T-Mobile: After KIN, Sidekick lives on life support

Microsoft's debut of the KIN yesterday has tech pundits talking about Microsoft's mobile strategy, about the future of Windows Phone, and about the state of the "dumbphone" in general. It's a compelling product. And because KIN comes from Sharp and Danger's parent company Microsoft, the KIN drew a lot of comparisons to the Sidekick straight away. Yesterday, I called KIN the "Sidekick of the 2010s," Ars Technica called it "Sidekick's next of KIN," and Wired said Microsoft wants to "update the Sidekick's M.O. for a new decade."

But does this mean the T-Mobile Sidekick is finished?

Since KIN is coming to Verizon, T-Mobile today said it is looking toward future devices that will keep the loyal Sidekick user base happy.

"Since its launch in 2002, the T-Mobile Sidekick has been one of our most popular and successful family of devices in T-Mobile history. This success is largely due to its loyal base of Sidekick fans for which we will continue to innovate and deliver an exceptional experience," reads a statement from T-Mobile today. "As Sidekick evolves, we are planning for moves toward new hardware and software platforms, which we expect will provide customers with a fresh, exciting user experience while maintaining the important features that contribute to a great messaging device."

T-Mobile says it will continue to support all the legacy Sidekicks, but it is working toward the next iteration of the experience. That could mean the KIN is coming to T-Mobile, or it could mean something completely different could replace the carrier's popular messaging phone.