Me & my new Sidekick 3I’m somewhat embarrassed to admit that I’ve been eagerly awaiting the release of the new Sidekick (aka Hiptop). I ordered mine within five minutes of them becoming available. I know! It’s so embarrassing. But whatever: I’m totally not a gadget person — I used a used first generation iPod until died last year and my cameras are always several years behind — but when I got my Sidekick II last year, I fell madly in love with it. For a blogger with a 45-minute bus commute, it pretty much doesn’t get any better. I can read my RSS feeds, catch up on the news, instant message with my friends, get ahead on my emails for the day, and pretty much totally enjoy myself. It’s awesome.

As for the Sidekick 3? Well, it’s cool. But as many others have pointed out, it’s really just the Sidekick 2½. The camera sucks in a different kind of way (higher resolution sucking!), the screen is the exact same as it was before (which is to say nothing even remotely special), the ring tones are still extremely limited and totally proprietary, and it still can’t play video. That said, it’s got bluetooth and a memory card, which is cool. More importantly, I’m madly in love with it. And honestly, a big part of why I upgraded was so that I could pass my Sidekick II to Andreas, and we could be Sidekick buddies. I can’t believe I just admitted that.