The much anticipated T-Mobile Sidekick 3 just got one step closer to being released. Pictures of the new device were released on the FCC website this week even though Sharp, manufacturer of the Sidekick, requested they be kept confidential. The Sidekick has drawn an ever growing fan club since it 1st debuted with the black and white Sidekick. It's become a cult like following with rumor Web sites and leaked pictures flying across the net.

I myself have submitted to this cult following. I am addicted to my Sidekick II. I started out with a color Sidekick 1 and when the 2 came out I immediately jumped on it. You may ask whats so great about the Sidekick? What does it have that say the Treo or other smart phones don't have?

The Sidekick has the best keyboard on the market. I have tried many different smart phones and none are as comfortable as the Sidekick's horizontal keyboard layout. The Treo is arranged in a vertical fashion making for a small oriented keyboard which is hard to type long messages on.

The Sidekick's swivel screen has that 'coolness factor' that other phones just don't have. It commands attention in a public place. So many people are wowed when I pull my phone out in public and swivel the screen open.

The Sidekick has a propriety operating system that was programmed by Danger, the company who designed the Sidekick. The OS has an ease of use factor that is based around a central 'jump' screen. You can jump from the web browser to the email application to the instant messaging application very easily with this screen. Everything is multi-threaded so you can truly multitask with ease of use. No stylus is needed, just the scroll wheel. No extensive computer background is needed to use this phone. It is easy from the get go.

The web browser is miles ahead of any other phone on the market. Instead of drawing web pages as you would see on your computer, the browser stacks the content in a vertical fashion. This way all you need to do is use the scroll wheel to go up and down the page. There is no left and right scrolling needed. Most standard Web pages display in the browser and do not need to be coded into a special mobile Web page version. The browser was recently updated with Java support.

On T-Mobile's website there is a dedicated Web page that has a copy of all my data from my phone. Everything that resides on my phone (address book, email, notes, calendar, pictures) is automatically replicated on the Web page. This comes in handy as a backup in case my phone battery dies or I leave my phone at home. I can just log onto the Web page and all my info is there. This recently saved my life. My Sidekick II bit the dust 2 weeks ago. I was able to pull the SIM card out of my phone and pop it into an old Sidekick 1 and all the data that was on the website repopulated onto the Sidekick 1. I am holding out with the Sidekick 1 until the Sidekick 3 is released.

What the Sidekick II lacks is the presence of Bluetooth and the camera is useless. We already know from the FCC website pictures that the new Sidekick 3 will have a 1.3 megapixel camera and Bluetooth. It also will have a MiniSD card. People are speculating that the MiniSD card will be for either MP3 audio and maybe even Video storage. Other speculation that has been flying across the rumor sites is if the Sidekick will have EDGE. The phone appears to be much smaller than the current Sidekick II model. Hopefully the same functionality will exist with the smaller size.

The Sidekick really is cool. We can't all be like Paris Hilton but we can have her phone. "That's HOT!"

Contributed By: Paul Grossman