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An Updated SideKick From Danger

Techstination feature for Friday, June 13, 2003

An updated Sidekick from Danger. Bloomberg Boot Camp, a report on today's technology. It's a combination, cell phone, PDA, Web browser and hand-held game machine... that has a pretty big wow factor. The original device from Danger, introduced last October, had a monochrome screen and the company says was a sell out. The new version... which T-Mobile calls the Sidekick... is just out... and adds color. Danger CEO Hank Nothhaft...

"Of all the requested features... color was the single most requested feature of all the ones. We've taken the inherent design, we've added a color screen to it. It's a transflective screen. It holds up very well in glare or in direct sunlight, so it's clearly viewable. We put a more powerful processor on the device as well as double the memory."

One of the most attractive features of the 300 dollar device is the service pricing. A 50 dollar plan includes a bucket of voice minutes and unlimited data. That makes the AOL Instant Messenger, email and browser features really usable..

"This is really a messaging engine. It's the mobile Internet in your pocket. That was our vision and that's what the initial devices turned out to be. We've built improvements into it and that's what this follow on device will be."

Two drawbacks... the Danger handheld doesn't include a slot for adding a memory card... and does not come with software to sync its calendar and addressbook with Microsoft Outlook. Bloomberg Boot Camp, I'm Fred Fishkin.