Well looks like the rumors were true, Engadget has some pics and the press release from the President of Nintendo.

I have to say, I’m glad I waited to buy one. I almost got one when Mario Kart DS came out, but I can’t wait for this one.

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Engadget is reporting that the MDA (which I tested) is going to be out on Feb 20th for $399.99. The SDA will be out a week earlier, Feb 13th for $299.99.

I am sure that is with a new contract, I want to know the current subscriber price. At $400 it’s a lot for a phone that I’ve already had, but it is a LOT more affordable than I thought it would be.

It only took 1,219 days for Google News to graduate out of beta, but it’s been worth it. If you are doing the math that is 3.339 years.

It seems as if they wanted to get the customization part completed before they came out of beta. It’s a great news service, especially since they added RSS feeds back in August 9, 2005. I remember that was one of my first stories to get on the main page of Digg.com.

Well congrats Google on a job well done!

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I guess I can say something now that they are real phones and have a launch date. I tested out the T-Mobile MDA (aka HTC Wizard)for about 2 months. It’s almost a perfect phone, but has some major flaws.

Features: Windows Mobile 5.0, Bluetooth, WiFi, 1.3megapixel camera, and EDGE!

The first thing I did when I got my hands on this phone was test out the EDGE service. It is awesome. I’m used to my T-Mobile Sidekick II’s slow ass internet thru GPRS, and this thing rocks. The ultimate test was to stream radio over EDGE, and it worked flawlessly. I was able to listen to any internet radio station, and drive all over town with this thing. It REALLY works!

Also it comes with stereo headphones that work as a way to listen to music (mp3, wma, or streaming), as well as take phone calls with.

The size is smaller than you would think, yet it’s full of features. The bluetooth and wifi worked very well. I was even able to make a Skype call over the wifi with it. The speed of the processor is only like 200mhz, so that isn’t the best for Skype, but it managed to work.

The Bad: Every phone I use, I compare to what I want and need out of a phone. Mainly aim, qwerty keyboard, internet, oh and it should make phone calls too. This doesn’t do all of that.

AIM: DID NOT WORK AT ALL. The included IM software (Aim, Yahoo, ICQ) did not work over AIM at all. I had to go get a british version of AIM for PocketPC for it to work. That was a very well known problem, and hopefully they fixed it.

Keyboard: I am used to the nice contoured keyboard of my SKII, and this thing is FLAT. There is no user design that went into the keyboard, it’s just flat. I HATED IT. It honestly was one of the worst parts of the phone. Also, there is no numbers. You have to hit shift and the alpha key you want for a number to work.

Using as a phone: Ehh, not that great either. The numbers on screen were nearly impossibly small to type while driving or even standing still, unless you use the stylus. MAYBE if you had fingernails you could do it, but fingers aren’t that great. Voice dialing is about as great as every other phone….sucky.

Cost: No one knows what this phone will cost, but if you import the UK equivalent, it is going for about $500-$700. Yikes.

Overall: I really liked the phone and the concept of it. I was 100% sure that I was going to buy one before I had tested it. Now, ehh not so much. I really got bored of the phone and having to go thru soo many menu’s just to make a call or send a txt message.

The EDGE service is really nice, and bluetooth wasn’t locked down at the time (not sure about now), so you can use it as an EDGE modem for your laptop. I’m sure they will bundle T-Mobile Hotspots into your monthly rate plan, so be prepared to pay a bundle a month for this phone.

In all honestly, I really like the Sidekick II, and I got a RAZR on my 2nd line just to have a small phone that was easy to use. I might consider the SDA that they are offering, since it has all the same features, yet has a number pad for easy dialing. It’s a bit bulky if you ask me though.  I wouldn’t use it for text messaging, as evident from my last post.

I would recommend this phone for a business professional. It works really well with all the Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc and the high speed EDGE is amazing. This just isn’t the Sidekick Killer that I thought it would be.

Check out the details on T-mobile’s site here, and you can sign up to be notified about it’s launch as well.

P.S. T-Mobile / Danger, please come out with the Sidekick 3 with EDGE and bluetooth at least!

Also, I am going to try to post a review a day this week, so stay tuned for other great products I’ve used and worked with that will be sure to get higher marks than this phone.

I have had a Sidekick since they launched, back in the black and white phase with an attachable crappy camera. I now have the Sidekick II. The Sidekick has a built in QWERTY keyboard, which makes for sending email, txt messages, im’s, entering addresses, etc sooo easy.

Well the worst thing happened this weekend. It stopped taking a charge. Well it turns out my charger stopped giving a charge.

I had to have my cell phone, so I went in for a loaner from T-Mobile. They gave me a Nokia 6010. It’s a piece of junk. My text messages came rolling in, from what I had missed. I couldn’t reply to them.

Well let me repharase, I could, but it was nearly impossible. I had to hit letters multiple times just to spell out a word, it sucked. I tried to txt and drive, INCONCEIVABLE.

How do you do it? How can you have a cell phone where you have to T9 txt message? I can’t imagine living like that. It was the worst experience I’ve ever had with a cell phone. I am returning the loaner and getting a new charger. Yuck.