Frequently Asked Questions

The following questions have been asked by email, IRC, or word of mouth by several people. Before annoying people on #sidekick EFNET IRC, please read the following questions and answers. There is a wealth of information here, and we'll keep all Q & A's current here when something is updated.

1. Is there an IRC (Internet Relay Chat) channel to discuss the SideKick/Hiptop?

Yes. The channel #hiptop is available on the EFNet IRC network (irc.efnet.org). If you need help or need an IRC client, please visit http://www.irchelp.org.

2. When will the Hiptop SDK (Software Development Kit) be available?

It's available now! Go to http://developer.danger.com.

3. Where can I find free ringtones for my SideKick?

Currently only monophonic ringtones can be sent to the SideKick. We offer our own free ringtone site. Keep in mind that it is still in development. You can also check our Resources and Links page to connect to other ringtone sites.

4. The documentation said the SideKick supports Polyphonic ringtones? Why can't I buy/get them?

One of Danger's goals when building the Hiptop was attempting to eliminate WML/WAP browsing. They felt that all these phones in existance already, need to view special versions of websites to fit on the screens properly. The problem with this is that many web designers do not make a WML/WAP version of their website! So Danger wanted the Hiptop to view virtually any existing website already out there. So, the internal web browser supports HTML and XHTML 1.0, allowing you to view almost any website. The problem with Polyphonic ringtones, is their primary delivery mechanism is through WML/WAP, which the Hiptop does not support. There are a couple of other delivery mechanisms, such as EMS or MMS (similar to SMS). It is rumored that the Hiptop currently supports, or will support, MMS. If this is true, polyphonic ringtones will most likely be delivered by that mechanism at some point. But at the current time, there is no way to actually get the polyphonic ringtones TO the phone.

5. Why do I have to sign up for a free account now? Couldn't I access parts of The Danger Zone without one before?

There are several reasons. The main reason is that we want to start providing other great free services and they will require an account to associate you with us. This is free, and will stay free. This has always been a "for the user" kind of site. The second reason is to help curb abuse. I have anticipated abuse for quite a long time, and surprisingly there wasn't any. Although lately, I've noticed a few heavy abusers and we want the ability to stop that in its tracks. Abuse consists of heavy site pounding, or spamming other users (without their permission) with ringtones, etc. Other than that, the information you give us is never sold or given away, we respect your privacy.

6. How can I delete monophonic ringtones?

This should have been put on the FAQ long ago, but monophonic ringtones can not really be selectively deleted in the normal way as you might think. The only real way to delete monophonic ringtones is by overloading the maximum number of monophonic ringtone slots (which happens to be 10). So, if you have 5 ringtones now, get 5 more that you actually want. Once you get any more, you will be presented with the option to override an existing ringtone. Is this my fault? No, this is how the hiptop software was designed.

7. Why do the monophonic ringtones sound so horrible? Why can't you do any better for us T-Mobile customers who just want a reasonable sounding ringtone?

Monophonic ringtones play one sound sample at a time. Also, they were designed to use the sound table inside the chipset/ringtone hardware. So you're stuck with a default set of sounds, and one sample at a time. Sounds horrible. We know it. But we've still made some available for you because we know some of you still want the ability to have some kind of ringtone that isn't what the hiptop comes with. T-Mobile decided to not allow Polyphonic ringtones to be delivered outside of the Catalog application. This is why polyphonic ringtones get sent via email, but can never be added as actual ringtones. Want this to work? Email, call, and send a letter via USPS (I suggest all three) requesting T-Mobile to open this option up on your phones. Tell them why you expect the ability to load your custom polyphonic ringtones by email.

8. What is going on with the Google Ads in the banner at the top of the site? Why are they there?

I'm only going to say this once, because we're not here to beg for money at all. Just so you don't get scared, we've put up these Google Ads to help offset the cost of running this service for you. We haven't received any donations, and we haven't charged a single cent to any users for our information or services. And I'm sure you realize it isn't so cheap to run servers and pay for high quantities of bandwidth. The ads actually barely even cover a fraction of the cost, so we're still doing this out of the kindness of our hearts believe it or not.