Don't you love when the old is new again? And no, I'm not talking about anything in your closet. Not only are there new Sidekicks on the market, but so is an updated device just for instant messaging.

As anyone who reads this site knows, the Sidekick is the Crackberry of our world. Any significant improvement is worth paying attention to. The two new Sidekicks were announced last week by T-Mobile and Danger. Why two? They target different markets. The Sidekick LX is a luxury model with a screen that has twice the resolution of the Sidekick 3. It's also slimmer and allows text messages with attached pictures. The styling is supposed to be more elegant and is an attempt to broaden the Sidekick user base among older customers, said Leslie Grandy, vice president of product and systems development at T-Mobile USA, in an Associated Press article. It goes on sale mid-October for $299 with a two-year contract.

The Sidekick Slide -- the first Hiptop device from Motorola -- has a screen that works a little differently. Instead of swiveling, it slides up. This device is smaller and more focused on messaging. It goes on sale Nov. 7 for $199 with a two-year contract. This one will clearly be more appealing for those on a tighter budget or unhappy with the large footprint of the Sidekick 3. Unfortunately, it is still larger than most phones.

And then there's Zipit, whose Wireless Messenger was praised by Time in 2005 when it first came out. The idea at the time was to permit instant messaging around the house while away from the computer. The new one, the Zipit Wireless Messenger 2 (Z2), is a handheld unit that works on a WiFi network and supports AOL, Yahoo and MSN IM platforms so users can carry on multiple conversations and don't need a computer. There's an integrated music player and a photo feature, but it's mostly for instant messaging.

The hook for the Z2 is that it can keep people from fighting over household computers if someone just wants to IM. It's helpful for people who have trouble getting cell phone data reception but have an Internet connection. The company is marketing it to teens, but there are other possibilities -- for example, it can also be used as a pseudo-TTY and would come in very handy if you spend most of your day within WiFi coverage. For example, if your home, office, or school has ubiquitous WiFi coverage, you'd be reachable most of the day. The downsides are the small keyboard and its difficulty fitting into a pocket. It will be available next month for $149.99.

Now go decide if you need to retrain those thumbs.

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