T-Mobile Announces SideKick 4G

What was once dead now lives again as T-Mobile announced today that it is reviving its SideKick brand.

The SideKick -- once favored by teenage girls and Paris Hilton -- is getting a refresh this spring, T-Mobile says. Though T-Mobile will likely rely on the SideKick's winning formula, the SideKick 4G is not without its changes. T-Mobile and Samsung are, for example, ditching the phone's famous flipping screen in favor of one using a pop-and-slide mechanism.

The newest phone also has a strong social emphasis. Whereas previous versions of the SideKick heavily emphasized the device's texting functionality, the latest version of the phone expands beyond it. The device features heavy Twitter and Facebook support, as well as an embedded group messaging feature. T-Mobile is also offering a cloud messaging service, allowing users to text friends from their home computers as well.

The newest SideKick is also the latest device to feature Google's Android operating system. Like other smartphones, the SideKick 4G will also feature a pair of cameras -- one on the front for video chat, and one on the back for photos.

The announcement of the SideKick was somewhat unexpected. Earlier this month T-Mobile announced it would be discontinuing the SideKick's data service in May of this year. The SideKick, it seemed, was slowly being killed. T-Mobile, however, seems committed to the brand.