The Sidekick 3 launches for the socially-active

The next generation T-Mobile Sidekick 3 was unveiled at a red carpet A-list launch party last night where Hollywood’s elite got the first look at what is being pitched as a must-have communications device for the socially-active. Despite the pizzazz, the Sidekick 3 appears to stack up well, being 20 percent smaller than its predecessor and featuring a new trackball for easy one-handed navigation and Bluetooth so it can be used with a wireless headset. It also now has an MP3 player, a megapixel camera, built-in support for the major IM clients (AIM, Yahoo! Messenger and MSN Messenger) and integrated support for EDGE (for faster downloads). In keeping with the “in-crowd” marketing theme, existing T-Mobile customers will be the first to be able to purchase the new Sidekick, beginning June 28, with the public able to purchase from July10. Launch party images featuring Hilary Duff, Jessica Simpson and Eva Longoria inside.

For an initial 12-day period beginning on Wednesday, June 28, limited quantities of the all-in-one communications device will be available exclusively to current T-Mobile USA post-paid customers through the company's online handset upgrade program accessible through www.sidekick.com.

The T- Mobile Sidekick 3 will be available to the general public at T-Mobile retail stores and online beginning on Monday, July 10.