HTC to shut Sense backup services

IDG News Service - HTC plans to shut down its HTCsense.com cloud backup services on April 30 in preparation for the launch of "new and improved services," it said on its website.

The HTCsense.com services let HTC phone users back up contacts, messages, call history and geotagged photos in the cloud.

The backup service will become unavailable after April 30, when HTC plans to delete customer data, the company said on the HTCsense.com website. In the meantime, users are encouraged to download their data. HTC is offering tips on how to do so.

It also suggests that users visit Google Play, the recently rebranded Android Market, to look for a backup application that might meet their needs.

HTC didn't say when a new service would be launched.

Earlier this year HTC said it planned to launch Sense 4, the latest version of the software that runs on its Android phones. It said that users of its forthcoming HTC One series of phones, which will come with Sense 4, would be able to use 25 gigabytes of free storage with Dropbox. The service will be integrated with Sense 4 so that users can easily store photos online at Dropbox, HTC said.

The company may also be implementing technologies it acquired along with Dashwire last year. That backup service let phone users store contacts, text messages, calendar entries, photos, videos and voicemail messages online. It also let users send and receive text messages, manage contacts, make new calendar items and listen to voicemail from a browser on a computer. When it announced the acquisition, HTC said it would use Dashwire's technology to extend its HTCsense cloud services.

Nancy Gohring covers mobile phones and cloud computing for The IDG News Service. Follow Nancy on Twitter at @idgnancy. Nancy's e-mail address is Nancy_Gohring@idg.com