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After years of quietly humming away in the background, Microsoft is pulling the plug on their servers associated with the Sidekick brand and its Danger Service. The move comes after a failed attempt to breathe some life into Danger with the release of the Microsoft Kin. T-Mobile was the one to issue the official statement to their loyal Sidekick customers (people are still using those things?), promising they would take all the necessary steps to make sure the transition to a new device goes smoothly. Yeah, without Danger’s cloud servers backing them up, Sidekick handsets will be just about useless.
TMo will provide current Sidekick users with special offers on new devices, web tools and apps for data portability, and in-store help to make the “transition” as easy as possible. Smells an awful lot like the new Sidekick 4G powered by Android might be nearing its launch date, hm? Danger Service goes dark May 31st, so expect to hear more about that Samsung-made device in the coming months. Here is the full statement:
“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.”
Good news, glad this means its around the corner.
from 2002:
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fsb/fsb_archive/2002/06/01/324578/index.htm
Andy Rubin Thinks He’s Created The Next Must-Have Tech Gadget But Will Anyone Buy It?
Well, Microsoft bought Danger and Google bought Android so I would say that’s a pretty big accomplishment.
Why the hell should I have to spend more money on another phone when my wifes Sidekick was supposed to last til December of this year at the end of her contract. Its stupid and unfair, Should allow people get out of contract if they do not want to buy another phone. This is a lawsuit waiting to happen.
sad, i would still love a sidekick. i actually loved the os it was something way different. to bad andy rubin sold it. RIP sidekick
Andy Rubin never sold Danger, Inc. Disillusionment with his ouster as CEO of Danger motivated him to found Android, which was later acquired by Google and led to Rubin’s current position with the firm.
I still have my 09 lx and my contract is up at the end of this month. I was hoping for the pyramid or s2 soon. But now I’m praying. I refuse to upgrade to last years tech. I will buy a phone on eBay for $10 and wait. Or maybe just switch carriers.
@Robert,
They may very well do just that. TMO has always had wonderful customer service. I know I was able to get out of 7 months of my contract simply because I had to move for school and didn’t have decent reception in the city I lived. Being that my mobile is my main line, this was unacceptable. They tried to help me with their VOIP service but that sucked bigtime as well. As a result, they allowed me to just terminate the contract.
@brian why dont you just hang on to your phone, till then no need to upgrade. haha