T-Mobile: Missing Sidekick data "almost certainly has been lost"

The Sidekick was one of the first phones to keep all your e-mail, contacts, events, and photos in an online "cloud"; cool, right? But in the wake of a critical server outage more than a week ago, frustrated Sidekick users are learning the hard way that when things go wrong, cloud computing isn't all it's cracked up to be.

In what's shaping up to be one of the worst tech train wrecks of 2009, T-Mobile and Microsoft (owner of Sidekick developer Danger) admitted Saturday that any contact, events, or to-do lists that haven't already been restored following a massive server meltdown earlier this month are probably gone forever.

"Our teams continue to work around the clock in hopes of some way to recover this information," the message from T-Mobile reads. "However, the likelihood of a successful outcome is extremely low."