At the 3GSM World Congress in Cannes, France this week, Danger is showing off the next generation of it Hiptop smartphone to a select few.

Some details about the new device have come out however. It looks the third generation Hiptop is a definite improvement over the current color edition with a brighter and clearer screen that can display 65,536 colors.

The smartphone will, however, maintain the same swivel display design, which reveals a thumb-keyboard, as well as the same width and length as the current model. It'll be about a quarter thinner and will integrate a digital camera. Older models used an attachment to add camera functionality. Integrating a digital camera into a mobile phone, let alone a smartphone aimed at consumers, has become par for the course in the wireless industry.

Danger is keeping most of the information about the new Hiptop close to the vest. Though it should be available later this year. It still needs to move beyond the prototype stage and be approved by the FCC.

T-Mobile introduced the first Hiptop device in the United States as the Sidekick back in the fall of 2002. This first model had a monochrome display. A color version of the smartphone appeared during the following summer. This model is sold by T-Mobile for $299. It integrates a GSM/GPRS mobile phone with a Web browser, email, AOL Instant Messenger, an organizer, games and other features. It has 65,536 color, 2.6-inch and 240 x 160 pixel display with a thumb-keyboard for data entry.


Picture of the Current Model