14 DAY TRIAL // Wirefly has just announced that it is taking pre-orders for the Sidekick 4G smartphone starting today.
The Sidekick 4G is expected to hit the store shelves later this month at T-Mobile for $99 with a new two-year agreement.
However, pre-ordering the phone from Wirefly will get customers a $20 cut from the carrier's price, which means Sidekick 4G is now available for just $79.99.
“The legions of Sidekick fans are going to fall in love with the new Sidekick 4G,” said Andy Zeinfeld, chief executive officer of Simplexity, Wirefly’s parent company.
“With the enhancements made to the handset, the move to the Android operating system, and support from T-Mobile’s blazing-fast 4G network, the new Sidekick4G has solidified its position as the ultimate messaging smartphone and Wirefly is thrilled to help launch the latest version of such an iconic device.”
The new Sidekick 4G maintains the slide-out form factor that made the entire family so popular, and adds new features.
Among the traits of the phone one can notice the 1 GHz Cortex A8 Hummingbird processor, 3.5-inch WVGA touchscreen, as well as full support for 4G HSPA+ networks.
Obviously, the smartphone comes with a full five-row QWERTY keyboard, complemented by a new “pop-tilt” hinge.
The phone is built by Samsung and powered by Google's Android 2.2 Froyo. It sports a 3.2-megapixel rear camera, as well as a VGA front-facing camera for video calling.
Speaking of the secondary camera, the Sidekick 4G comes bundled with T-Mobile Video Chat powered by Qik.
Additionally, the phone embeds the DriveSmart service from T-Mobile, which helps prevent distracted driving, as well as integrated Google services, including Gmail, Google Maps and access to thousands of applications on Android Market.
T-Mobile Sidekick 4G is available for purchase in two colors, Matte black and Pearl magenta.