(First Look) - Rumors of T-Mobile’s Sidekick 3 communication device have been making rounds for quite a while. The successor to Sidekick II is anticipated to become a quick favorite for many users. There’s nothing particularly exciting about the Sidekick II per say, but the celebrity status (Paris Hilton scandal to name one) associated with the device has made the Sidekick series jump popularity charts sharply. As a result, the anticipation for Sidekick 3 has resulted in a viral spread of rumors, pictures and specifications months before T-Mobile officially announced anything. Thankfully, the wait has ended, and T-Mobile is officially debuting one of the most invigorating devices today on June 20th.

The device measures 130 x 59 x 21.8mm, weighs approximately 6.7 ounces and packs a disapprovingly substandard display with 240x160 pixel resolution and 65k colors. Resolution on portable audio players and PMPs are increasing at a rapid pace. While Sidekick 3 is no comparison to either of these devices, it’s important for T-Mobile to stay in tune with trends and offer competitive features. Those of us who may use the Sidekick 3 as a productivity and entertainment tool (rather a pure cell phone) will be left wanting more.

Instead of integrating the scroll wheel, similar to RIM’s BlackBerry 8700 series and T-Mobile’s Sidekick II, the updated version now contains a trackball or a joystick. This is to make interaction easier with applications. We think this is an improvement over the aforementioned product designs. The device is also equipped with Bluetooth 1.2, supports Tri-Band networks, such as GSM, GPRS and EDGE, a 1.3-megapixel camera, miniSD memory card slot that supports up to 2GB of memory, 64MB of SDRAM and Flash memory and music player software.

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