T-Mobile Set to Shut Down Sidekick Service on May 31

For those few T-Mobile (News - Alert) customers who still own the once-popular Sidekick mobile phone, it's about time to start looking for a new handset.

The carrier issued a statement yesterday stating that it will shut down the service that handles the majority of the phone's functionality effective May 31, 2011. It seems that so many customers have switched to a new phone, it no longer makes sense for T-Mobile to pay for the handset's Danger Service, which is handled by a third party.
T-Mobile hasn't stocked the Sidekick for nearly a year now, so the vast majority of subscribers have probably used their incentives to upgrade to a more advanced smartphone.

Customers who have yet to give up on their Sidekick won't be completely left out in the cold, according to T-Mobile. The carrier said that it will provide offers to current owners to "help make an easy transition from their existing Sidekick device to a new device."
However, the company failed to elaborate on any specific ways that it will aid Sidekick owners. "We will have more information to share about these offers with our customers in the weeks ahead," noted a company spokesperson.
T-Mobile also alerted users of a company-owned Web tool that can be used to export personal information like contacts, photos and bookmarks. The tool is available on T-Mobile's website.
Ironically, the initial downfall of the Sidekick brand was due to a serious malfunction to the Danger servers, which will be officially put to rest in May.
In October of 2009, the Danger Service experienced a meltdown that made it impossible for Sidekick users to access their email or contacts for a number of days.
Although current Sidekick phones are soon to be worthless, the moniker will live on. T-Mobile is planning on launching an Android (News - Alert)-based 4G Sidekick in the coming months.