T-Mobile plans to compensate Sidekick users affected by a service outage with a $100 T-Mobile gift card, on top of the free month of data service it had already offered. Will it be enough to make Sidekick users smile on T-Mobile and Microsoft again?
The mea culpa comes a few days after T-Mobile and Microsoft, which provides cloud-based T-Mobile data services through its Danger subsidiary, confirmed that a Microsoft server glitch had interrupted service for T-Mobile Sidekick users and affected users' personal data -- stored phone numbers, photos and other content -- is likely lost forever.
T-Mobile also said it heard from some affected Sidekick users that their data had been recovered and that Microsoft might be able to recover some information for some of the affected users. Neither T-Mobile nor Microsoft has confirmed how many of the 1 million or so Sidekick users were affected.
"Regarding those of you who have lost personal content, T-Mobile and Microsoft/Danger continue to do all we can to recover and return any lost information," wrote T-Mobile in an updated statement late Monday. "Recent efforts indicate the prospects of recovering some lost content may now be possible. We will continue to keep you updated on this front; we know how important this is to you."
The Sidekick snafu deals Microsoft yet another setback as the software giant struggles to bolster its presence in the mobile market. The company's Pink smartphone project has been continuously stalled thanks to what insiders tell ChannelWeb is "poor decision-making and a management team with next-to-no mobile experience."
Microsoft didn't respond to requests for more information on the server failure that caused the T-Mobile outage, nor could it be reached for comment on plans for future versions of Sidekick.
