The Sidekick Is Back! This Time In 4G

Three (four?) cheers for T-Mobile!

Jan 20 2011, 11:26am CST | by Mark Raby

If you're anything like us, you were crushed when T-Mobile decided to kill off its wildly successful Sidekick brand. Well, it used to be wildly successful, but it started to feel outdated after a while. Nevertheless, guess what? It's back.

Several years ago, Sidekick phones were the coolest handsets to own. With their slide-out keyboards and easy texting capabilities, it was quite different from the flip phones du jour. But T-Mobile decided to axe the brand when the industry started shifting to more sophisticated smartphones, worried that its name was too closely associated with old tech.

But now it's reaching that "nostalgia" value, so T-Mobile will revive it with the Sidekick 4G. "Everybody knows the Sidekick, and we're going to relaunch the Sidekick and bring it as a 4G device, Android based, into the market," said T-Mobile CEO Philipp Humm at a media event this morning, reports PC Mag.

In addition, Samsung's Galaxy S offerings that were on T-Mobile's 3G network will be reworked for 4G connectivity, and all will join the carrier's existing 4G phones.

The news comes ahead of next month's Mobile World Congress, where 4G is expected to make a huge splash. Without a killer Android phone, no iPhone prospects, and a low market share in the US, T-Mobile is banking a lot on 4G and its ability to get reinvigorated in the market. So far it's starting to work.

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Mark Raby
Based in New York City, Mark follows the consumer electronics industry like a hawk. A published book author, he has a particular affinity for 3D technology and video games, and as such will surely be in the market for a new pair of glasses soon. Mark can be contacted directly at mark@i4u.com.