Just when I thought it was safe to get a good nights sleep, I wake up and see that T-Mobile has effectively killed off the Sidekick line effective May 31, 2011. That’s right, you read that correctly, T-Mobile has sent out an early morning press release informing the media that Danger (a subsidiary of Microsoft these days) will no longer offer data services on Sidekick devices after the aforementioned date. As a reminder Sidekicks are, in total honesty not really good for anything without the data connection to Danger. Current Sidekick users are going to have to start the hunt for a new device and with that, T-Mobile has said they’ll “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.”
While we can only hope these “offers” are something along the lines of “ridiculously inexpensive upgrade,” the Sidekick 4G is on the horizon ushering in a new era in the Sidekick world.
Sidekick users wishing to keep their data will be able to transition via an “enhanced Web Tool” available through myT-Mobile.com to export all personal data including contacts, photos, calendars and more.
There you have it, Sidekick RIP. Let’s hope going to sleep early tonight doesn’t let me wake up tomorrow and see that T-Mobile has killed off the Magenta color.
Full Press Release:
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.