“How to Get Your CFO to Pay for a…” is a recurring feature on WSTDaily and will discuss convincing the firm’s money czar to buy you the toys and gadgets we most want. That said, let’s discuss the SK3 from T-Mobile.

T-Mobile’s SK3 is a powerful - but not very smart - messaging device. Designed for the “young and the young at heart,” according to T-Mobile execs, the SK3 will look great at the club and ensure that you get emails and IM messages on the road. Best of all, the SK3 has a terminal program for logging into remote servers though secure sockets or telnet.

The device supports POP3 and IMAP mail servers - both secure and standard - and can communicate with AIM, MSN Messenger, and Yahoo Messenger. Unfortunately, this may put a damper on work messaging for audit purposes, but the email functionality is top notch and the IM might be a nice extra.

In terms of styling and size, the Sidekick is considerably smaller than the pervious versions and comes in handsome silver and black. A 1.3-megapixel may make some security concious firms a bit wary, but you can put a streak of black permanent marker can cloud over the lens, right? Of course you can.

Our own experience with the phone has been quite good. I was always a smartphone hater, but this one has won my heart. It’s a simple, complete messaging package without all the overhead of Windows Mobile and Palm devices in the category.

In general, the $299 phone requires a $20 monthly add-on to your T-Mobile bill and looks a hell of a lot better in your pocket than a skanky old Blackberry.

Product Page [T-Mobile]