Josh Bancroft’s TinyScreenfuls.com

T-Mobile Sidekick 2/Danger Hiptop 2 Revealed

Ahh, the good ole’ FCC. They always have the pre-release goods on all the cool upcoming gadgets that have any kind of wireless functionality. This time, it’s the T-Mobile Sidekick II/Danger Hiptop II:

Apparently, this picture is upside down, but you get the idea. Doesn’t seem too different from the current model, though it does appear to be slimmer. The screen flip mechanism appears to be more of a slide than a pivot this time, and from the back, it looks like a traditional point-and-shoot camera, viewfinder and all.

Check out the Gizmodo story linked above for more info and links to lots of photos at the FCC, as well as a PDF version of the user manual.

I had three different iterations of the current/original T-Mobile Sidekick for about a year, starting in October 2001 (when it was released). I started with the original monochrome version, had that one replaced due to a faulty scroll wheel, and then upgraded to the color version when it came out. The reflective LCD screen on the color version really made a world of difference, and I became quite used to having an integrated QWERTY keyboard for mail and messaging. Alas, I grew tired of waiting for the promised application capabilities that never materialized, and traded it in for a Pocket PC Phone Edition (XDA).

Still, the Hiptop/Sidekick is a great device for data (not so great as a phone), and seeing the photos of the new version makes me kind of sort of want one again. Just a little.

Xbox 2 won’t be backwards compatible with original Xbox games - Joystiq, the video game weblog - www.joystiq.com
Bummer… Joystiq is reporting that some MS execs are quietly confirming that Xbox 2 (or whatever it ends up being called) will not be backwards compatible with existing Xbox games. While this had never been confirmed as a proposed feature for the new console, many gamers, myself included, had high hopes that it would be so.

The main reason for the lack of backwards compatibility is the fact that Microsoft has chosen an entirely different CPU architecture to power the successor to the big black box - IBM’s PowerPC (the same architecture found in Apple’s PowerMacs). Dev kits consisting of Apple G5’s with ATI Radeon 9800 Pro video cards have been distributed to various developers. While some speculated that MS could provide backwards compatibility using emulation technology from the recently acquired Connectix, Joystiq is reporting that “getting the emulation to work was going to be a real pain in the ass so they’re just dropping it entirely.”

It’s not the end of the world, as most people that have Xbox games likely have an Xbox to play them on, but it causes complications for people like me who are already running low on space in their entertainment center and digital inputs on their A/V receiver. I’ve only got one optical digital audio input on my receiver, which is why my Xbox is currently doing double duty as console and DVD player. I’ve gotta have my Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks. When Xbox 2 comes out, it looks like I’m going to have to upgrade to a receiver with more digital inputs. Just wait until I try to justify that one to my wife…

Motorola MPx220 - Mobile Gazette - Mobile Phone News

Mobile Gazette is reporting even though the MPX220 still hasn’t been officially announced by Motorola, there’s another piece of “official”-looking evidence of its existence. It’s featured in Motorola’s “Motonext” promotional booklet:

Only new details I spy are that the camera will be 1.2 megapixel (instead of 1.3, as previously thought), and that a Pro-install Car Kit will be available.

This phone has got to be the worst kept secret in the industry. We have tons of photos, a couple of reviews, and a leaked press release. Thousands of people have to be salivating over this phone. It’s practically a guaranteed success. I wonder why Moto doesn’t just spill the beans and “officially” announce it already?

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Joystiq, the video game weblog - www.joystiq.com

Noticed this over at Boing Boing this morning:

Pete Rojas of Engadget says, “There is way more video game news out there than we could possibly cover here at Engadget. So in partnership with Weblogs, Inc. we’ve created Joystiq, a new weblog covering everything related to video games.”

Sweet. Engadget is a great site, and it’s nice to see a new gaming-oriented blog. There are a few gaming news sites that I check once in a while, but it seems like content is so sporadic and scattered that it’s not worth it. It will be nice to see if Joystiq does a good job of consolidating gaming news from around the web.