14 DAY TRIAL // Introduced last week, T-Mobile's Sidekick 4G smartphone has been spotted at the 2011 CTIA Wireless event.
Even though the device was not price tagged at first, it seems that the carrier has decided to reveal the phone's cost before it becomes available: $99.99 after a $50 mail in rebate and a new two-year contract with unlimited data or $149.99 with a lower-end two-year data plan.
The Sidekick family is renowned for its swivel design, but Samsung has dropped it in favor of a traditional slide-out form factor.
However, the Sidekick 4G retains the same QWERTY keyboard layout with almost perfectly spaced keys arranged on five rows.
When it comes to software, T-Mobile and Samsung have worked together to significantly change the Android 2.2 default look. One of the most important changes is the relocation of the phone, apps and contact tabs to the right side of the display when the device is in landscape mode.
In addition, users will be able to launch the shortcut menu by holding the jump button and then either use a keyboard shortcut or the touchscreen.
Other interesting new additions are the unique unlock screen that can be configured to launch a specific application, as well as the redesigned music app.
In terms of hardware, this is the most powerful smartphone from the Sidekick family.
The Sidekick 4G is capable of delivering theoretical peak download speeds of up to 21 Mbps and is powered by a 1 GHz ARM Cortex-A8 Hummingbird processor, complemented by a PowerVR SGX540 GPU.
It has a large 3.5-inch TFT capacitive touchscreen with 480 x 800 pixels resolution, accelerometer sensor for UI auto-rotate and proximity sensor for auto turn-off.
One of the few downsides of the smartphone is the 3-megapixel camera with autofocus and camcorder.
Exclusively offered by T-Mobile, the Sidekick 4G is expected to be available later this spring in two color schemes: matte black and magenta.