Microsoft restoring some Sidekick data
updated 09:45 am EDT, Tue October 20, 2009
MS lets some Sidekick owners recover
Microsoft and T-Mobile today said they have begun restoring Sidekick data and have offered a guide for owners. The two now say they can restore contacts they might have lost that already existed on October 1st. Those Sidekick owners who created contacts to supplement or replace entries lost during the major outage can either keep both on-device and online sets, merge them or use only the set originating from the cellphone.
The at least partial recovery is critical for Microsoft's image. Multiple critics have called into question the company's commitment to both the Sidekick and to online-dependent computing. Its lack of a viable backup has also led to legal consequences that include multiple lawsuits over a failure to protect important data as well as service level agreements with T-Mobile that will likely hand Microsoft a multi-million dollar penalty for leaving Sidekick data inactive for roughly two weeks.
