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When T-Mobile rolls out a new Sidekick, it's usually at some red-carpeted Hollywood launch event. Some of the celebrities who attend sometimes personalize their BlackBerry-like smartphone with the swivel screen and oodles of messaging options by blinging them out with jewels.

For those who would like to differentiate their Sidekick, but for far less money, T-Mobile occasionally enlists fashion designers to spiff up limited-edition versions of the smartphone. On February 21, a couple of days after the NBA All-star game, the carrier will take a different approach, with the release of the new D-Wade edition of the SideKick 3.

This Sidekick has been designed by Miami Heat guard and 2006 NBA Finals MVP Dwyane Wade, who says he's been an avid Sidekick user since 2004.

According to T-Mobile, the D-Wade Sidekick 3 is mostly a ‘crisp’ white inspired by Miami’s South Beach with tan and copper accents that emulate high-end automobiles. The only gold detail on the smartphone is supposed to symbolize winning an NBA championship trophy. The back of the device is reportedly textured like a basketball for added grip and comfort.

Other than the above, this special-edition Sidekick is otherwise exactly the same has the standard Sidekick 3. It will be available for a limited time - at an as-of-yet unknown price - while supplies last. Of course, you've got to be a Basketball, Miami Heat or - especially - a Dwyane Wade fan to be interested in this version of the Sidekick.

More on the Sidekick 3
The Sidekick 3 is a tri-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE smartphone (T-Mobile currently doesn't offer 3G service, hence its topping out at 2.5G EDGE) that brings Bluetooth 1.2 (with support for wireless headset use and vCard exchange), a 1.3 megapixel camera with LED flash, a removable/rechargeable longer lasting battery, 64 MB of RAM, an ARM processor, and - importantly for a device with an improved MP3 player - the addition of a miniSD card slot for up to 2 GB of additional storage on board.

It is also 20 percent smaller than its predecessor, which itself was 25-percent smaller than the previous model. There’s also a new trackball for one-handed navigation.

In addition to a phone with speakerphone, the smartphone provides text messaging, a Web browser, e-mail and built-in support for the three major instant messenger clients - AIM, Yahoo! Messenger and MSN Messenger - for the first time.