Is that Purple trim on the T-Mobile Sidekick Slide keeping you from making the jump to the a Sidekick handset? Worry not, Sidekick-fan. Word on the street has it that the exclusive T-Mobile provider, T-Mobile (of course), is planning to launch a color-revised T-Mobile Sidekick Slide with "Fire Red" trim. Fresh off its defective Sidekick [...]

T-Mobile is really taking the right steps in this whole defective-Motorola-Sidekick-Slide fiasco . After suspending sales of the Motorola-sourced Sidekick, named for the Slide mechanism that’s causing all those hard-resets and data dumps , T-Mobile has announced that they’ll be replacing Sidekick Slides with its larger, more expensive brother - the Sidekick LX. T-Mobile has confirmed that the Sidekick Slide’s fault lies in an “issue relating to the battery contacts. Motorola also has identified and tested a solution which it will implement for existing devices, and incorporate into newly manufactured ones.” If that faulty slide-mechanism is keeping you from fully enjoying the Sidekick-ness of your Sidekick Slide, head on in to a T-Mobile store and grab your Sidekick LX replacement handset. T-Mobile is offering the straight-up trade to all Sidekick Slide owners, or, if this whole broken Sidekick experience has left you with a bad taste in your mouth, you can choose to exchange the Sidekick Slide for credit towards another handset. Of course, if you just can’t imagine life without your slimmer (than the Sidekick LX) Sidekick Slide, you can just wait it out and hope that Motorola issues a fix right-quick. Planning on swapping out your Sidekick Slide? Drop us a line and let us know how you like the Sidekick LX. We’d love to hear what you think about the whole experience. [Via: GigaOM ] ---Related Articles at IntoMobile:Motorola Sidekick Slide goes live!Sidekick Slide coming in September?T-Mobile gets official with the Sidekick LX and Sidekick SlideDetails on Sharp's newest Sidekick - codenamed 'Shuriken'Sidekick Slide hits the FCC

Here’s an interesting tidbit from the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). We stumbled across this patent application, from none other than Nokia, that outlines a method to incorporate a “turn and slide” display that tilts upward to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard. Now, there have been numerous sliding-screen designs in an effort to combine the full-face screen (touchscreen in some cases) with a full, comfortably-sized QWERTY keyboard - there’s the inimitable Sidekick flip-display (Motorola Sidekick Slide excepted), the HTC Kaiser ’s ( AT&T Tilt ) slide-up and tilting display, and the laterally opening design on the Nokia E90 and HTC Omni . With all that competition, you would think Nokia would want to design a unique way to combine the full-face display with a QWERTY keyboard - and you’d be right. The USPTO patent application reveals Nokia’s intention to use a rotating “knob” on one end of the device that, when rotated, will slide the display to the side and tilt it upward for convenient viewing - unveiling a full QWERTY keyboard underneath. Interestingly, Nokia’s design sketches seem to hint at a full-touchscreen setup - indicated by the lack of buttons on the front-face of the device. Could this be destined to be part of Nokia’s S60 Touch lineup? A touch-based S60 device with a sliding and tilting display and a full QWERTY keyboard? Be still our beating hearts. We’re not sure if this patent application will actually materialize in the real-world, but we sure hope it will. Maybe Nokia will see fit to include some Haptikos haptic feedback as well? Fingers crossed. [Via: Unwired View ] ---Related Articles at IntoMobile:First Chinese-Keyboard Touchscreen SmartphoneApple sued for patent infringement - SP Technologies claims patent over iPhone's virtual keyboardRumor: Sprint to get new QWERTY slider from LG?PDA / Cell Phone Combo Patent Application - Cell Phone Tucked Inside PDAAnother Chinese phone with QWERTY keyboard; Runs Windows Mobile 5!

Way to run damage control, T-Mobile. The exclusive carrier of the Motorola Sidekick Slide has decided to suspend sales of the hot new sidekick handset in light of numerous reports of a faulty sliding mechanism on the Sidekick Slide - the very mechanism after which the handset is named. As we mentioned previously , some Motorola-made Sidekick Slides will randomly turn off or reboot (causing complete data loss from a hard-reset) upon actuation of the sliding-screen mechanism. Motorola and T-Mobile have confirmed the fault in “some” Sidekick Slides that are out in the field, and have decided pull the handset off the market until Motorola can fix the problem. If you already pulled the trigger on the more affordable Sidekick Slide and have noticed that the trick sliding mechanism has been causing device shutdowns, hit up a T-Mobile customer service representative or head into a retail location. Press release on the link. T-Mobile USA suspended sales of the T-Mobile Sidekick Slide™ on Friday evening, Nov. 16, after Motorola – the manufacturer of the device – confirmed that some devices may inadvertently power off when the slide door on the front side of the phone is opened or closed. T-Mobile has taken this action to help ensure our customers only receive devices we’re confident will perform at their peak, so they can stay effortlessly connected to those who matter most. Motorola is currently working to identify the root cause of the power cycle issue in affected Sidekick Slide devices. The T-Mobile Sidekick LX™ and Sidekick iD™ are not affected by this issue. If a customer purchased a Sidekick Slide that is experiencing the unintended power cycle issue, they may contact T-Mobile Customer Care, or go to a T-Mobile retail store, for assistance and to discuss available options. ---Related Articles at IntoMobile:Motorola Sidekick Slide goes live!Motorola's Sidekick Slide fleet has critical slide-mechanism flawSidekick Slide coming in September?Details on Sharp's newest Sidekick - codenamed 'Shuriken'Sidekick Slide hits the FCC

Early Sidekick Slide adopters are probably all too aware of the critical flaw plaguing their slide mechanism. Reports are coming in that the new Motorola Sidekick Slide, whose namesake takes after the cool sliding screen, will intermittently hard-reset (read: total data loss), or turn off upon actuation of the sliding screen.   It seems a slightly loose battery is to blame for the sliding screen’s troubles - sliding the screen upwards jiggles the battery out of place and prompts a reboot or shutdown of the Sidekick Slide. How did Motorola let such a design flaws slip through the cracks? We’re not sure. All we know is that there are a lot of people out there that are none too pleased to have to gamble with their Sidekick Slide’s data everytime they slide that screen open. On a positive note, the data is saved on Danger’s servers, so you can just download all your saved data after a hard-reset. Come on, Motorola. A device named for the cool sliding mechanism should have had the slide-screen thoroughly tested before release. [Via: Boy Genius Report ] ---Related Articles at IntoMobile:Sidekick Slide coming in September?Sidekick Slide hits the FCCMotorola Sidekick Slide goes live!T-Mobile gets official with the Sidekick LX and Sidekick SlideDetails on Sharp's newest Sidekick - codenamed 'Shuriken'