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Some of the worst kept mobile device secrets are the ones that must go through Federal Communications Commission (FCC) review before release in the United States.

Case in point: the Sidekick III, even with a Request for Confidentiality from manufacturer Sharp. The electronics company inked a deal to build the smartphone with Danger, who's hiptop platform the device is built on, several years ago. While it is well known the FCC publishes data about all devices that uses U.S. licensed airwaves, the agency is supposed to hold information back if a manufacturer requests confidentiality.

The FCC confirms a number of previous leaks and images about the follow up to second edition of the popular 'BlackBerry' for the consumer set. It'll include Bluetooth, a 1.3 megapixel camera, and a miniSD card slot.

Reports from earlier this month indicated T-Mobile - the inaugural U.S carrier for the first couple of Sidekicks - could release the newest version of the Sidekick later this month. Previous rumors placed the Sidekick III 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 III 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.

The Sidekick III may also be the first one with a removable battery and support for high-speed EDGE networking. The new Sidekick could lose its scroll wheel for track ball navigation for a joy stick as well, which seemed to be indicated in the FCC pictures as well.

A supposed roadmap leaked last fall showed UMA (Unlicensed Mobile Access) or dual-mode edition of the Sidekick III coming in September. 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.