Replies to the Non-believers on my Sidekick 3 Review

I have been surprised by the many people who don't believe this review. Though I understand to a degree since I did not offer any new pictures, I did offer up details on new features that had not been confirmed anywhere else like the SD slot, the music player, bluetooth and very specific details about changes to the operating system appearance and its functionality. I also want to offer some responses to the thousands of questions I have seen or received regarding the unit.

1) No I am not a Danger employee, but Danger has been floating prototypes and demo units around for a number of months now and I got my hands on one.

2) Sharp is manufacturing the Hiptop hardware for Danger.

3) If the resolution of the screen is actually going to be improved, it WAS NOT on the unit I had. I suppose it's possible that Danger would upgrade the screen quality/resolution on the final production model, but why would they be demo'ing and testing units with the same old screen. It was so obvious that the screen was the old one that it was almost as if the old Sidekick was "trapped" inside the body of this new Sidekick 3.

4) I don't have a release date, but typically a company winds down inventory on an old product before the release a new one. Given what T-Mobile reps are saying, it makes sense that we would see a new one in the next 60 days or so.

5) I call the review official because I have not seen a full review of features/software/hardware of the Sidekick 3 anywhere else on the Internet and since I had the unit in my hands, I deemed my review "official." I haven't seen a single comment elsewhere on the operating system. I can also tell you that the operating system interface now uses darker colors, lots of greys and deeper tones and the opening graphic is much different now.

6) Yes, its time for some new leaked photos and I suspect we will see them soon, but I wasn't in a position to take pictures of the product, only to use it and test it and play with it. Believe me, I wanted to take some new pictures. Perhaps I could do some sketches of the new operating system?

7) Ultimately, the Sidekick 3 does feel a little smaller, but it seems THICKER. You can verify this when you have it in your hands. Frankly, in the day of the RAZR and the SLVR and the Motorola Q, I was expecting the Sidekick 3 to be thinner.

8) Let me clarify on the AIM integration. You are still separately logged into to each IM client, but they work together in an integrated format with little icons that show where each person on your buddy list is on.

9) Let me reiterate two things: People will not like the tracball/mouse/nubb. It was a gamble and a real departure to move in this direction and the feedback will be very negative on it. Additionally people will make fun of the screen quality. It was great 3 years ago, now its antique and low res. Many will upgrade for bluetooth and the music player, but many will not as the Sidekick 2 form factor is ultimately better.

In summary, the Sidekick still has two traits that make it great, AIM and a great web browser. The question is, can the Sidekick 3 make it with those two strengths now coupled with Bluetooth, SD and a music player?