T-Mobile Microsoft SideKick Data Loss Warning Danger Server Issues Result in SideKick Data Loss โ€“ Possibility of Recovering Data โ€ Extremely Lowโ€

If you happen to be one of T-Mobile s subscribers currently employing a
SideKick handset for all your communication needs then I bet you are
pretty pissed off right now. Not only has T-Mobile lost all the data of
all SideKick users but it looks like the data in question is
irretrievable. Microsoft s Danger is in charge of T-Mobile s cloud
computing for the SideKick but they won t be able to do much good at
this point.

Before you pick up your big fork and join the disgruntled masses you
should know what really happened or, at least, what they re telling us.
A major server outage has caused SideKick owners to lose personal data
like calendar, contacts and photos. T-Mobile has apologized for this
fiasco and promised to work around the clock in order to fix the issue.
A week after the disaster hit SideKick servers, Microsoft was still
unable to recover any data. Yes, Microsoft was involved in all this mess
but not directly.

Danger, a company purchased by Microsoft, is the one to blame. Danger
offers various services and applications to T-Mobile s SideKick users
like contacts, calendars, instant messenger or SMS support. But
everything went utterly wrong on October 2 and Microsoft s and T-Mobile
s employees still haven t been able to figure everything up.
Disappointed and upset, T-Mobile called it in over this past weekend:

Regrettably, based on Microsoft/Danger s latest recovery assessment of
their systems, we must now inform you that personal information stored
on your device " such as contacts, calendar entries, to-do lists or
photos " that is no longer on your Sidekick almost certainly has been
lost as a result of a server failure at Microsoft/Danger.

T-Mobile has also stopped SideKick sales while current SideKick users
have been advised not to remove the battery, reset the handset or let it
completely lose power.

Now that you have all the details you can join the angry mobs and attack
T-Mobile s customer support with questions, complaints and threats of
changing carriers. At the same time you have to realize that cloud
computing is still at an initial stage. While companies such as
Microsoft, Apple and others will try to offer you as many features as
possible and store your data as safely and securely as possible,
accidents like these will still happen. That s why it s a good idea not
to put all your eggs in the same cloud basket. Backup your contacts and
calendar on your computer and store your precious personal photos and
videos on actual drives. That way, when a Danger-like service fails
completely you ll still have an alternative.

UPDATE: See T-Mobile Sidekick Data Loss Compensation Confirmed T-Mobile
Offers $100 to Sidekick Owners Who 'Experienced a Significant and
Permanent Loss of Personal Content' .