Since our big story on Seven a few days ago, leaks and information have continued to come forth.

We'll just summarize them all here since nothing is conclusive yet, but there are lots of interesting tidbits:

• Windows Mobile 7 session at MIX 2010 announced: Evidently Microsoft is going to host a session on how to make apps and games for Seven in March at the big MIX '10 conference.  Looks like that Mobile World Congress debut is quite likely. (via MobileTechWorld)
• Twitter comments are coming from some Microsoft/Danger employees. Mention WinMo7 team, doughnuts, private testing, and milestones. Tweets originate not from a Sidekick client but from Microsoft. Project Pink lives? (via EngadgetMobile)
• Part II: List of those tweeting from Danger/Microsoft: Carlos Picoto, Director of program management at Microsoft; Jeff McKean - Senior Product Planner at Microsoft; Bruno Silva - Director of Development at Microsoft Corp., Zune; Daryl Welsh - Director of Test -Premium Mobile Experiences at Microsoft; Michael Ducker - Program Manager, Premium Mobile Experiences at Microsoft; Namrata Bachwani - Release Manager at Microsoft (Thanks azimmerm)
• Our leak of the HTC Obsession gets backed up by another anonymous source at WMPU, who says that it is really the Diamond 3, which seems kind of obvious. Also AT&T may grab it too. (via WMPU)
• Our own source reveals to us that Seven is backwards compatible with WM6.x applications (contra an earlier rumor), but it is limited to resolution restrictions. A security warning pops up on launch, but the program will work.  That info leads naturally to...
• ...the idea that Seven is based on WinCE 7 aka Chelan, which our man with the knowledge Conflipper confidently states.
• Finally, commenter drphysx, mentions this article from a few months back, which we think dovetails nicely with our big post.  It seems to fill in the background info on decision making. It's all theory, but we think its well thought out.

We're sure that's just the tip of the iceberg and we're expecting a lot more info to come forward in the next few weeks.  Stay tuned!

Let's talk the Cloud a little more, shall we?

To recap: A large number of Sidekick users learned that their data — e-mail, contacts, calendar, etc. — had gone up in smoke, on the server side. The Sidekick ecosystem once was run by Danger, which is now owned by Microsoft, which has taken responsibility for the outage and/or data loss. T-Mobile's sending $100 "customer appreciate cards" for the trouble, if you permanently lost data.

Microsoft now says "we have recovered most, if not all, customer data." (Read Microsoft's full statement from T-Mobile's forums [via Giz] after the break.)

So, let's ask the obvious: This has been a high-profile outage and data loss. And as often is case after an event such as this, we'll see alot of "Is the Cloud safe?" headlines. Oh, and lawsuits. Our take? The Cloud is a service, and an important one. But reliability and redundancy go hand-in-hand. Any service that puts all its eggs in one basket is just asking for trouble. And we're not even getting into the reported trouble surrounding Project Pink, and more recent claims that the Sidekick snafu was sabotage. Unsubstantiated at best, though certainly not out of the realm of possibility.

For most services — Gmail, Exchange, whatever — it's pretty simple to export your contacts and the like and back them up elsewhere. jkOnTheRun offers a few tips on backing up your Gmail e-mails themselves. Have other tips? Let us know in the comments.  

Read the rest of this entry »

By now you've  undoubtedly heard about the rather catastrophic data loss involving the Sidekick. If not, the short, short version: All of the data on the Sidekick is stored on the device or on servers run by Danger (which, of course, was purchased by Microsoft). During a recent upgrade, the Storage Area Network, or SAN, wasn't backed up before being upgraded. Basically, standard operating procedure was ignored. (This is, for the same reason, why we repeat over and over to backup your data before upgrading your Windows phone.)

Today, Microsoft issued the following:

REDMOND, Wash. — Oct. 13, 2009 — We are thankful for the continued patience as Microsoft-Danger works to preserve platform stability and restore all services for our Sidekick customers. We have made significant progress this past weekend, restoring services to virtually every customer. Microsoft-Danger has teams of experts in place that are working around the clock to ensure this stability is maintained.

T-Mobile and Microsoft-Danger continue to do all we can to recover and return customers’ lost personal content. Recent efforts indicate that 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.

T-Mobile will send a $100 customer appreciation card to those who have experienced a significant and permanent loss of personal content. This appreciation card will be in addition to the free month of data service customers have already been given. The card can be used toward T-Mobile products and services or a customer’s T-Mobile bill. Details will be sent in the next 14 days to customers who fit this category — there is no action needed on their part. We, however, remain hopeful that personal content can be recovered for the majority of our customers.

Sidekick customers can visit T-Mobile Forums regularly to access the latest updates as well as FAQs regarding this service disruption.

So how much is your data worth? Apparently $100, though some users are getting their data back.

Is this damning on cloud computing? Yep. On Danger and Microsoft? Double-yep. Does that mean the end of cloud computing, Danger, Microsoft, or the world as we know it? Certainly not.

Back up your data. Period. Nothing is infallible.

On the eve of the biggest concerted launch we've seen from Microsoft's mobile side since, well, ever, comes a bit of less than optimistic rumor about the fabled "Pink" project. Mobile Crunch cites an anonymous source that spells out major trouble in the Pink camp.

Supposedly:

• A good chunk of the original Sidekick team picked up in the Danger acquisition has been fired or left.
• Third-party support is next to nil.
• There's much dissent in the ranks, including rampant iPhone use.
• The project is two years behind schedule.
• The Turtle is a piece of junk. (our words, their sentiment)
• Microsoft didn't develop the UI, and the team is struggling to replicate it.
• Mobile Crunch's source says the project “is near death and probably will be canceled.”

So basically what this source is saying is that things were in shambles (now there's something new for Windows Mobile) and that the Sidekick was bought out and is going the way of the dinosaur. We discussed Project Pink at length on the WMExperts Podcast a couple of weeks ago and kept coming to the same conclusion: If Windows Mobile 7 is going to be as Zuneriffic (my word ... Don't worry, it'll catch on) and consumer-friendly as we hope, does Microsoft really need to split its lines again with whatever the Turtle and Pure were/are going to be? This could well be Microsoft converging ideas, and sour grapes over somebody being left out.

And another thing: We're discussing a pair of unannounced, leaked devices that are part of an unannounced, highly rumored project. This isn't like Palm killing the Foleo.

The death of the Sidekick line would be a bummer to a lot of people (save for Perez Hilton). But if Windows Mobile 7 turns out anything like we've been dreaming about (and we mean that more literally for, erm, some of us), we have a feeling that in due time, nobody will remember a couple of unannounced devices that might not see the light of day anyway.

Here are a bunch more rumors about Microsoft's Project Pink, courtesy of Paul at MoDaCo, most making total sense and overlapping what we've already heard.

• Running the show has been Microsoft's "PMX" team -- Premium Mobile Experience -- which includes the assets gained from the purchase of Sidekick-maker Danger.
• Verizon's the main carrier on board, though other agreements are in place.
• The "Turtle" sports a 3.5mm headphone jack and a 5-megapixel camera. The "Pure" camera is 8 megapixels.
• Both devices are dual branded with Microsoft and Sharp.
• The OS has the same kernel as Windows Mobile 7, but won't look or feel like WM7. The UI is written in Silverlight and uses Seadragon. Looks kinda familiar.
• Zune HD software and Xbox integration are on board.
• As these are targeted toward the mass market, parental controls are on board.
• There is a unified messaging experience. (Should be interesting to see how it matches up against the Palm Pre.)
• Turtle and Pure will get their own launch party, not at CES.

Keep an eye on the MoDaCo thread, as Paul promises more details.

First things first: This rumor is sourced back to a Mac fan site, so we're going to take everything with a grain of salt, and for good reason. (Even if we're talking two sites here.)

That said, 9to5mac is reporting [via Engadget] that Microsoft is prepping a couple of slider phones as part of the infamous Project Pink, all of which spawned from the acquisition of Sidekick-maker Danger. Said phones could make an appearance at CES in January.

The codenames: Turtle and Pure.

Says 9to5mac:

One device is "squircle" in shape like the past Zune's buttons. The slide out keyboard houses the mic at the bottom and it is meant to be open when being used as a phone. This device is code-named "Turtle" and looks like a dressed up Motorola QA1.

The other device is more traditionally-shaped candybar slider and is code-named "Pure". The devices had previously been rumored to be carried on Verizon but we haven't heard anything more in this area.

They will continue to use the App Store model that the Sidekick has employed with over-the-air applications appearing on your phone bill. Danger's phone App Store predated Apple's by two years.

The site also says it's been given "pretty detailed pictures and could possibly post them" later ... Or put them up on Twitter. Those are two things that scream linkbait to us, but stranger things have happened.

Obvious questions remain: Would this be separate from other Windows Mobile 7 devices? Separate from Windows Marketplace for Mobile?

Either way, here's where we stand: It's time for Microsoft to make a phone. Apologies for further Zune HD gushing, but they've got the operating system. They're prepping the app store. It's time to put two and two together, folks. I don't care what Microsoft's said in the past.

Mr. Ballmer: Tear. Down. That. Wall.

OK, it's been a little while since we discussed "Project Pink," the project that Microsoft swears isn't a Zune phone, isn't (necessarily) Windows Mobile 7 and might or might not have anything to do with that punky pop singer. (OK, we made that last part up.)

Here's the latest breakdown by ZDNet's Mary-Jo Foley:

• Pink has an ad rep in the form of McCann Erickson, which also handles advertising for Windows Mobile. (Or not, depending on your view of things.)
• Pink will be based on Windows Mobile 7 but won't look like the Windows Mobile 7 most of us are expecting.
• Windows Mobile 7 should ship to OEMs about the time that WinMo 6.5 phones go to market. (We've seen that leaked and heard it from other sources, too.)
• Pink's starting to sound somewhat like a tangential device, a la the Sidekick, and may have elements of the Zune, My Phone and Windows Marketplace for Mobile all wrapped into it. Motorola and Sharp have been rumored as manufacturers.

As for our take? Pink is still a genius codename in that we sound ridiculous repeating it over and over. Oh, and that whole Sidekick-esque thing could well be a pretty good bet. If it's given the proper UI (and WM7 for the rest of us better have one, too), and Microsoft throws some smart marketing behind it (and they seem to be doing OK with Bing), then Pink could well have a good shot at gobbling up some market share.

How much is the Sidekick worth to you? If you're Microsoft, try $500 million, which is what it spent on Danger, the parent company of the uber-popular Teen texter (ask your kids).

The questions still remain of what Steve Ballmer & Co. plan to do with it (probably some sort of consumer device), and what kind of timetable they're looking at. (Hint: Not anytime soon.)

Stay tuned, folks.

Via Engadget Mobile

A perusal of the Microsoft Press Release announcing they've completed the Danger acquisition tells us a few things. First, we were right as rain when we told you it was all about the services, baby:

Danger’s expertise in building great, intuitive client software for mobile handsets connected to powerful hosted back-end services fosters rich consumer experiences in communication, media sharing, entertainment and personalization.

It doesn't stop there, though. Microsoft is starting up a whole new consumer-focused division within their mobile group called “Premium Mobile Experiences” (PMX) to be headed up by Roz Ho, who formerly headed up the Mac Business Unit. The MacBU was highly regarded as a small, nimble, and highly successful group within Microsoft, churning out Mac Office updates that were often better than what could be found on the Windows Desktop. Hopefully we'll see more of the same in the PMX.

Ho's quote from the press release, “We want people to smile every time they look at their phone” gives us the grins, too, truth be told. Microsoft is fighting a two-front war with Windows Mobile right now and they look heavily armed for both battles: MSCMDM to help them fight the BlackBerry in the enterprise space and Danger's services to help them fight, er, everybody else in the consumer space. That probably makes RIM's Mike Lazaridis the desert fox and makes the iPhone Microsoft's Pearl Harbor. Or something -- we don't want to take this metaphor too far lest we fall afoul of Godwin's Law.

That's right, we just called Steve Jobs Hitler.

You know us. We can't pass up an opportunity to say “I told you so.” It's a weakness, really. So when Ina Fried reported on Steve Ballmer's comments during Mix '08 (the same place where Ballmer gave us Monkey Dance Redux), our beady, self-aggrandizing eyes lit up when we came to the section about the acquisition of Sidekick-maker Danger:

“The Danger acquisition is really about building up an application and service aspect on top of our Windows Mobile platform,” he said. “Danger is really a service application experience and we want to make sure we get that in market on a great set of phones.”

Sounds a bit like what we said immediately after the announcement:

What Microsoft is really interested in, it seems, is Danger's services - even though the Sidekick is the simplest of smart phones these days, it does a stellar job of storing its data “in the cloud” -- exactly where it belongs.

Crowing aside, Fried's post is also interesting because it addresses a concern that many had with both the Danger acquisition and the attempted Yahoo grab: these companies don't use Microsoft tech, while Microsoft almost exclusively uses Microsoft tech. Will Microsoft port everything over to their stuff? Well - eventually, but it sounds like they have their heads on straight when it comes to timelines. Microsoft is perfectly willing to run open source stuff for a time so they can focus their efforts on services that will be more immediately apparent to the end user. Good call.