![]() ![]() Phone manufacturers have yet to figure out how to slam two screens into a phone, a device that really doesn’t need two screens. TCL is apparently working on a phone with a sliding screen, but that also presents an engineering problem that is likely prone to error and fragility. Sidekicks existed from 2002 to 2011, so even the youth of today might feel nostalgic for a phone they saw their parents use. I’m talking about the original Danger Hiptop with a slide-up screen (re-branded as the T-Mobile Sidekick, the device that basically launched T-Mobile into the mainstream). So forget folding phones, bring back the Sidekick But they are rushed to production, prone to breaking and just not good. It’s been clear to me (at least) that folding phones are an attempt to appeal to the nostalgia of Gen Xers with money. There is a future in which technology folds - fold all the things - but that future is not now. The Motorola Razr is an expensive, fragile mistake. The Samsung Galaxy Z flip phone is trash (and has a screen which you’ll need to replace almost immediately). It may not be the most powerful, top of the line Android device currently available, but with solid specs, and a great design it is sure a great option for a large number of users.Folding phones to this point, have been a bust. The device has a lot of potential, and should attract quite a large crowd if people are simply willing to accept change and give it a shot. The T-Mobile Sidekick 4G is no device to simply forget about. A neat little addition was the ability to press the home and back buttons at the same time to bypass needing to swipe on the unlock screen, but this is minor in the grand scheme of use. The battery life in comparison to some other devices is improved, but not something I would trade having a flash on my device for personally. The home button is in the top right corner, which is quite a stretch, though the back button can be long-pressed to bring you to the home screen. While the external buttons are placed well while holding the phone horizontally, when using the device in portrait mode they can be a bit tough to use. The Sidekick 4G will make a great phone for many users, especially message-centric users. These themes are only basic changes, mainly the launcher back drop color, the indicator to show which screen you are on, and the font color of some menus in the device, but either way it gives users the freedom to keep their home screens matching with their custom wallpapers. Finally, there is a theme changer included, which contains eight different themes for the device. Mini Diary is a cool application that allows you to store pictures, notes, weather conditions and more in a diary fashion for those who like to document our days and share them with our loved ones. join in a message and they will be automatically added to the group. The lists are able to be kept private, or you can turn on the '.join' feature which allows friends to send. ![]() You are able to have multiple groups going at the same time, each of which is given their own name by you, and responses sent to the group go to everyone on the list. The jump key settings allow users to pick letters from the keyboard to be used to launch applications when pressed at exactly the same time as the jump key button.Īnother added feature in the Sidekick 4G is the Group Text option, which allows you to create various groups of friends and create SMS conversations that will include all of them. Below this is the jump key, a new idea for Android. Starting on the left hand side, on the top you will find the home button, used to bring you back to your main home screen from anywhere in the device, and a long press of this button will bring up your notifications as well. Here's some more on the Sidekick's new Android buttons. The left-hand side of the keyboard has a voice search button like we are used to, and the lower left hand corner of the keyboard has a voice action button allowing users to navigate the device via voice commands. ![]() There is an emoticon (smiley) button that launches a window of 40 emoticons to select from, depending on what message you are trying to get across. The left hand shift key is pink in color, but has no added functionality over the right shift key. The keyboard takes a little bit of time to grow into, but after a little bit of use you will notice your fingers are able to fly around, and type quite quickly. ![]()
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