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Intellisync's eponymous synchronization software is now available for Danger's hiptop smartphone—also known as the Sidekick from T-Mobile.

Available for years for other types of handhelds and smartphones, Intellisync now lets hiptop owners synchronize appointments, contacts and tasks with Microsoft Outlook on a desktop computer over-the-air via the Internet.

Unfortunately for most hiptop/Sidekick users, you can only purchase Intellisync through a wireless carrier. So if your mobile operator doesn't support Intellisyc, there is now way to get it for your Danger smartphone. Currently, only Triton PCS (operating under the SunCom brand in the Southeastern U.S.), Cable & Wireless in the Caribbean, E-Plus in Germany and ONE in Austria offer Intellisync for hiptop.

Danger said it expects to announce additional carrier support for Intellisync sometime later this year.

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A couple of weeks back, T-Mobile unveiled the Sidekick II, the newest smartphone built on Danger's hiptop platform. As with eariler models, the Sidekick II lets you make phone calls, surf the Web, send and receive e-mail and SMS messages, take pictures and more, from what can best be described as a BlackBerry for the consumer set.

Like Research In Motion's BlackBerry handhelds, Sidekick's main role is to support mobile messaging and communications. Unlike BlackBerries with their businesslike, utilitarian design, Sidekicks are decidedly sleeker and more colorful - clearly designed to appeal to the young and hip.

According to T-Mobile, Sidekick II is 25-percent smaller than the current model. It also integrates its camera as well as a flash to make picture taking more user-friendly. (Snapping images with earlier Sidekicks required an awkward camera attachment.)

The new smartphone maintains the hiptop platform's distinctive swivel design, whereby its display slides open to uncover a QWERTY keyboard. Phone-wise, T-Mobile and Danger added a speakerphone to Sidekick II. In addition, several buttons on the outside of the device make it easier to use as a mobile handset, while a separate keypad has been inserted within the QWERTY keyboard for dialing numbers. The companies promise 4.5 hours of talk time from a single charge of the battery.