Two new studies have shown that pedestrians using cellphones are significantly more likely to get smacked by a car than anybody else. A simulation indicated that older people are especially likely to be distracted, even more so if they're unsteady on their feet to begin with (so maybe think about getting Grandma a nice large-print novel for Christmas instead of a Droid).

Interestingly, listening to music was found to have no effect on pedestrian safety, which I'd like to personally refute. I can say without a doubt that while listening to certain music (Spank Rock, I'm looking at you), I am noticeably more cocky and likely to get hit by a car while strutting across a busy street. But then, I'm not a scientist; thus, I trust the results of these studies and will continue to blare loud, filthy rap music while disregarding all pedestrian laws and guidelines. [LabSpaces]

The Danger / Microsoft team is continuing to work around the clock on the data restoration process. We apologize that this is taking so long, but we want to make sure we are doing everything possible to maintain the integrity of your data.

We continue to make steady progress, and we hope to be able to begin restoring personal contacts for affected users this week, with the remainder of the content (photographs, notes, to-do-lists, marketplace data, and high scores) shortly thereafter.

This data restoration effort is only necessary for customers who lost data from their Sidekick devices. We appreciate your ongoing patience.

So, in a nutshell, if your data has not been recovered soooooo sooooorry. Please don't sue. [Microsoft]

The statement goes on to say they will "work around the clock to restore data to all affected users, including calendar, notes, tasks, photographs and high scores, as quickly as possible."

The data loss was apparently caused by a system failure that created data loss in the core database and the back-up. I'm not sure if that means sabotage or not.

Meanwhile, we now hear that a number of pissed off users have filed lawsuits. Maybe this isn't the end to this after all. [T-Mobile]

Dear T-Mobile Sidekick customers,
On behalf of Microsoft, I want to apologize for the recent problems with the Sidekick service and give you an update on the steps we have taken to resolve these problems.

We are pleased to report that we have recovered most, if not all, customer data for those Sidekick customers whose data was affected by the recent outage. We plan to begin restoring users' personal data as soon as possible, starting with personal contacts, after we have validated the data and our restoration plan. We will then continue to work around the clock to restore data to all affected users, including calendar, notes, tasks, photographs and high scores, as quickly as possible.

We now believe that data loss affected a minority of Sidekick users. If your Sidekick account was among those affected, please continue to log into these forums for the latest updates about when data restoration will begin, and any steps you may need to take. We will work with T-Mobile to post the next update on data restoration timing no later than Saturday.

We have determined that the outage was caused by a system failure that created data loss in the core database and the back-up. We rebuilt the system component by component, recovering data along the way. This careful process has taken a significant amount of time, but was necessary to preserve the integrity of the data.

We will continue working closely with T-Mobile to restore user data as quickly as possible. We are eager to deliver the level of reliable service that our incredibly loyal customers have become accustomed to, and we are taking immediate steps to help ensure this does not happen again. Specifically, we have made changes to improve the overall stability of the Sidekick Service and initiated a more resilient backup process to ensure that the integrity of our database backups is maintained.

Once again, we apologize for this situation and the inconvenience that it has created. Please know that we are working all-out to resolve this situation and restore the reliability of the service.

Sincerely,
Roz Ho
Corporate Vice President
Premium Mobile Experiences, Microsoft Corporation

An anonymous tipster with seemingly extensive knowledge about the Danger/Pink team has this to say to Apple Insider as to what caused the massive data outage:

...someone with access to the servers at the datacenter must have inserted a time bomb to wipe out not just all of the data, but also all of the backup tapes, and finally, I suspect, reformatting the server hard drives so that the service itself could not be restarted with a simple reboot (and to erase any traces of the time bomb itself)... If this was an ordinary sort of failure, the service would have come back within a day, so once again, all signs point to sabotage.

After all the reports we've been hearing about the troubled state of the Danger/Pink team, it's certainly plausible that there are more than a few disgruntled employees who could cause such a catastrophic failure. Whether or not anyone would is another question, but this whole thing is so waaaay out of the ordinary, I'm willing to believe it. [Apple Insider via Fast Company]

According to Channelweb, the Premium Mobile Experiences (PMX) team has caused, either by layoffs or by pissing them off, a large chunk of the Danger team to leave Microsoft. Danger is the team that actually built the Sidekick, and Roz Ho was siphoning off their resources into the Pink camp in order to make sure the latter could survive. By doing so, it seems like she's killed off both groups, which might be why Microsoft keeps denying that they're going to make phone hardware.

Channelweb's tipster sounds similar to the tipster last week that talked to MobileCrunch about management ineptitude and lousy business choices. To summarize, Roz Ho, Microsoft's "head of mobile experiences", seems to be making so many bad choices that naming the project after Pink, the angry singer, seems like one of her best choices.

If Microsoft somehow manages to push Pink out the door, CRN says that it won't even include a calendar app or an alarm clock app. That's a feature that if you saw was missing on a dumb phone, you'd politely hand it back to the salesman while asking him to show you something in a less shitty variety. Not only that, it won't ship with a mobile app marketplace—which makes sense, since it's also rumored that they're not really smartphones anyway.

The bottom line is that massive data outages might be just the kind of early warning users need to abandon the Sidekick and get on another device before the decision gets knocked out of your hands like the punchline to a standup's retort. [CRN]

An exasperated tipster who just spent some quality time on the phone with an equally exasperated T-Mobile rep told us what he was offered:

• I'm released from the contract if I want (Yeesh, of course I better be. I can't believe I had to ask).
• I can get a G1 for $129 (not sure if that's the normal contract renewal pricing or not; doesn't sound like a great deal to me).
• They also suggested Blackberries etc, but I didn't get the pricing (since those are design disasters compared to SK or iPhone).

So to break it down, your options are to accept about $20 off of a G1, which you, an avid Sidekick user, probably didn't want anyway, move onto a BlackBerry (?), or to leave. Sidekick users are a dedicated bunch—there's a good chance they came to T-Mobile just to use a particular Danger handset—so I wouldn't be surprised if people take that last offer pretty seriously.

I also wouldn't be surprised to see some kind of official announcement from T-Mobile regarding how they plan on dealing with their angry mass of Sidekick subscribers, but it'll be interesting to see how this shakes out: Remember, even though these people all bought their phones and service From T-Mo, and therefore expect to be helped by their carrier, the actual data loss was Danger's (read: Microsoft's) fault. It's already clear that T-Mobile' is going to bear the brunt of the angry mob, but aside from getting very sternly talked to by their carrier partners, is Microsoft going to get out of this scot-free? —Thanks, guy!

Roz Ho, Microsoft's head of mobile experiences was "clearly incompetent" in her handling of the project, and "was not humble enough" to listen to her ex-Danger employees, who could've told her what she was doing wrong. And my favorite maybe-true bit? The origins of the "Pink" moniker

she was listening to a song by Pink (the singer) when she decided she was just the person to go one-up the Sidekick.

The sourcing is odd and the story occasionally contradicts the report it claims to corroborate—how could Pink be a tool to goad the Windows Mobile 7 team into action if it was kept secret from them?—and while it's far from unbelievable that Pink, the project, could've been mishandled, or that Pink, the phones, could be kinda crappy, the conclusion that the project is dead just doesn't match what we know we know. [AppleInsider]

The source is anonymous, but sounds like someone who either worked for the project or somehow has a lot of insider knowledge of it. They say a good chunk of the Danger/Sidekick team that Microsoft purchased for their phone knowledge actually has been let go or left on their own, leaving "no braintrust that understands how to build a project."

What's even more interesting is that the tipster says the staffers on the team hate the phone, and feel like they're just being used to goad the Windows Mobile 7 team into stepping it up. Other details like the fact that the project might be 2 years behind schedule, that the smaller device's touchscreen is unusable and that their internal staffers are struggling to fix UI design work originally made by "an outside party" is troubling. [MobileCrunch]

How do we know this outage is serious business? Because it's a trending topic on Twitter right now, that's how.

Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton, a Sidekick aficionado, is also on the warpath over this today, but in T-Mobile's defense we've learned from his frantic blogging that the carrier issued he (and others) bill credits ranging from $35 to three full months of data access.

The most recent update is an official response from T-Mobile, posted on Saturday, which reads like your standard customer service boilerplate:

"T-Mobile and Danger/Microsoft are urgently working to restore impacted services to Sidekick, and deliver them to you as quickly as possible. Following is a status update for our valued customers:

* We expect data services to begin gradually returning in the next couple of hours (Saturday evening)

* Web browsing capabilities should be first accessible first; additional functions such as IM, social networking applications and email will then follow.

While we anticipate a significant portion of data services to be restored by Monday, some richer data services may lag. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience, and appreciate your patience as we work hard with Danger/Microsoft to resolve this issue. We will continue to keep you updated as we have news to share. Thank you."

If you happen to have a Sidekick (I don't, sorry tweens!), why don't you let us know how awful your day has been thus far? [Phone News]

It's because Danger was all about cloud services for their phones, and Ina hears that they'll be a big part of what Microsoft's doing with phones overall. If Windows Mobile 7 is the core, as Mary Jo Foley has reported, the phones won't launch until WM7 does, at the very earliest. Either way, it's clearly somebody's busy over in Microsoftland. [Cnet]

That's right. When little Timmy gets Susie to "sext" him nudie pics in class, not only are both parties degrading the moral fabric of our civilized society, they're also contributing to the growing number of transient relationships Nichols feels is slowly killing us all.

"I think there's a worry that an excessive use, or an almost exclusive use of text and emails means that as a society we're losing some of the ability to build interpersonal communication that's necessary for living together and building a community," he said in a Sunday interview that was probably not conducted over email or IM.

While I agree that anything can be abused if done in excess, the suicide note seems a bit alarmist and anti-technology, even for the Catholic church. Then again, I've (luckily) never had the misfortune to know someone who was driven to suicide because I un-friended them on Facebook.

That said, we've seen some freaky cases where crazy shit's happened on these networks... maybe the ol' Archbishop has a point. What do you think? [Reuters]

After discovering that the remains of a Russian satellite could pose a serious security risk, NASA is now considering the possibility of changing the course of the International Space Station and Discovery. They have already notified the crews, but nothing has been decided yet. The Discovery mission commander Mike Fincke got the news, to which he replied with classic astronaut aplomb: "You know where to fin us." These guys have the right stuff indeed.

This is the second debris collision scare in a few days. The first one required the ISS crew to step into the Soyuz escape capsule in preparation for a potential accident that, at the end, never happened. [Red Orbit]

Our friend Todd Bishop over at TechFlash did some number crunching, and found that Robbie Bach's E&D division was an easy target for the slice, because its head was sticking up so much higher than the rest. From the end of 2007 to the end of 2008, R&D spending had increased 37%, by far the most. The total R&D cost for half a year approached $1 billion, whereas Windows R&D only bumped up to less than $500 million. Although Windows made 18 times the profit.

The acquisition of Danger (inventors of the Sidekick) was one legitimate reason for the soar, and a reason why even after cutting, we still might see some slick Windows Mobile 6.5 action, which you can learn about here and here. But we hope that the development of Zune and Xbox, two of Microsoft's best products in recent years, does not suffer while they're still improving.

Bishop notes the sudden battery of budget cuts directed to E&D—and particularly layoffs to the games staff—indicates that Microsoft was probably caught off guard by the sudden economic downturn. Check out TechFlash for pretty charts and big hairy numbers. [TechFlash]

His suit is 75% Nomex to prevent him from catching on fire and 25% stainless steel thread, which creates a faraday cage around him that pumps about a half a million volts around him at all times. The steel allows the electricity to flow around the outside of his suit, completing a circuit, but none of it touches him.

The best part of this video? The quote at the end: "There’s only three things I’ve ever been afraid of: electricity, heights, and women. And I'm married." Kudos to you, my friend, for facing all three of your fears. [Neatorama]

This has actually been the consistent beat on the drum for at least seven months, with Microsoft itself dropping hints that it wanted to combine Danger's consumer-friendly OS expertise with the Zune. You know what? It actually makes us pretty excited. A ZunePhone made by Danger might be the Microsoft smartphone we've been really waiting for. [CNBC]

[CollegeHumor]

"We’re changing the way we work with hardware vendors to ensure that we can provide complete experiences with absolutely no compromises. We’ll do the same with phones—providing choice as we work to create great end-to-end experiences."

That sounds a lot like making use of Danger, who specializes in consumer OSes. Like say, a Zune phone designed by Danger—a Zune phone, after all, would be such an end-an-end to experience, and fill in Microsoft's obvious gap in the consumer smartphone niche, which even BlackBerry is getting into. JKontheRun has unspecified info that Zune phone meetings are kicking up, to boot.

Here's the real question: Would a Zune phone persuade the Zune guy to keep his tattoos? [All Things D via Macrumors]

* Capture videos using the new video mode
* Playback from the SD card or email attachments using the media player
* Share videos via email, Picture messaging, and Bluetooth
* Listen to songs or videos using a stereo Bluetooth device
* Send and receive photos, videos, or music via Bluetooth
* 3 IM clients & enhancements to AIM® and Yahoo!® Messenger
* Create and join group chats
* See who is logged into IM from the address book or email and instantly start a conversation
* Set a custom status message then keep chatting
* Search for friends in a buddy list
* Got more buddies than you can keep track of? See who’s online right from the address book or email, and search for friends in your buddy lists
* Select how Web pages are displayed based on preference
* PC-like, full-size layout to pan & scan while reading o Standard Sidekick screen-size layout to simply scroll down the page to read · Mini Page to zoom out on an overview of an entire Web page
* Save images from Web pages to the SD card Personalize the way you want to surf
* Device does not restart after a download. Just install an item, and it’s ready to use
* Capture videos and share them directly from the Camera app
* Video integration for playback, send, and save to gallery
* QuickFind: search for keywords across applications to find messages or information
* Spell Checker

The study, conducted by UCLA and Aarhus University in Denmark, found that using cell phones just two or three times a day would raise the risk of their babies developing hyperactivity and emotional disorders by the time they enter Kindergarten.

The scientists responsible for the study say that the results were "unexpected," and that they haven't discovered what biological mechanisms causes the problems. But the results stayed the same even when they accounted for other possible causes—such as smoking, family psychiatric history or socio-economic status.

But before everyone freaks out and buys a MummyWrap, the scientists stress that the results "should be interpreted with caution" and affirmed by other studies. In the meantime, maybe tell Mommy-to-be to limit her cellphone use a little bit, just in case. [The Independent via Textually]

While I completely agree that listening to music too loudly can inhibit your ability to recognize and react to a potentially dangerous situation around you, I can't help but find it completely baffling that this story sparked a debate about the dangers of headphone use while completely glossing over the fact that this dude was hit by a HELICOPTER. In fact, no concrete evidence was given that he was even wearing headphones at the time. At any rate, this fiasco has really struck a chord with me. From this day forward I will not wear headphones while traveling on foot just in case a meteor, satellite, or charging rhino should be barreling towards me. [Globe and Mail via Headphone Info]

A prototype of the next Sidekick (mobile-cum-internet device). It's thinner and less wide but has a bigger keyboard. Now I no longer keep it on a belt, I'm always losing it. I was known as the "absent-minded professor" as a student.

Bigger keyboard, thinner and less wide? Sounds like a winner to us. If you're really a Sidekick fanboy, head over to FT for the rest of the interview. There isn't a whole lot of pertinent Sidekick detail, but you can get some insight into their leader. [FT - Thanks tipster!]

Update: Is this the Sidekick 4, code-named Gekko or Aspen? TmoNews has more details.

Microsoft Completes Acquisition of Danger, Incorporates Company Into Premium Mobile Experiences Group New business group strengthens company focus on innovative mobile consumer experiences.

REDMOND, Wash. — April 15, 2008 — Microsoft Corp. has completed its acquisition of Danger, Inc., the company announced today. 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. The combined force of Danger and Microsoft strengthens the company's ability to provide innovative mobile experiences to more consumers.

Danger will become a part of the new Premium Mobile Experiences (PMX) team, a group within the Mobile Communications Business (MCB) of the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft. The PMX team focuses on consumer-facing mobile projects and is led by Roz Ho, corporate vice president of Premium Mobile Experiences, reporting to Andy Lees, senior vice president of the MCB. Danger co-founders Matt Hershenson and Joe Britt will join the new organization, reporting directly to Ho.

"We imagine a mobile experience that embraces sharing and celebrating relationships and personal moments," Ho said. "Combining Danger and Microsoft talents together in the Premium Mobile Experiences team is how we're going to deliver cool, new, fun mobile experiences to consumers. We want people to smile every time they look at their phone."

The Danger mobile Internet platform, which connects people to their social circles and other rich content, is an integrated end-to-end solution that enables people to interact with their friends, social communities and content through the Internet and Internet services.

"At Danger, we created a fun and easy-to-use mobile experience for today's Internet-savvy consumer," Britt said.

Hershenson added, "As we combine our team and technologies with Microsoft, we see a clear path to evolving that experience and delivering it to an even broader group of consumers."

Danger employees will continue to work from their current offices. Financial terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed.

Microsoft Agrees to Acquire Danger Inc., Strengthens Mobile Consumer Vision Acquisition of popular software and mobile services company will enhance Microsoft's ability to broadly deliver compelling mobile experiences.

REDMOND, Wash. — Feb. 11, 2008 — Microsoft Corp. today announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire Danger Inc., the company responsible for the software and services powering many popular consumer handsets. The acquisition will align Danger's nearly 10 years of expertise in the mobile consumer space with Microsoft's vision to provide innovative and compelling mobile experiences to a growing base of customers.
"Microsoft is a global leader with our Windows Mobile software and expanding mobile services," said Robbie Bach, president of the Entertainment and 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."

The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company provides services that allow people to keep in touch, stay organized and keep informed while on the go through real-time mobile messaging, social networking services and other applications ― all blended together on a single phone that is intuitive and customizable.

"Danger continues to provide an effortless and fun mobile experience for consumers," said Henry R. Nothhaft, chairman and CEO of Danger Inc. "Now by combining our uncompromised application software and powerful back-end service with Microsoft, we can expand our innovative service offerings even further and take mobility to a new level."

A Grasp on Consumers

Danger has connected with a customer base that is young and enthusiastic, Internet-savvy and socially inclined. The Danger team has a deep understanding of consumers and a hold on what people want from mobility, making it an ideal group to work with in delivering connected experiences. Adding Danger to the Entertainment and Devices Division will provide Microsoft with additional assets and resources that will accelerate the company's entry into the consumer space and complement the company's focus on delivering innovative technologies and services that connect people's entertainment and information.

Danger will further expand people's mobile options by bringing a variety of established partnerships to the mix. Microsoft software can be found on more than 160 mobile phones made by more than 50 hardware partners, which are offered through more than 160 mobile operators around the world.
Defining the Mobile Experience

Through focused efforts Danger has successfully delivered a software and services platform to the mobile mass market. Applications on Danger-powered handsets include HTML Web browsing, instant messaging, games, multimedia, social networking, Web e-mail and personal information management applications.

Combining these services with Microsoft's connected entertainment and experiences technologies, including MSN, Xbox, Zune, Windows Live and Windows Mobile, will provide Microsoft with the tools to accelerate its work to create industry-leading entertainment and communication experiences for consumers.