As expected, Motorola and T-Mobile have materialized a new variant of the Sidekick Slide, replacing that rather polarizing shade of purple with... well, an equally polarizing shade of red. The Sidekick Slide Scarlet, as it's known, features the same QVGA display, 1.3 megapixel cam, microSD slot, and Hiptop-first sliding display as the original and is available starting today for $199.99 on contract.

Boy Genius Report is reporting (it is the Boy Genius Report, after all) that the Motorola-sourced Sidekick Slide will be getting a second variation on T-Mobile come late May or early June, this time around in a lovely shade of red to compliment the same glossy black shell as the original. We can see how the purple might be a bit intense for some folks, so red should be a decent alternative; we don't think the picture's real here, but it gets the point across. With the iD out of the picture, it seems like T-Mobile has some ramping up to do in the palette department -- and really, how much longer can we go without a Dwayne Wade LX?

While we can't help but feel all warm and fuzzy inside whenever a manufacturer owns up to defects that originated on its end, it's even better when affected customers are looked after for their troubles. According to GigaOM, users dealing with a malfunctioning Sidekick Slide can swap their unit for a shiny new Sidekick LX free of charge, and if for whatever reason that doesn't get your juices flowin', you can opt to exchange it and put the purchase price towards another handset. If you're dead set on just keeping your current Slide, you can simply wait things out until a fix is announced, but you won't find us passing up on any offers to upgrade gratis.

After a few days of investigation, it looks like Motorola and T-Mobile have figured what was behind that nasty Sidekick Slide bug that caused the devices to shut off when flipped open. According to our friends at Moto, the root cause was "a minor issue relating to the battery contacts," and a solution is being tested right now and should be available by next week, when Slides are expected to go back on sale at T-Mo stores. A speedy resolution, to be sure, but we're still amazed a bug like that got through in the first place.

So, first the bad news: T-Mobile and Motorola have confirmed that "some" Sidekick Slides are turning themselves off when the display is opened or closed. Now, the good: they're doing something about it. Slide sales have been suspended as of this evening while Moto works to identify just what the heck's going on; meanwhile, existing owners who've experienced problems can call T-Mobile or head into a store to "discuss available options." For what it's worth, neither of T-Mobile's other Sidekicks in the current lineup -- the LX and the iD -- are affected, so Sharp might see a nice little sales spike here as Slide owners look for an alternative. Follow the break for T-Mobile's full statement.

We're no QA experts here, but if your product is called the "Slide," isn't the slide mechanism the one thing you'd test the dickens out of? Alas, folks are discovering that Motorola's Sidekick Slide for T-Mobile has shipped with a devil of a flaw: actuating the display's slide periodically causes the phone to spontaneously reboot or to simply turn off and stay off. We've tested the claim on our own Slide, and yeah, it happens. Granted, it only happened twice out of thirty or so slides of the screen, but by standards of modern electronics engineering, we're pretty sure that's two times too many. As Boy Genius Report points out, to make matters even worse the power cycle is a hard reset, meaning your data's kaput unless you're within range of a T-Mobile signal to download everything from Danger's servers again. An ever-so-slightly loose battery seems to be the culprit here, but seriously, Moto, how did this defect ever leave a factory floor en masse?

Before, life was simple: there was the Sidekick LX, unquestionably the most desirable Sidekick on the market -- an easy decision for folks looking to get into the whole Danger craze or upgrade that janky, old Sidekick 3. Suddenly, though, things have taken a complicated turn now that the Sidekick Slide is available, too. The Motorola-sourced Slide has now hit T-Mobile's website and store locations for $199 alongside the recently launched LX from Sharp, and while the $299 LX still takes the spec crown (thanks largely to a much larger, crisper widescreen display), the Slide's more compact -- and after having played with both, we're kinda down with the Slide's looks and its blasphemous slide mechanism, too. A tough decision, we know, so why don't you head down to your local joint and play with 'em both for yourself?

The widescreen Sidekick LX has cast a long, ominous shadow over the release of the Sidekick Slide, threatening to take a whole lot of steam over the baby Hiptop's launch -- Motorola's first -- come November 7. Guess what, though? Every time we put our hands on the Slide, we're liking it more and more. The thing feels rock solid, the slide mechanism seems like it'll probably be a lot less prone to issues than the pivot found on other models (while spring loading still makes it satisfying to use) and the black / violet color combo isn't the least bit abrasive in person. Even though Danger and T-Mobile have sourced this model to Moto instead of the usual suspect Sharp, make no mistake that this thing's every bit as much a Sidekick inside -- the software's the same and the controls are all where you'd expect them to be. Our only real complaints here: the keypad's a little tricky to use thanks to a dearth of tactile feedback, and after playing with the LX, the Slide's display is a low-res disappointment that leaves a heap of black margin around the edges where additional screen real estate should be. Check out our lil' library of eye candy here while you get amped for next week's launch!

Whoa there, hold up on that Sidekick LX purchase for one hot second! We played ever so briefly with Motorola's Sidekick Slide for T-Mobile at CTIA this week, and we think some folks might like this one better in person than in photography. Does that make it better than the LX? Not really -- you're dealing with a smaller screen here, not to mention that you sacrifice the trademark pivot action -- but for a hundie less than its stablemate, it might see some retail action after all. Click on for the closest most of us'll get to a Slide until the November 7 launch!

Previously leaked shots of Motorola's Sidekick Slide were met with a lukewarm reception -- take your pick of complaints from the bizarre color scheme, the unfortunate looking keypad, the lack of a swivel display, or the fact that there's little technological improvement here over the Sidekick 3 -- and we've gotta say, the FCC's unflattering shots aren't doing it any favors. For what it's worth, though, you can now peruse the user's manual of the upcoming release for T-Mobile, a device that'll launch alongside the arguably more desirable Sidekick LX from Danger's more seasoned hardware partner, Sharp. Besides some enthralling instructions on how to apply pressure to the display to slide it open, there's not much here of interest; one thing we noted was a blurb on page 7 referring to the device as the Hiptop 4, but we're guessing there's still some draft cleanup to do and it'll likely revert to Sidekick Slide branding throughout by the time it hits the presses.

The single picture of the Sidekick Slide from Danger (alias "Zante" in codename parlance) posted yesterday on Boy Genius Report left us wanting for... oh, say, 27 more pictures, to be precise. That gallery is now live, showing the Motorola "M" logo (a first for a Danger device) in all its metallic glory, some comparo shots to a Sidekick 3, and -- of course -- the obligatory iPhone shot. Check it out!

[Thanks, EC]

Boy Genius has scored some hands-on time with the undisputed hottest member of Danger's Hiptop lineup, the so-called "Zante," also known (as best we can tell, anyway) as the Sidekick Slide for T-Mobile. Sharp, we love ya and all, but we've got to hand it to Motorola for producing what looks to be a nice lil' device. Hit the link for the goods.

Before anyone does anything rash like bust open the piggy bank in preparation for the Helio Drift, wait just a minute and listen up. Word on the street is that an even hotter phone is around the corner for the scrappy, MySpace-friendly MVNO. Details are sketchy at best, but the rumor goes something like this: Pantech and Danger (yeah, the Sidekick folks) have hooked up to design a dual-slide handset -- think LG SH100, but with QWERTY in one direction and numeric in the other. For the record, it's worth noting that Helio's VP of "Experience Design" Matias Duarte previously served as Danger's director of design, so it's possible that Duarte either called on his former employer to hook him up, or more controversially, that the new design is simply Danger-like in appearance and function. We've heard the terms "sleek," "rounded," "rectangular," and "black" thrown around to describe the device, which should pack 150MB of internal storage, Bluetooth, and a 2 megapixel cam. If we just threw a wet blanket on your desire for the Drift, we're sorry. Not really, though.

[Thanks, anonymous tipster]

Update: Judging from Helio's recent trademark filings, this could be the "Mighty." Also looks like there will be a silver or white version of the Drift, aptly named the "Snow Drift."