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Video on the Sidekick LX

By admin | June 30, 2008

There has been alot of talk about the video playback/recording with many questions as to what it will be able to play, how it will play and what can you get away with.  I decided to take some time and go over the details (aka boring!) about the video format as well as some of the questions people are coming up with.

 The LX video player (currently? Only?) supports the 3GP format.  3GP is a video format.  A video format is kind of what a .mov or .avi video format is.  What it comes down too is .3GP is a way the file is compressed when converted from say an avi. 

3GP stores video streams as MPEG-4 or H.263, and audio streams as AMR-NB or AAC-LC formats. 3GP files are always big-endian. 3GP also describes image sizes and bandwidth, so content is correctly sized for mobile display screens.   Currently from what I have been able to find about about 3GP is that it is only supported by Quicktime (ick! itunes), or RealPlayer (double ick!). 

One of the best aspects of 3GP is that it is a video format specific to video playback on mobile devices.  This dosen’t mean it has the best quality of video, but that videos focus specifically for devices with small screens and low bandwidth.  Will the video quality be very good?  I would say no not really.  The video play back will be awful on a pc/mac and will be so so on the phone.

Will you be able to stream videos from sites like AOL, youtube, google and other streaming sites? 

No you will not be able too.  To watch videos from these sites you will need to manually download the videos to your computer, convert them and then copy them over to your phone.  This process could day over an hour for most people so I don’t think many people will be interested in going though this process for a 5 minute video clip.

Will you be able to stream .3GP files from a website

That is the big question that is waiting to be answered.  I’m hoping that danger will offer the ability to stream .3gp files from the built in web browser on the LX but I don’t think anyone has tried it yet.

Will there be a new video section added to the catalog?

I am sure this is the plan but have been able to get no conformation yet.  I am willing to bet that the video feature will be very limited outside of the catalog and sending recorded videos too friends; both of which will cost you cash with each usage.  Because of this a really cool feature that should be more powerful and useful will instead be very limited and uninteresting in the next few months.

Topics: Sidekick LX | No Comments »

Planned next Sidekick: the Sidekick Gekko/Aspen

By admin | May 13, 2008

There has been plenty of talk about the next phone to come out which is the sidekick Gekko/Aspen. 

But is it true?  Its hard to say.  I have seen some reliable sources saying it is true; but the main photo that people have been showing off is a theme that the phone is supposed to be using.  what makes me question if this is true is the fact that the theme for the phone has a picture of the phone on the theme.  Why you would want a photo of your phone on your phone is beyond me, or why they would even use a theme to “tease” people is beyond me.

sidekick gekko aspen

 But beyond that the key new feature is the ability to record video as well as view video.  Which means you will now be able to be charged to send a video to your friends, and maybe be charged to watch a random crappy video off the tmobile catalog.  What bothers me most is this is really just a software update that requires you to buy new hardware (ie new phone) to use the new software.

I guess I would expect nothing less from tmobile then that.

Topics: All Sidekicks, Sidekick News | No Comments »

Unlocking your Sidekick

By admin | March 18, 2008

Many people keep asking the question on how to unlock their sidekick, or how to use their sidekick on a different provider (tmobile, verison, at&t, etc).  The only benefit you get with unlocking your phone is the ability to use your phone on a different network; which for many people is only possible every 2 years (when your contact runs out). 

 What many people don’t realize is that many of the different cellphone providers use different types of data networks.  This means your phone might only work on t-mobiles data network, while some phones might work on Verison and at&t.  This means switching your sidekick to cingular for example will allow you to make phone calls and send SMS (text messages) but will not let you use nearly all the extra features like browsing the net, email and instant messages.  This means you now have a great phone, but only 1/4 of the features will ever work.

But if you are still interested in unlocking your phone here are the steps you will need to take.

  1.  Call up the tmobile customer service.
  2. You will need to have been a customer for 1-2 months (according to what some people have expierenced) to request your unlock code.
  3. In 1-2 days you will receive your  IMEI code (the unique ID code of your phone) .
  4. Once you have the IMEI shutdown your phone 
  5. Insert the foreign SIM card
  6.  Power the phone on and the display should read “Special Code Required”
  7. Enter the unlock code and the phone will reboot and try to reconnect to the network

Your phone should now work with the new service provider.

Topics: Sidekick How To, All Sidekicks, Sidekick LX, Sidekick Slide, Sidekick / Hiptop 3, Sidekick ID, Sidekick / Hiptop 2 | No Comments »

Uploading music to your Sidekick phone

By admin | February 21, 2008

I have had quite a number of people ask me how to upload music to their phone.  This is not in reference to using ringtones (which you can NOT do).

The problem most people have is in many cases they are trying to upload music to their phone that the sidekick can not play (like applie itone files).   Or they have yet to buy a memory card.

Files you can not upload

If the file is NOT .MP3 then you can NOT use it on your phone.

If you dont have a memory card you can buy one on amazon for real cheap!

Now you have your memory card, your phone, and your USB cable.   You have a tone of MP3 music files you want to upload right! 

 Connect your phone to your computer using the USB cable.  Once your phone is connected you will not be able to access your phone (its locked while connected using the cable).

After about 20 seconds you will at some point here your computer make a few sounds, as well as a “bubble” popup in the bottom right corner.  Click on my computer and after a few seconds you will see a new “drive” show up.  Click on this drive and create a new directory like “music”.

 Start dragging some songs into this new directory.  I would say test with 1 song before adding anymore.

Unplug your phone from the computer and fire up the mp3 player.

You should now see a new song listed on your phone.  If not reboot and check again.

And there you have it.  You can now listen to mp3’s on your sidekick.

A few things to know about playing mp3’s on your sidekick

The Sidekick ID can not use mp3’s at all and in fact it has no mp3 player.

Topics: Sidekick How To, All Sidekicks, Sidekick LX, Sidekick Slide, Sidekick / Hiptop 3, Sidekick / Hiptop 2 | No Comments »

Setting up POP mail on the Sidekick ID

By admin | February 3, 2008

Setting up POP mail on the sidekick ID has been a problem for many people with very few people offering help or information how to do it.  The biggest problem is that many people think they have POP mail access when in fact they don’t.  So this isn’t really a limitation to the phone but more on the email providers side.

 To clarify a few things here are some important facts to know about

 What if my mail provider dosen’t offer pop?

You can always setup your email provider (yahoo, hotmail, etc) to FOWARD your emails to a different account.  This means that if someone sends an email to your yahoo account it will automatically be sent to a different account.   This different account would be an account that does have POP access which you would then setup on your sidekick ID.  To do this all you need to do is login to your email acccount, set the email address you want to foward and then setup your SidekickID to use the new email account for pop.

Setting up AOL POP on your sidekickID

  1. Under General, select “Collect email from this account.”
    Next Account > Protocol: Select POP/SSL.
  2. Mail server: pop.aol.com. Port: 995.
  3. Enter username and password.

If you have other problems with setting up POP feel free to leave a comment and we will add a solution to your problem to this list.

Topics: Sidekick ID | No Comments »

Can you use ringtones on the Sidekick?

By admin | January 21, 2008

This is the biggest question asked on nearly every phone website dealing with the sidekick series of phones.  This includes every sidekick besides the sidekick II which is hardly used anymore.

 Other then using ringtones from the tmobile catalog the answer is NO.  No you can not upload a mp3.  You can’t buy a ringtone and transfer a song.  You can not create a ringtone, you can not hack your sidekick.

Regardless of what anyone says you can NOT add your own ringtones on your sidekick.  This has been requested, attempted and tried over the last 3 years by many groups of people and you just can not do it.

 Yes you will see advertisments saying sidekick ringtones, or sites saying you can transfer music to your sidekick but all of these sites are just spam sites trying to get you to sign up or fill out survey’s.  Non of these sites, hacks, examples or how to’s will get a ringtone onto your tmobile sidekick. I can not speak for the aussie or hiptop but when it comes to the sidekick in America there is no way to get a ringtone onto your phone.

Topics: Sidekick How To, All Sidekicks, Sidekick LX, Sidekick Slide, Sidekick / Hiptop 3, Sidekick ID, Sidekick / Hiptop 2 | No Comments »

Dont waste your time with the sidekick ID (skID)

By admin | September 17, 2007

Many people were excited about the new Sidekick ID or SKID when it was first talked about on many of the sidekick boards and forums.  But this phone is anything but exciting or interesting.

Photo of the first generation of the Sidekick ID SKID

 The Sidekick ID is a takeoff on the second most recent phone by Danger which was the Sidekick 3 or HipTop 3 phones.  Though they were and are limited in features many of the features the Sidekick 3 has were amazing and really comparable to many of the phones that were out at the time.

 But onto the problems with the sidekick ID.

To start I will be comparing the Sidekick ID to the Sidekick 3 / Hiptop 3 phones.  Since many people who will be coonsidering the ID will be deciding between these two phones I will compare it to its “parent” phone.

To start the Sidekick 3 comes with a handy camera. Yes the camera isn’t all that great at 1.3 megapixels and poor quality if its not bright as day it was still something.  The ID has no camera at all.  This might be nice for those who don’t want a camera on their phone, but most lilkely these people will not be choosing either the Sidekick 3 or the Sidekick ID to begin with.

No Bluetooth.  The Sidekick 3 has bluetooth for headsets only (you couldn’t transfer files with it). With the ID you will be expected to do all your talking without the ability to use a bluetooth headset, which if you have ever owned one you will find it very difficult to not have this feature.

No MiniSD card.  The sidekick 3 had support for this memory upgrade that would allow you to hold more photos, Music for playback and most important themes, backgrounds, hinge sounds and keyguards.  This is the biggest flaw in the ID for anyone who wants to have an MP3 player, more storage or have the ability to change the way their phone looks.

No Edge Technology.  This is the “high speed internet” technology that gave the sk3 its best advantage over many other phones. EDGE helps with faster speeds for text messaging and instant messaging.  Why they would remove this feature for a phone that only has the focus on IM and text messages is beyond me.

 Comparable to the price of the sk3 and the skid I would have to say don’t waste your time with the ID. Get yourself a Sidekick 3 if you cant wait for the Sidekick Slide.  With so many features missing the Sidekick 3 will just be better for you.

Topics: Sidekick ID, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »