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Brighthand reports T-Mobile may release the newest version of the Sidekick later this month. Previous rumors placed the Sidekick 3 as coming during the second quarter. The carrier launched the Sidekick II back in September 2004, and the follow up has been in the works ever since.

A series of supposed pictures of the Sidekick 3 first surfaced in February. The images showed a Sidekick that looked a lot like the current model, but was thinner, more compact, and reportedly a music phone.

It may also be the first one with a removable battery, support for high-speed EDGE networking, and a miniSD card slot. The new Sidekick could lose its scroll wheel for track ball navigation or a joy stick as well.

A supposed roadmap leaked last fall showed UMA (Unlicensed Mobile Access) or dual-mode edition of the Sidekick 3 coming this fall. If true, that version would automatically detect the fastest and most cost-effective network available, cellular or Wi-Fi (it would add this feature, of course), at home or on the road. When a user with a UMA-enabled handset enters a WLAN, for example, the phone switches his call from cellular to Wi-Fi.

T-Mobile is the U.S. carrier with the largest investment in 802.11 hot spots and is reportedly finally ready to leverage them, especially since its 3G cellular network rollout is so far behind other operators.

This version of the Sidekick may be able to play video also.