On Friday night (sneaky timing, guys!), T-Mobile announced that it's pulling the Sidekick Slide from store shelves due to a problem that causes the device to turn off when the slide mechanism is used. When the device is called the Slide, that can be a bit of an embarassment...

"This is a shame: I had some time with the slide prior to its release, and liked its slider mechanism and slightly more compact size as compared with the new sidekick lx," writes PC World's Melissa Perenson. "T-Mobile goes on to say that Motorola is working to identify the root cause of the power cycle issue; however, the company doesn't give an estimate as to when we can expect sales to resume."

InformationWeek's Eric Zeman says this is particularly bad news for Motorola. "Motorola's handset business has taken a beating all year long," he writes. "For such a high-profile device to have such a big problem is yet another sign that Motorola's handset division needs re-tooling."

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