The Sidekick is a GPRS/EDGE/UMTS smart phone that's manufactured by Danger Incorporated which became a part of Microsfot in 2008. The sidekick is sold by T-mobile in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Austria. Suncom used to sell the phone in some parts of the United States and Fido sold them in Canada until Rogers Wireless bought out the company.

The reason for the discontinuation once bought by Roger's was it was in competition with Rogers Blackberry phone. Sidekick services are also available in Germany by a company called E-Plus. In Australia the sidekicks were sold by a company called Telstra until October 1, 2009. The sidekick sold in Singapore by Starhub for a short time in 2004. In October 2009 the sidekick sales were suspended due to a large issue with availability amongst Sidekick users. They became available again in November 16, 2009. Microsoft spent millions of dollars making sure their customers wouldn't have another bad experience with their Sidekicks. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidekick_phone The sidekick also includes options for the deaf and hard of hearing. There are alwyas TTY and Relay operators available as well as TTY/TTD machines and MCI Relay.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidekick_phone#Usage_by_the_deaf_and_hard_of_hearing

October 2002 - Black and white sidekick was released. Some features included: 2.6 inch screen that swiveled up to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard which made e-mail and text messaging easy. Users were given the ability to send and receive er-mails for up to three POP3 accounts.

June 2003 - Color Sidekick released. This model included a 65k color screen it also included more memory and a faster processing speed. AOL Instant Messenger became available.

August 2004 - Sidekick II was released. This model was 25% slimmer then the original Sidekick and included a camera with flash. Yahoo Messenger became available. This phone was also customizable, with interchangeable bumpers, and seven colors to chose from.

October 2005 - Sidekick II Limited Editions became available. The two editions were representing Juicy Couture and Mister Cartoon. Only 15,000 of each were made. Accessories for these limited edition phones are available including Charms, clips and clutches. These accessories were available online and in all T-mobile retail stores

July 2006 - Sidekick 3 was released. [[Bluetooth] connectivity was increased, an mp3 player was added, as well as a 1.3 megapixel camera and a trackball allowing for easier navigation online, in e-mails and for texting.

October 2006 - Two more limited edition phones were released. They were created by Diane Von Furstenberg which was a black, pink and red sidekick and a Lifted Research Group which was a green sidekick.

February 2007 - Another limited edition Sidekick was released for D-wade. It was Gold and white and the number 3 was gold to represent D-wade's jersey number. The back cover for the phone had the same texture as a basketball.

[[April 200700 - Sidekick ID was released. This was a smaller version of the Sidekick and did not contain a camera, mp2 player or bluetooth. The options to customize the bumpers and back cover were available. This phone when released started at $49.99 but that was only for a limited time. It also came with a new game called Pumpjack.

October 2007 - The Sidekick LX was released. This phone was even slimmer then the Sidekick 3, had a larger keyboard and a Hi Def screen. It came in two colors, Midnight blue and espresso brown. Other new features included, 128 MB, new Myspace application, Mood lights, and picture messaging.

November 2007 - Sidekick Slide was released. Instead of the swivel screen, this Sidekicks screen slid up. It had all of the features the Sidekick LX and Sidekick 3 had with the exception of the slide had a smaller screen, trackball doesn't light up, and was smaller.

July 2008 - The Sidekick 2008 was released, also known as the Gekko. It had all the same features as the Sidekick LX but the shell of the phone could be changed so the idea of this phone was not only are you a sidekick owner but a sidekick designer.http://wiki.sidekick.com/page/Sidekick+History