 4 raises the bar for desktop-to-mobile app ports
– details about Apple's new cloud iTunes are leaked, which will make it possible for iPad/Windows users to get rid of Windows
So not only did Microsoft's mobile offerings get worse, but the state-of-the-art got better and the bar was raised again in the mobile market that Microsoft is hardly participating in, even though they've been making mobiles for 10 years or more. Very bad week for them, and couldn't happen to a more deserving company.
July 2nd, 2010 at 2:59 pm
I might well have had (an early) Sidekick, except that T-Mobile didn't work for me then. It still doesn't, which knocks some attractive phones out of contention.
July 2nd, 2010 at 8:20 pm
As a carrier, what is your incentive to do anything with Microsoft phones?
(And, yes, I know that MS does not make phones, but MS phone is easier than "a phone with a MS operating system inside it.)
Apple is on a tear with its new iPhone 4.
RIM is still selling a boatload of phones every month in NORAM.
Android phones are hot. Selling well and getting tons of publicity. (David Pogue of the NYT talks about the "Android phone of the month".)
Nokia still remains strong outside of NORAM.
Meanwhile, Microsoft really has nothing to sell at this point. If you are a carrier, why wouldn't you jest wait and see how successful MS is with their new Windows Mobile 7 phones?
Of course, the Taiwanese phone manufacturers might just want and see also.
It appears that app developers are not flocking to the MS world as they did for Apple and Android.
July 3rd, 2010 at 9:53 pm
Haha, when I was in high school those were the worst phones, anyone that had one had to get it replaced every freakin month. That spin method to open it was simply far too unreliable.
July 25th, 2010 at 7:54 pm
I am a kid who always wanted a sidekick. PUT BACK THE SIDEKICKS !!!!!! :-/ 🙁
August 1st, 2010 at 12:28 am
I agree with 564 PUT BACK THE SIDEKICKS WE WANT IT BACK !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! >:( PUT BACK THE SIDEKICKS T-MOBILE