PDD Briefs

By Staff On May 7 2007 - 6:00am

Mini Sidekick Debuts

Palo Alto, Calif. — T-Mobile became the first U.S. carrier to offer a less costly version of Danger's cellphone/messaging device.

T-Mobile calls the new device the Sidekick iD, which joins the carrier's Sidekick3. Both phones run Danger's proprietary Java-compatible OS and applications and connect to Danger-provided services.

Sidekick iD, available at $99 after rebate with two-year contract, lacks Bluetooth, MP3 player and camera but offers Danger's core communications capabilities such as e-mail, HTML Web browsing and game playing, along with IM clients for MSN, Yahoo! and AOL. Both models offer QWERTY keyboard and swiveling screen.

New BlackBerry Goes Global

Waterloo, Ontario — Sprint and Verizon offer dual-format CDMA/GSM phones for international roamers, but now they'll add the first CDMA/GSM BlackBerry.

The BlackBerry 8830 operates in U.S. 800/1,900 MHz CDMA 1x EV-DO networks and in foreign 900/1,800 GSM/GPRS networks, enabling use in more than 60 countries.

Verizon will begin selling it through its business channels beginning May 14 and through its Communications Stores May 28 with $299 after $100 rebate with new two-year contract, plus an additional $100 off depending on voice/data plan. Sprint will launch the product mid-year at an undisclosed price.