T-Mobile and Microsoft suffered a serious blow over the last few days. The company announced that Sidekick users on T-Mobile service may incur data loss that can’t be recovered. Users have been warned to not turn the phone off or let the battery get to low otherwise it could result in permanent data loss. Lost data could include contacts, photos, emails, calendar entries and appointments. If that wasn’t bad enough, Sidekick users have been suffering from a major outage all last week as well.
The data loss is a result of a cacophony of errors including failed server backups by Microsoft. The Sidekick relied on cloud backups through the company Danger, which was acquired by Microsoft (cloud computing services allow devices to remotely store data elsewhere instead of on the device itself). T-Mobile is offering a credit of one month of service for the users effected and up to a $100 per user for data loss. Techcrunch has posted a copy of the letter sent to Sidekick users on their site.
Hand held email devices have gained popularity for real estate professionals over the last couple of years. In light of the problem at T-Mobile, having a redundant system for your email, contacts and other pertinent data is definitely a must. If you aren’t sure how your information is being stored, contact your provider. You’ll be glad you did.The Skulls III video
