HTC kills Sense backup, grab your data before 30 April

HTC is shutting down its HTCSense.com backup services, telling members that it will be deleting their stored contacts, messages, call history and geotagged photos (HTC calls these Footprints) after 30 April.

In a notice on its website, the company says HTCSense.com is "undergoing a renovation". As such, it will be knocking these backup services on the head to pave the way for a glorious new tomorrow.

If you use the service, you've got about a month to rescue your backed-up data before HTC nukes it from orbit. You can download a .zip file of your info by logging into HTCSense.com and clicking the download button in the 'Account Overview' section.

Killing these features isn't too helpful for HTC owners who used the service. Worse still, HTC's paltry advice to anyone now left looking for a new backup service is, "please visit Google Play (formerly Android Market) and download an application that best meets your needs". A couple of suggestions wouldn't have killed you, HTC.

There's no word on what the incoming services will be or when they'll arrive, but it seems really odd that they won't involve something so simple as backing up your contact data.

Removing services people rely on is rarely a smart move, but HTCSense.com, introduced alongside the Desire HD, was one of HTC's biggest assets, as having data stored with the company makes HTC owners more likely to buy another HTC mobile next time their upgrade rolls around.

HTC owners will now be left looking enviously at other manufacturers' backup services, like Apple's iCloud. Having been stung once, will customers want to return to HTCSense.com once the renovations are complete?

Do you have data stored with HTC's backup services? Do you think axing these features is a smart move or a disastrous decision? Tell me in the comments or over on our Facebook wall.