Source: Seattle Times
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2002678466_sidekick12.html

When Seattle Sonics guard Ray Allen wanted a limited edition Sidekick, he did what any respectable All-Star would do — he used his clout to get the mobile phone sent here from one of the five cities where it is being sold.

Why would someone go through the trouble?

If you have to ask, you probably aren't cool enough.

The Sidekick, sold exclusively by Bellevue's T-Mobile USA, has made it into the hands and purses of the coolest music, entertainment and sports celebrities, becoming the BlackBerry for this elite slice of cellphone users.

At a Los Angeles party where T-Mobile launched a new model recently, celebrities clamored for one, creating a scene when the supply ran out.

The popularity of the Sidekick speaks to how mobile phones, with their ability to do more than make or take phone calls, have become fashion statements, a notion encouraged by wireless carriers. The carriers call it "personalization."

"Fashion is not just the domain of clothing," said Michael Gallelli, T-Mobile's director and head of product marketing. "What we've seen over the last couple of years is users downloading content to reflect their personality. It has become a big business."

For T-Mobile, that has meant identifying the Sidekick as the cool device hip enough for celebrities. A rare TV commercial last year showed Snoop Dogg, Paris Hilton, Burt Reynolds, Wayne Newton and the Wee Man from MTV's "Jackass" all using the Sidekick.

But the company's efforts to push the phone, which is known for its easy messaging capabilities, aim at an even more well-defined and sought-after niche: the hip-hop world. Sponsorships such as The Source Awards for hip-hop music and celebrity freebies have been key to creating a buzz around the product.

In a nod to how cool the Sidekick may be, T-Mobile recently released two limited editions that epitomized its chill factor: a black Mister Cartoon edition and a pink Juicy Couture. Only 15,000 of each were made.

The brand names resonate with people in the know. In other words, if you have to ask, you probably aren't cool enough.

Works of tattoo artist Mister Cartoon have been inscribed on the bodies and album covers of some of hip-hop's biggest stars, from Eminem and 50 Cent to Dr. Dre. Trendsetting Juicy is known for selling expensive, high-end sweat suits that are worn from the gym to the nightclub.

Last month, it was the $400 Mister Cartoon edition Allen looked for at a Seattle T-Mobile store, not knowing it wasn't available here yet. Teammates Reggie Evans, Rashard Lewis, Damien Wilkens and Ronald "Flip" Murray all got one during a preseason trip to Los Angeles.

"Rashard had got one; everyone got one," Allen said. "Gadgetwise, you have to stay up to date."

Asked whether he used his name to get one, he replied, "What's your sources?" And added, coolly: "If I got it — great. If not — great. I didn't have to try that hard."

Rise in hip circles
The Sidekick's rise in hip circles started as early as three years ago, when T-Mobile first rolled out the device.

Developed by a Palo Alto, Calif., company named Danger, the device it calls Hiptop was originally a different form and a gray-tone screen.

T-Mobile initially launched the early version, by calling it the Sidekick. It later sported a color screen and now the current version is a second edition (the Mister Cartoon and Juicy editions are jazzed-up Sidekick IIs).

The device gained acceptance in the hip-hop community after appearing as a prop in some of the hottest rap videos. The most notable street cred came when Jay-Z featured it in his video "Excuse me miss."

At the time, the Motorola two-way pager, which allowed text messages to be sent back and forth, was big in the music community. The Sidekick improved on the pager by also providing phone and Internet service.

In the video, Jay-Z rapped: "He 2 ways her, so she writes back." On screen, the image was of a Sidekick. From there, word spread that the Sidekick was a two-way on steroids.

Pulling in young crowd
Today, helped by this guerrilla marketing, the Sidekick draws customers considered the cream of the crop for the wireless industry, which is always trying to pull in a younger, hipper crowd willing to spend on staying connected with friends.

T-Mobile does not release statistics about Sidekick users, but according to M:Metrics, a Seattle-based measurement firm, about 250,000 of T-Mobile's 20 million subscribers have Sidekicks.

The makeup is young, educated and almost evenly split between male and female. Most fall below the age of 34.

Users are attracted to the Sidekick by more than the marketing, of course. Many prefer it to sitting down at a computer.

The large screen swivels and twists up to reveal a full thumb-friendly keyboard, making it easy to send e-mail, browse the Web and write and send text messages. A recent software upgrade allows the devices to access online invitations at Evite, video-rental Web site Netflix or MySpace, the popular social-networking site.

Sidekick owners use the devices a lot, with their average monthly bills surpassing $70, compared with $53 for all T-Mobile subscribers.

The devices themselves aren't necessarily expensive, compared with, say, an iPod, especially given their features. They come with a camera, cost about $250 and Internet access is a minimum of $30 a month.

At the same time, some find the device a little clunky, the camera is low-end and when browsing the Web, it can seem slower than a dial-up connection. It also has had security problem, having fallen victim to a couple of high-profile leaks, one affecting Paris Hilton and the other an FBI agent.

High-tech but nongeeky
But sending electronic communications with two thumbs and a big screen is about more than functionality, it's becoming high-tech fashion in a nongeeky kind of way.

Just as the thin, stylish Motorola Razr cellphone has made it big in the business community, the Sidekick has been a defining mobile device in the cool crowd.

Murray, the Sonics player, said he traded in his Sidekick II for the Mister Cartoon version not because of better features, but because "it looks way better."

"We are going to be the only people in Seattle that's got 'em," he said.

Michael Gartnerberg, an analyst with Jupiter Research, said T-Mobile has nailed the niche that appeals to people who wouldn't otherwise be caught dead with a device made for a suit and tie.

"The BlackBerry is a typical corporate device. The Sidekick is anything but a corporate device," he said. "It's almost like the anti-BlackBerry, if you will."

Hot item
The attitude is well represented at the limited edition Sidekick launch parties T-Mobile has hosted across the U.S.

Tina Lauzon and Mike Anderson, owners of Newcastle-based Fly Fashions, were invited to the L.A. party to give away their product, a mobile ornament that attaches to the Sidekick and serves as a kind of leash for the phone.

Lauzon, who has seen the market for personalization increase rapidly in the mobile world in the past year, said celebrities were adamant about getting a Sidekick; some even threw childish tantrums. She declined to name one celebrity whom she witnessed practically stomp her feet.

"Everyone wanted the Sidekick," she said. "It was almost embarrassing."

Tricia Duryee: 206-464-3283 or tduryee@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2005 The Seattle Times Company

Dave Therault is a blues singer out of Colorado Springs.

How did you first hear of the hiptop, and what made you decide to get one?
I was using a Motorola text pager and it broke. I went went looking on the net just about the day the first monochrome hiptop had been released. It was exactly what I was looking for. I knew that Danger had made it for me, and I got it the day it hit my local T-Mobile store. I was told that I was the first person in Colorado to buy one. (Yes, I'm that cool.) Wow, that was three years ago!
What feature do you use the most?

A better question would be, "What features do I use the least?"
Answer: I don't touch the games, unless I have a kid around that I want to keep occupied, then I pull out the Snowbored.
I use the phone ...a lot, having been on the 5000-minute plan for the last two years. Speakerphone is a great tool, together with taking notes during calls, or looking up data.
I'm a musician, and that means not being home, or not having access to a computer, so my Hiptop gets a lot of email action and web browsing.
Being a political blogger (threshingmachine.blogspot.com), I have to be able to post when the news is breaking. I approach it as a journalist and do a lot of investigative work, trying to break stories and digging up tips for credentialled media. If I want to scoop the news outlets with a story, I have to be able to blog it right from the scene. For that, I use email or the web browser ..."Another Threshing Machine Exclusive!"
I've been living at a peace camp in a tent since mid-September, and while I do have my laptop and wi-fi, it's much easier to manage sitting around the fire and blogging or sending press releases from my Hiptop.

You are known for being the first to fill up the address book when the limit was 1,000 contacts, and the first to fill it again when the limit was doubled. How do you know so many people, and how does the hiptop help you manage/stay in touch with all of them?
And if they increase to 5,000 I'll put that to good use too. Probably the biggest reason I have so many contacts is that I've been collecting them for 51 years! If you have a Hiptop, you know how easy it is to use, but for those people who don't yet, the interface is so beautiful that you can almost navigate it with your eyes closed. In fact, as a party trick I navigate from the Jump Screen to a new email document, fill it out, and send the message ...blindfolded.

What is your strangest/most surreal hiptop experience?
Five months ago I was demoing the Hiptop to some people outside Terra Blues in the Village. One of the people I was standing with was in a photo I had taken of of some street musicians busking in Philly, three months earlier. Coincidence? I think not.

Kathryn Hill is a long-time Sidekick user and a travel and food photographer.

How did you first learn about the Sidekick, and what made you decide to get one?
I first got the monochrome Sidekick in December of 2002; it was advertised on amazon.com. I had been using a RIM950 Blackberry prior to that, and I found it rather restrictive; since I am deaf, I couldn't make relay- operator assisted phone calls on it, and I couldn't access the web or AIM, nor could I access POP email, and that's important for a traveling photographer on the go.
I had been thinking of getting a Windows Pocket PC or some other internet-enabled handheld, but didn't like the idea of juggling two devices. When I saw the Sidekick, it immediately appealed to me because I knew it would be the "everything in one" device I needed and I knew it would be a far better communications device than the Blackberry for my special needs.

How has it impacted your day-to-day life?
It's given me tremendous independence, flexibility, and freedom. Using AIM, I can make real-time phone calls via a relay operator due to the partnership between AIM and IP Relay. I can receive phone calls via the AIM/IP Relay service. It vibrates, so I hardly ever miss a call. I can receive and send SMS messages, I can access most websites, I can post to my blog by emailing from the Sidekick, I can stay on top of all my personal and business email, I can take quick pictures and email them, I can keep a calendar and write down photography notes or grocery lists or meeting notes in Notes, and I set little alarm reminders for myself throughout the day. It's a little, handy device that fits in my hand and makes my life so much easier. I no longer have to ask someone else to make a phone call for me, and I have more control over how my business is run while I am on the road. I'm always able to be reached.
I've upgraded to the Sidekick II and really love it. My hearing boyfriend got a Sidekick after we had been dating a while because I rely so heavily on SMS. His phone, when we met, was just a regular numeric pad, and it was cumbersome for him to type messages to me. He really digs the QWERTY keyboard and being able stay in touch with me via AIM or email when I'm on the road. Our Sidekicks have been invaluable in helping keep us connected.

Tell us about your most amusing/surreal/strange sidekick moment
I work from home - I'm a photojournalist (http://kosmonaut.blogspot.com) and my desk faces away from the door - where I'm sitting, the door is behind my back. My boyfriend thinks it's funny to sneak up on me, which is easy since I can't hear, and stand behind me and IM with me from his Sidekick while pretending to be out. At some point I turn around to get something and see him standing there and I fall out of my chair from surprise. We always have a good laugh about it.
Someday, I'm going to get him back, you know.

Sam E. Goldberg, from National Lampoon's Pledge This!, is a recent high school graduate, passionate actor and hiptop user. We slipped into his entourage and managed to ask a few questions.

How did you first hear of the Sidekick, and why did you decide to get one?
I had just left my agent Barbara from stellar talent and I was eating lunch at the Shore Club. Right after I ordered my food I got a phone call from Barbara telling me she just got me an audition for the next day, and she emailed me the script. I knew it would be at least two hours before I got to a computer. I turned to the table next to me and noticed the Sidekick. I thought to myself, "if only I had one I could already be learning my lines!" It was then that I realized that was going to be my next purchase.

What feature do you use the most on the Sidekick?
I use IM and the web browser the most. IM is great because no matter where I go I can always stay in touch with all my friends and family. For example if I'm on set and they need quiet but I need to speak to someone IM is a great feature to have.
How does the Sidekick help you keep organized while out on a shoot?
The calendar helps me because I keep my entire schedual on there. It has my shooting scheduals, audition times, college classes, and it even keeps track of my social calendar.

What was your funniest/most surreal Sidekick moment?
My funniest, most surreal Sidekick moment had to be the last time I was eating at my favorite restaurant, the Ivy in Beverly Hills, with my friend Lindsay. We both looked around and laughed upon seeing that at least one person at every table was talking on the Sidekick. As the food came I got an IM from Lauren who I hadn't seen in months, saying that she was thinking of me because she was eating at the Ivy. It turns out she was at the table behind me. How coincidental is that?!

Adam Bosworth recently had this to say about the hiptop on his blog:
"I bought a Sidekick to use for my month off (August) and became an instant addict. First of all, it is fun! The graphics are engaging, the camera works well enough for trivial shots and then it is totally easy to email the shots to someone or make them the default picture for a contact meaning that if that contact calls you, the picture shows up on your screen. The IM to both AOL and Yahoo work really well and they let you change your status easily. It is amazing to be walking down the street and using IM with your friends. The SMS is really well built in as is the email so you can see from the main screen if you have new SMS or mail messages from people as well as if your friends are logged onto IM. The tasks UI is so intuitive that my daughter is instantly becoming organized.

The phone is so cleverly managed that you can call call people you usually talk to without ever using the keyboad and like a cell phone it has a green phone icon on the spinner to connect and a red one to hang up. The browser is the best browser I've seen on a mobile device. It is well organized. It is reasonably fast. Multitasking is a breeze. There is a key on the lower left called the jumpkey which will instantly bring you from any app to anyother without stopping the call you're making or the mail you're writing or the chat session or the page you're browsing. You can completely customize the rings when people call you to play the music appropriate to each one and the sound is OK.

This is the social version of the Blackberry. It is the Blackberry for the rest of us.

To you guys who built the Sidekick II, first thanks and kudos. I love this machine."

Mason Markee is an avid hiptop user and robotics enthusiast from Texas.

How did you first hear of the hiptop and what made you decide to get one?
I remember watching Adult Swim on Carton Network and seeing one of those anime-style T-Mobile Sidekick commercials. I was already interested in a cell with a keyboard, and after researching it on the internet it wasn't long before I decided on a Sidekick and picked one up. Naturally I upgraded to the Sidekick II when it was released.

How do you use the hiptop with your robotics projects?
I'm a part of the F.I.R.S.T. (For Inspiration and Recognition in Science and Technology) robotics competition - a world-wide competition that gives high school students a chance to build robots and compete with them at regionals around the country and in one final championship event in Atlanta. My team, named The Robonauts, is an alliance between my high school and NASA Johnson Space Center. We work at NASA facilities alongside NASA engineers, building our robot on weeknights and weekends.
I use the web browser on my hiptop to do a lot of research on other teams' robots at team websites and online forums where teams exchange tips, tricks and information. Throughout the competition season I would use the information I found and record stats in the Notes feature of my hiptop for use later. Our mentors, the NASA engineers, email the team a lot while they are at work during the day, and because I had my hiptop I was the only student who was actively involved in the email conversations during the day while all the other students were at school. During the championship event there were over 300 robots at the competition, so I used the camera on my phone to take shots of my favorite - or most feared - robots, so I could visually match team names with their robots. I also used the pictures to warn my driver which robots to look out for when they were out on the field during a match.

What do you see as the biggest improvements in the Sidekick II?
The greatest improvments in my opinion from the original Sidekick to the Sidekick II is the durability. Between my ultimate frisbee practice, jamming with my ska band, and building robots, I've been known to drop, crush or flat out break everything I carry around with me. The Sidekick II has handled every mishap I've accidently tossed its way.

Any future plans for integrating your hiptop with robots even more closely?
The next step is using the hiptop directly with the controls of robots. Of course the Sidekick can hit up the Internet so it can visit websites used to control a robot. On a similar note, using the Terminal Client you can connect to computers and of course computers are used to control the robots. In the fall I'll be attending the University of Texas at Austin to study mechanical engineering. They have an awesome robotics lab and I plan on spending a lot of time there doing research. Hopefully I'll be controlling robots from my hiptop while sitting two rooms away - something I know would never be possible on any other cellphone.

Kellie DeFries is a graduate of McNeese State University, Lake Charles, LA with a double B.A. in Ceramics and Graphic Design. She is on the web at Clay Diva, where you can check out lots of fantastic artwork. She loves her hiptop so much, she just had to add some bling.

When and why did you first get a hiptop?
My husband found out about it, after he noticed I typed lightening fast on regular 9-key cell phones. I live in San Diego and chat with my family who all live in Louisiana. It was rather difficult using a regular cell phone, but I did it. Anyway, he came home with the Sidekick and, I have loved the Sidekick and T-Mobile ever since!

What do you do most with your hiptop?
I am an artist and having the Sidekick helps me keep track of all my art shows, sales, art festivals, art groups clubs and meetings. I am also able to instantly show a client my work directly from my site, www.claydiva.com. From my Sidekick they can clearly see my ceramics and get a better picture of what I do. I make large platters, and it isn't always convenient or appropriate to carry a 20-inch platter around. I have received many special orders from just having this Sidekick. It increases productivity as an artist on the side.
Meanwhile, at my "day job" - Multitasking! I am a graphics specialist for a vacation resort in San Diego (www.campland.com) and it helps me keep appointments, arrange meetings, communicate with others during meetings - all without any annoying phone calls interrupting. I do instant price comparisons for other supervisors on sites like eBay. I take and send photos of projects or materials to my supervisors for approval. I can even pull up directions for a customer out on the property. I just can't get enough of it!
One of our V.I.P. Customers is hard of hearing and likes to check out my Sidekick. He is so impressed with the volume, the vibration intensity, and the ease of typing, and of course the IP Relay software. He has TTY, but finds it slow and difficult for both parties. He can't wait to get a sidekick!

Why did you decide to bling your hiptop? How did you do it?
I decided to "bling" my hiptop mainly because the main type of art I enjoy is a kind of pointillism. I do a glaze technique of dotting on my designs. I also do HUGE mosaic installations, all with glass gems, or larger DOTS. So, it was a perfect challenge - teeny tiny dots. I studied the different sizes, colors, and techniques being discussed on the internet. I did a basic design on my original Sidekick, and it was ok. But when the Sidekick II came out, my creativity went wild, along with my paycheck! I decided to only use the best - 5ss and 7ss genuine Swarovski Crystals. I purchased over $170.00 in gems and based on my experience with autobody work, I began sanding. And sanding, painting, and painting. Just painting my basic design on looked fabulous! But I just couldn't stop there. So on went the beads! I just love it. I don't get to dress up much while working in a resort and then doing pottery. It is my jewelry for everyday! I get stopped in the streets, at the beach, in restaurants, or in my car. It took me over 16 hours, all over a few nights, to complete the gluing of each of the 1700 stones!

What kind of reaction does it get when people see your phone?
It literally stops traffic. Groups of people have to look and touch, and ask many questions - what is the device? How did you do it? How much did it cost, etc. I feel like an honorary T-Mobile rep!

What advice would you give others wishing to customize their hiptops?
Patience. After completing mine, someone offered me $500.00 to do theirs. I couldn't accept! The sanding and painting took over 4 hours, and the gems took over 16 hours. So for 20 hours of work it was nowhere near worth trying to do it for that amount of money. I send everyone to nycpeach or to other vendors listed on the hiptop.com forums - customizesidekickz is a good one. But, you get what you pay for. I have seen other's work and well, I suppose I am biased. Mine ROCKS!

Rachel Whang is the co-owner and Ringmistress of Atomic Books in Baltimore. She loves her hiptop so much, she knit it a comfy little home.

How did you first hear about the hiptop?
I first heard about it when a customer of ours (Mike Lee) came in and took photos from his Sidekick and uploaded the photos right there from the store to his moblog site. I wasn't actually in the store at the time. One of my employees IMed me about it and showed me the photos he took.
From that moment on I coveted it.

What's so great about it anyway?
I love that I have a phone, an organizer and a digicam all in one, and that it's not as corporate as a Blackberry. It looks more like a Gameboy.

How does the hiptop help you manage your life on the job? Off the job?
I prefer emails and IMs to phone conversations (because I can have more than one interaction at a time), but I don't like carrying my iBook around (just from home to store and back again), so now I have something much more portable. And I never have to be without Google.

What is your favorite feature?
I love the flip screen display and the full keyboard.

What is the strangest/most surreal hiptop-related situation you've experienced?
I guess the strangest/most surreal moment was this past New Year's Eve, I was on 34th St, waiting for the ball to drop right before midnight, and I was in a huge crowd of friends and strangers in the middle of a street in Baltimore, and I could take a photo and immediately share the moment online. I felt oddly connected to the world.

Kurt Dekker is the force behind PLBM Games - responsible for Planet Lander, Cheese Racer and soon many other games for your hiptop. He talked with us about developing games for the hiptop, and gives us a peek at some coming attractions.

Tell us a bit about your history in the gaming industry and about the games you've developed for the hiptop.
I started making games for the Apple ][+ in 1983 because our high school computer room had a strict no-game policy ... unless you wrote it yourself. None of those titles were commercial quality, but I wrote many little games just to be able to play them.
My skills grew the most in the 1990s when I worked at Interplay Productions, working with fantastic engineers such as Jay Patel, Phil Britt, Mike Quarles and the other demi-gods who mentored me on titles such as Mario Teaches Typing, SimCity CD-ROM Enhanced and finally Atomic Bomberman.
In July 2003 I bought a Color Sidekick and prepared about a half dozen prototype games over the next few months, testing the limits of the machine, getting familiar with the API. At the time I was doing some contract work on a PS-2 and XBox title (Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II) so I could only dedicate part time to Hiptop development.
I have shipped Planet Lander and Cheese Racer for Sidekick and the sales have been phenomenal. In the month after both games went online I made over 100 times (!!) what my PalmOS games were selling at that moment, so I made a commitment to focus exclusively on Sidekick.
My goal is ambitious: I intend to deliver six full titles in 2005, and my challenge is to maintain the high playability and quality that has become a hallmark of my Sidekick offerings.
My only regret is that I don't have a 36-hour or 48-hour day.

What do you especially like about programming for the hiptop compared to other platforms?
This is my first time programming in Java, and honestly I haven't really taken full advantage of every aspect of the language. But I do appreciate the exception-handling and the fact that when I make a grievous programming error, it doesn't crash the phone. That's pretty huge when you're doing rapid development.
As far as the hiptop API, the calls to draw shapes, get input, etc., everything works very nicely, as documented in the developer API guides. Furthermore the folks at Danger have been very helpful in sorting out any issues I've had so far. Danger has a look-and-feel in mind for their device and by using their API it is easy to follow along with that plan, to make my games appear to be a seamless part of the end user experience.

What sort of feedback do you get back from users?
I receive fairly positive feedback on my Sidekick games. Occasionally a user will go to the effort to track down my personal email outside the Hiptop domain and without exception the feedback has been positive. Most users want to know the inside scoop: cheats, hints, what's coming out next, etc. People are passionate about the Sidekick and with good reason: It is a fantastic mobile platform and I'm stoked to be a part of it.
Besides, I love all my Sidekicks!

The hiptop2 Goes to Austalia

Been waiting to use your hiptop2 in the land down under? Wait no more! Telstra now offers the hiptop2 in Australia. Here's what else we know:

• Get your hiptop2 at Telstra retail stores as well as FoneZone retail locations
• Lots of info at www.telstra.com/hiptop
• It's available with an unlimited data plan for $30 AUD per month
• It includes MSN Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger

Also, the word is the Australian swim team take their hiptops everywhere except underwater. And they call them "hippys" - why? Perhaps you can find the answer in the Telstra forums.