T-Mobile Shutting Down Sidekick Data Services on June 1

I was very puzzled when Microsoft bought Danger, the company that produced T-Mobile's SideKick phone and its wireless server services, in 2008. Microsoft, after all, already had a mobile phone platform based on Windows CE called Windows Mobile. Sidekick had a number of problems including the infamouse October 2009 server meltdown that caused what appeared to be the loss of all data stored by subscribers to Danger's servers. T-Mobile discontinued the original Sidekick on July 2, 2010. They plan to launch an Android-based Sidekick in the near future. Ironically, one of Danger's co-founders is Andy Rubin who leads Google's Android development efforts. Late yesterday, T-Mobile announced that they will end Sidekick customers' data services and it will be no longer available starting June 1. The full press release I received is reproduced below. After May 31, 2011, the Danger Service (a subsidiary of Microsoft) used by T-Mobile Sidekick customers for data services will no longer be available on Sidekick devices. T-Mobile will provide offers for our Sidekick customers before May 31, 2011, to help make an easy transition from their existing Sidekick device to a new device. We will have more information to share about these offers with our customers in the weeks ahead. To ensure the best possible transition for our loyal Sidekick customers, an enhanced Web tool is available on myT-Mobile.com to easily export their personal data, including contacts, photos, calendar, notes, to-do lists, and bookmarks, from the Danger service to a new device, computer, or a designated e-mail account. An application is also available in the Sidekick Catalog to make it easy to export personal data to the Sidekick's memory card. Many T-Mobile stores can transfer data from that card to a new T-Mobile device if the customer brings in the memory card and Sidekick.

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T-Mobile Shutting Down Sidekick Data Services on June 1

Todd Ogasawara

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