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T-Mobile USA hopeful about recovering users' Sidekick data
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In the wake of data storage and connectivity problems, T-Mobile USA said it may be possible to recover some users' missing Sidekick data. The carrier, in the midst of a public relations mess following data outages for Sidekick users, also said that customers who have experienced a "significant and permanent" loss of data would get a $100 credit. T-Mobile said it has restored data services to Sidekick users.
T-Mobile said that recent efforts to restore data show that recovery "may be possible," according to an update statement on the issue. The carrier said it would keep users updated on the recovery efforts. There are nearly one million Sidekick users, and T-Mobile said that a "minority" of them have lost data. The carrier did not say exactly how many Sidekick users permanently lost their personal data, which included calendar and contact information. The carrier also confirmed that Sidekick sales are currently on hold.
Over the weekend, T-Mobile had said that data not stored locally on users' Sidekick devices was "almost certainly lost" due to a server failure at Microsoft, which owns Danger, the maker of the Sidekick. Microsoft said the software that failed came from Danger.
The $100 credit can be used for T-Mobile products or services or toward a customer's bill, and is in addition to the free month of data services T-Mobile is crediting to users who have Sidekick data plans. T-Mobile said that customers who qualify for the $100 credit will be given more details within the next 14 days.
For more:
- see this NYT article
- see T-Mobile's updated statement
Related Articles:
T-Mobile, Microsoft 'almost certainly' destroyed users' Sidekick data
Microsoft snaps up Danger
Sidekick maker Danger files for IPO
Comments
Posted by Ted Donaldson | October 13, 2009 - 11:52am
This is a slap in the face to sidekick users. I have been with Tmobile for around 10 years, since they were aerial and voicestream. I lost over 250 business contacts, leads, and friends from college. Them giving me a $100 gift card to spend on them, the people who are responsible for the loss of my data to begin with, is laughable. I am attempting to organize a class-action suit to have justice done. If any sidekick users want to get on board, contact the following class-action firms and tell them your story. I am sure they will be jumping at the chance to take on tmobile and microsoft.
http://www.izardnobel.com/contact.php
https://www.milberg.com/contact/reportafraud.aspx
Posted by Kin Rhoades | October 13, 2009 - 12:47pm
"Microsoft said the software that failed came from Danger."
This comment bothers me significantly. Microsoft acquired Danger over a year ago (the acquisition was announced in Feb 2008) and has had plenty of time to perform due diligence, code review and adaptations and ensure that the solution was hosted in a carrier grade facility that met stringent security and data retention plans. The fact that "Microsoft said" that this was a Danger software issue exposes fundamental flaws in Microsoft's cultural and technical acceptance of their own acquisitions.
For consumers' and carriers' sake, lets hope Microsoft either figures out how to create and serve solutions in a carrier-grade environment or decides to abandon wireless services altogether. . . though that's unlikely considering the large effort Microsoft has put into Windows 7 and their search partnership with Verizon.
Posted by John Votava | October 13, 2009 - 1:07pm
Any word on if Sidekick users can get out of their contract without paying an ETF? Seems like a fair conclusion for those that carrier wronged.
Posted by Robert A. Rosenberg | October 14, 2009 - 2:48pm
Speaking as an IT Professional (who has run data centers) I fail to see the linkage between the fact that Danger wrote the software and the failure to be taking and maintaining backups of the User's Stored Data. Yes, the software crashed but that has nothing to do with the lack of backups for the data.
Posted by Lina Inverse | October 15, 2009 - 7:07am
"The fact that "Microsoft said" that this was a Danger software issue exposes fundamental flaws in Microsoft's cultural and technical acceptance of their own acquisitions."
Microsoft is notorious for "dogfooding" the technology of any company they acquire, meaning they try to shoehorn it into whatever they have, regardless of how good the fit is (the root of that word is "Eat your own dogfood", which means use your own stuff; good when you're developing an operating system (i.e. NT), bad in the enterprise world where Microsoft is doesn't have a credible story). The first attempt or two with Hotmail failed spectacularly.
In this case, from what we've heard they simply canceled all future Sidekick development only to find out that T-Mobile had a contractual requirement for one more phone. They are said to have gutted Danger's operational staff and to have called back three terminated employees to help fix/rebuild the Oracle RAC system (which is rather complicated due to the high availability requirements of a system like Sidekick's backend).
Bottom line: if Microsoft acquires something you depend on, be very careful. If that company is using non-Microsoft technology, be prepared to flee.
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