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Helio Ocean 2 arrives at the FCC

by Nilay Patel, posted Sep 19th 2008 at 1:03PM


Looks like we're inching ever closer to getting our paws on the mythical Helio Ocean 2 -- the fun-loving regulators at the FCC just added a Pantech OZII dual-slider handset with Helio branding to their all-knowing database. Nothing you couldn't have guessed here -- QVGA display, EV-DO, 2 megapixel cam with video, full HTML browser, A2DP support -- but hey, this is The Phone That Could Have But Didn't Save Helio, you know? It's alright to be excited.

[Via Phone Scoop]

Helio's Ocean 2 coming -- but not until 2009

by Chris Ziegler, posted Sep 12th 2008 at 11:59AM

This is one of those classic tales of joy and sorrow -- a tale of a phone that could've been Helio's undisputed flagship model of the year, a phone that could've saved the scrappy little MVNO from Virgin Mobile's gaping maw (alright, it couldn't have even come close to doing that, but we're running with it for the drama factor). On the high side, we've now heard confirmation straight from the source that the Ocean 2 is, in fact, a real device, but the problem is that it won't be coming out until next year because they "want to put it out when it's the best it can be." It's sure looking just about the "best it can be" from the videos we've seen recently -- and frankly, we think they should just throw this out there while kicking off development on an Ocean 3 ASAP -- but it looks like the decision's already been made, and we all know there's no such thing as moving a release date forward.

[Thanks, Blade G]

Helio is dead, long live Helio

by Chris Ziegler, posted Sep 9th 2008 at 4:20PM Breaking News


The deed is done, and Virgin Mobile is wasting no time giving its fresh acquisition a giant bear-hug to welcome it to the family. Helio is now "Helio by Virgin Mobile," tagged with the line "Plan To Have It All" -- hopefully a nod to the fact that Virgin plans to keep Helio's offerings distanced from Virgin as a higher-end, feature-rich carrier that can compliment Virgin's typical lineup of ultra-cheap prepaid goods. To kick things off, Helio is now offering an upgrade to its $80 A La Carte plan, boosting the 1,500 included minutes to a limitless bucket -- nice, we'll take it -- and Virgin is stealing some of Helio's mojo to offer the Shuttle, a new handset marketed under the Virgin name that'll integrate Helio's Buddy Beacon service. Just stay on track with the Ocean 2, fellas, and everything's cool by us.

Virgin Mobile formally seals the deal on Helio acquisition

by Darren Murph, posted Aug 22nd 2008 at 1:55PM


We know, the little possibility that the whole deal could fall apart has been keeping you wide awake for months, but at long last, you can push aside your anxiety and hit the sack. Virgin Mobile USA announced today that it had "completed its acquisition of Helio," and all of the terms put forth on June 27th were used in the final close. Aside from garnering all the necessary regulatory approvals, Helio shareholders SK Telecom and EarthLink have received 13 million shares of Virgin Mobile USA Class A common stock, with a value of around $38 million. It's also noted that both SK Telecom and Virgin Group will each invest a cool $25 million in Virgin Mobile USA for preferred shares. And then, there was one.

They're no Ocean 2, but Helio busts out White Mysto and Red Heat

by Chris Ziegler, posted Jul 16th 2008 at 10:35AM


Just because Virgin's scooping up Helio doesn't necessarily mean the product parade needs to stop (not to say it was moving at anything more than a glacial pace to begin with), and to that end, the MVNO has just released its Mysto and Heat models in white and red, respectively. The creatively-named White Mysto and Red Heat are initially available exclusively to the Korean community -- a strategy Helio has used before -- and there's no word on if or when they'll be outed on a wider scale. We would've preferred an Ocean 2 release here, but at the very least, you've got to admit that these new colors suit 'em well.

[Via Heliocity]

Two years and half billion later, Helio sells for a song. But why?

by Ryan Block, posted Jun 27th 2008 at 3:31PM Featured Story


Money-losing companies with interesting technology and a small, if rabid, customer base still frequently tend to sell for healthy chunks of change -- especially in the wireless space. Look at Trolltech, for example, the mobile Linux company that never really made any money, yet somehow managed to be acquired by Nokia for its talent and IP, which apparently carried a value of over $150m. We know Helio was burning cash on a whole 'nother level, but that doesn't entirely explain why SK Telecom was so absurdly desperate to dump their $500m investment. At a $39m acquisition price, SK didn't just lose its shirt -- it lost that, the shoes, and then the pants. You know, the pants with a half-billion dollars in them.

Continue reading on Engadget

Virgin Mobile to buy Helio for $39 million in equity

by Paul Miller, posted Jun 27th 2008 at 10:00AM Breaking News


It's official, MVNO lone survivor Virgin Mobile is picking up the struggling Helio from SK Telecom and Earthlink for a cool $39 million in Virgin Mobile USA stock. They expect the deal to close in Q3 2008, pending regulatory approval. The acquisition comes as no surprise, but it's still sad to see the one true innovator in a mostly doomed MVNO space fall to that pesky little "completely failing to make money" thing. The good news is that it while the Helio brand will be phased out, Virgin Mobile isn't just in this for the 170,000-ish subscribers it'll be picking up. They plan to leverage Helio's technology and content offerings, not to mention the willingness of its customers to pay a few extra bucks for the perks, to build the Virgin Mobile brand into new spaces -- spaces which hopefully prove profitable and Ocean 2-ey.

Helio stores shutting down

by Nilay Patel, posted Jun 26th 2008 at 10:04PM


The future of Helio is still up in the air -- one minute it's about to be sold to Virgin, the next the Ocean 2 is popping up in videos -- and it looks like this week will end with some equally ambiguous news: Helio stores appear to be shutting down. That's the word according to Fierce Wireless, which took this shot of a Helio store in Denver with a sign in the window that reads "The Helio Store is closed. Contact their customer support." Hmm, that sounds like some part of Helio is going to keep running -- hopefully we'll find out how this soap opera ends sometime soon.

Helio sale to Virgin Mobile could happen this week?

by Chris Ziegler, posted Jun 25th 2008 at 3:02AM


Do you hear that, Helio? That [cue Sir Richard Branson's soothing voice] is the sound of inevitability. Rumors have been swirling for a few weeks now that SK Telecom -- Helio's majority owner -- is getting ready to cut, run, and offload its share to Virgin Mobile, rolling the scrappy MVNO into the one and only virtual network in the US that's been met with substantial, quantifiable success (more recent stock woes notwithstanding). Now, the Financial Times is reporting that a deal is cued up and ready for a public introduction as early as this week. The sooner, the better, because tons of questions remain about the fate of subscribers and the introduction of the pretty hotly anticipated Ocean 2, a device that at one time could've been Helio's savior; too late for that now, we guess.

Helio's Ocean 2 spotted on multiple videos

by Darren Murph, posted Jun 24th 2008 at 11:18AM


So there's really no telling what's up with Helio as an MVNO, but there's plenty going on with the Ocean 2 handset. Just yesterday we noticed a spy shot of the elusive mobile, but unfortunately, the video in which it was captured from had been conveniently removed. Today, however, a whole host of new vids have surfaced over at HelioCity, one of which actually shows the unit while gaming. Check 'em out while you still can in the read link below.

[Via phonemag]

Helio's Ocean 2 in the wild

by Joshua Topolsky, posted Jun 23rd 2008 at 10:50AM


Sure, Helio is going through a bit of a rough patch right now, what with those retail outlet closings and nasty Virgin merger takeover, but as far as we can tell, the company is moving forward with the Ocean 2. As you can see by the above shot -- nabbed from a YouTube video -- the slider looks eerily similar to its predecessor, though we know it's getting spec bumps all around. Apparently the source material has been wiped out of existence, and if things keep moving in the same direction for the MVNO, this might as close as you get to one of these babies. Enjoy!

Helio's flame going out: stores to shutter, customers heading to Virgin?

by Ryan Block, posted Jun 20th 2008 at 12:31PM Breaking News


It ain't over until it's over, but we just got word that Helio store managers received notification this week that the axe is finally falling: (at least some of) the nationwide chain of retail stores will be shuttered during Virgin's takeover of Helio. As we've heard, "there is no 'merge' in this merger," so it sounds like after this year's big executive reshuffle, SK Telecom is bailing on their half-billion dollar enterprise a big way. No word if the fabled Ocean 2 will make it -- or if Virgin will even let Helio customers keep their phones.

Alongside Helio -- more or less the last man standing -- the great MVNO goldrush also dies. Unfortunate that besides Virgin and a few local and M2M providers (like Amazon's Whispernet), pretty much no one was able to make it work. Then again, no one ever never said making cellphones and running any kind of carrier was easy.

Helio's Ocean 2 exposed!

by Chris Ziegler, posted May 28th 2008 at 9:00AM Featured Story

Worried that it's been a while since Helio's released anything? Relax, it's all good! We've been privy to some key details on the MVNO's next-gen Ocean -- the device known simply as OZ2 thus far by its FCC identification -- and things are definitely looking up for this monster to set the bar among QWERTY dumbphones whenever Helio gets around to releasing it. Besides the little box of visual stimulation there that we managed to pick up (sorry, that'll have to do for the time being), we've learned that the following features are being thrown around in Helio's testing; none are guaranteed for the final product, apparently, but most of them sound totally reasonable:

  • 3 megapixel camera
  • Dual slider, just like the original
  • microSDHC support
  • 1GB internal storage
  • In-browser Flash support
  • 30fps video recording
  • Touch-sensitive directional pad
  • PC sync capability

We don't have any info on pricing or release here, but you know we'll be hustling 'em hard to spill the beans. In the meantime, try not to drop that Ocean -- it's got to last just a little bit longer.

Helio Ocean now $99 after rebate, Ocean 2 around the corner?

by Chris Ziegler, posted May 19th 2008 at 6:18PM


As Virgin Mobile, Helio, and SK Telecom debate their collective futures behind closed doors, life goes on for Helio's customers and potential customers. It's been a little while since the scrappy MVNO's released any hardware, let alone a blockbuster like the Ocean; we'd reckon they're about due to wow us, and a new offer on the original Ocean might just foretell that new stuff's around the corner. After rebate, the Ocean now goes out the door for a totally reasonable $99 -- which might actually end up seeming like the most unreasonable $99 you've ever spent if the rumored Ocean 2 gets official soon. We're just sayin'.

[Thanks, Tyler]

Virgin Mobile: okay, yeah, we're talking to SK Telecom

by Chris Ziegler, posted May 14th 2008 at 12:30PM


Looks like Virgin Mobile USA and Helio parent SK Telecom didn't bother to get their stories straight before turning to the press over recent rumors that they've been talking marriage. Right on the heels of an SKT statement that talks of a Virgin Mobile takeover were "groundless," Virgin Mobile has come out with a super-brief statement saying something quite to the contrary -- that the two are, in fact, in "preliminary discussions" over "possible strategic opportunities." That's about as vague and unhelpful as it gets -- a level of vagueness that's really only saved for situations where something big is about to go down, actually. The MVNO goes on to say that it's gonna stay mum on the subject at this point unless "a definitive agreement is reached," but at least we know they're chatting.

[Via mocoNews]




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