I love competition. A company drops a device like the iPhone 3G integrating some great hardware, and quite soon after, all the other players realize that they need to update their own hardware to catch up. Welcome the new Sidekick LX into the competitor’s corner. The Sidekick has been exclusively on T-Mobile since its creation, and the LX is no different. While the overall form factor of the Sidekick LX has not changed much from past iterations, the LX adds some nice new hardware:

• 3.2” high res 854×480 screen
• 3G connectivity
• GPS
• 3.2MP camera with autofocus and LED flash

Additionally the Sidekick’s software has been updated to be a bit more social. Twitter, Facebook and Myspace integration has been built into the interface so you can get notifications from your favorite social network on the go.

Adrian Covert from Gizmodo got a short hands-on with the device saying that the external design of the device is not much different but it “feels and looks pretty solid as far as Sidekicks go”. And that the keyboard “feels nice and clicky, and the screen is gorgeous”. Sounds like a nice upgrade from previous models. Swing over to the Gizmodo article to see some images of the Sidekick LX.

There’s a lot of talk about Android-enabled devices out there but  in reality, we’re still in the position where there’s only one or two devices available.

The NYTimes adds more fuel to the fire by sharing some confidential information about another Android phone and, more interestingly, an Android-based ‘tablet pc’ that will come from T-Mobile. (U.S.)

T-Mobile has confirmed that they have plans for Android-based devices but declined to add to the already brief info.

The tablet is said to be a 7″ touch device for ‘basic computing jobs’  and as it’s likely to be ARM-based, (I don’t see Android being ported to x86 any time soon) it signifies that there is a continuing move by ARM partners into the mobile computing space. Maybe it’s the return of the Pepperpad, the Linux/ARM-based 7″ tablet from 2006.

T-Mobile to Use Google Software in Devices for Home – NYTimes.com.

There’s no doubt that the low-cost netbook trend will affect pro-mobile sales. It’s likely to affect laptop sales too. People in the industry are already hinting to me that they have problems. OEMS can’t price and position pro-mobile devices with confidence and specialist resellers have problems choosing which devices to stock. They don’t want to be left with a shelf full of out-of-fashion netbooks. There are still a few areas where netbooks can’t compete with UMPCs; built-in 3G, size and weight advantages, touchscreens, alternative form factors and rugged builds which can drive some good high-margin sales but when a well known brand comes along and offers a device with reasonable mobility advantages, a known quality-level, huge battery life, built-in 3G and a great price, you have to wonder how customers, OEMs and resellers in the mobile PC market will respond. [More of my thoughts about netbooks causing industry problems in this article.]

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As expected, the iPhone is very expensive indeed. [See the update below. The source linked to the wrong PDF!] Prices do seem more reasonable now that we’ve got the correct info!

Not only that but the data plans are restricted right down to the point where on the entry-level plan, you get no data at all! How’s that for the phone that’s supposed to open up the world of the Internet to your pocket?

T-Mobile in Germany have released the pricing plan and small-print for the iPhone 3G which starts at 29 Euro per month for just 50 minutes of inclusive calls. No Internet included, oh wait, one of their flyer pages mentions 100MB of data at EDGE speeds only!  Add the 249 170 Euro cost of the iPhone on top along with a 30 Euro connection charge and you’re not exactly getting the best smartphone deal on the block!

Update: A further check on the data reveals that Digital Living highlighted the wrong tariff. Joel spotted that the PDF was 3 months old. The NEW PDF shows a slightly better offer. If you order the iPhone before end of August you get 500MB of HSDPA included and 50 minutes of calls for 29 Euro. It’s still more expensive than most offers but considering the 8G version is only 170 Euro, it’s a reasonable deal.

For those not familiar with the pricing in Germany, let me tell you that for 10 Euros LESS per month I get 60 minutes of all-german-networks free calls and HSDPA flat-rate included (HTTP only, 3.6mbps)

If you want a flat-rate (5GB) 3G data package with the iPhone, they expect you to pay for 1000 minutes of voice calls too and hand over 89 Euros per month. Also note that the intermediate M and L offerings will cut your bandwidth down to 64kbps if you go over either 200MB 300MB or 1GB (respectively) of data usage. Pathetic!

+ = BEST!

One could take the jailbreak route of course but apart from it being difficult to do with the new activation rules, expensive and  time-consuming, it comes with a huge amount of risk. It’s not something I’m even interested in trying. No. I’ll stick with my solution of smartphones with good photo and video capabilities and combine it with a Gigabyte M528 for some real mobile Internet action. I’m even thinking of adding an Acer Aspire One to the kitlist and going for the full-on, no-compromise, high quality, three-device mobile strategy!

T-Mobile Tariff details here (PDF) News via Digital Living