Archive for the ‘Danger Inc.’ Category

T-Mobile and Microsoft Now Being Sued Over Sidekick Issues

Amit Chowdhry | October 15, 2009 | 286 views | Comments
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Many people have lost data as the result of a Danger Inc. server outage. Danger Inc. is the manufacturing company behind Sidekick devices and is a subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT). Two lawsuits have been filed at the federal court in Northern California this past Wednesday. The outage caused many Sidekick users to lose their address books, calendars, and contacts.

Microsoft and T-Mobile indicated last week that the data might be permanently lost. However on Monday night the companies announced that some people may be able to get their information back. One of the lawsuits claims that Microsoft and Danger did not take reasonable care of the data and indicated that the Sidekick was falsely advertised.

One of the prosecutors is Maureen Thompson. Thompson’s daughter is an aspiring model and songwriter that uses the phone to store personal and business contacts. She also used the phone for storing music lyrics that are not saved anywhere else. Thompson bought the phone because T-Mobile promised that the data would be protected no matter what.

“Further complicating the data loss is the fact that Sidekicks, unlike iPhones, BlackBerrys and other smartphones, are not designed to sync locally with a user’s personal computer without additional software and hardware,” stated the filed lawsuit. “This means that most users were not able to backup their data locally, but were encouraged and required to rely on Microsoft/Danger.”

T-Mobile May Still Be Able To Retrieve Sidekick Data

Amit Chowdhry | October 13, 2009 | 201 views | Comments
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T-Mobile announced last night that they may have a chance to retrieve data that was lost on Sidekick devices. The data loss was originally caused by a server failure by Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) subsidiary Danger Inc. “Recent efforts indicate the prospects of recovering some lost content may now be possible,” stated a report by T-Mobile.

For those of you whose data is permanently lost, there will be a $100 customer appreciation card towards T-Mobile products or services. The customers that have lost data will be notified in the next 14 days whether that can be any retrieval. T-Mobile and Danger worked diligently throughout the work-day yesterday to retrieve the data.

During the Sidekick’s instability period, T-Mobile halted the sales of the device. While Danger and T-Mobile worked on restoring the servers, Sidekick users were encouraged not to take out the battery from the device or reset it.

Microsoft Like Turtles

Amit Chowdhry | September 24, 2009 | 367 views | Comments
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The zombie kid isn’t the only one that likes turtles. Microsoft does too. At least that is what the Project Pink phone prototypes indicate. Above are the first screenshots of the devices, called the Turtle and the Pure.

The Turtle and the Pure phones will be made by Sharp. Sharp was the company behind the Sidekick hardware, made by Danger. Danger is a telecommunications company that Microsoft bought a couple of years ago for $500 million. Rumor also has it that the Turtle and the Pure will have their own app store and will complement the Zune.

Microsoft Acquires Sidekick Manufacturer, Danger Inc. For $500 Million

Amit Chowdhry | February 12, 2008 | 1,449 views | Comments
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Microsoft and Danger Logos
In the midst of making an offer to Yahoo! for $44.6 billion, Microsoft also announced yesterday that they acquired Danger Inc.  GigaOM reported that the acquisition price was $500 million.  Coincidentally, Danger Inc. was co-founded by Andy Rubin.  Rubin was ousted as CEO of Danger, so he started Android Inc. which was acquired by Google.  Through the acquisition of Android, Rubin became Director of Mobile Platforms at Google.  And Google announced plans for launching Google Android for free to many phone manufacturers. 

Google Android is a Linux-based open source operating system. 

Microsoft’s acquisition of Danger Inc. symbolizes the potential strategies they have for seizing market-share in the telecommunications industry.  Windows Mobile operating systems are the standard in many Smart Phones now, but that’s clearly not enough for the software giant.  Danger Inc. innovated and manufactures the Sidekick.  Having this phone became viral quickly and was distributed through T-Mobile.

“Microsoft is a global leader with our Windows Mobile software and expanding mobile services,” stated Robbie Bach, President of the Entertainment/Devices Division at Microsoft. “The addition of Danger serves as a perfect complement to our existing software and services, and also strengthens our dedication to improving mobile experiences centered around individuals and what they like.”

Danger Inc. previously raised roughly $225 million (45% of their acquisition price).