All throughout the Ocean 2’s development cycle, pictures of it kept popping up in a silver and black motif. When it actually launched, however, everything silver had been turned red. The color change made sense, with the Helio-brand now under the parental guidance of Virgin Mobile (who’s primary color is red) – but it was one of the things we didn’t like. We said in our review that we hoped a black version would follow, as various hearsay had lead us to believe.
Since the day the original Helio Ocean hit the shelves, rumors were abound that a followup was in the works. 2 years have since passed, countless rumors and leaks have come and gone, and the company that birthed the original has since been acquired – but it’s finally here. Has the wait been worth it?
After months of rumors and undercover imagery, the Virgin Mobile Helio Ocean 2 is finally just weeks away from hitting the shelves. Don’t want to wait to experience the rush of cracking open the box? Fear not, my friends – we’ve got what you’re looking for. We’ve peeled it apart, piece by piece, and snapped images all along the way. Ready for the unboxing of the Helio Ocean 2? Click on for the gallery.
After word got out that Britney Spears’ next tour would be sponsored by Virgin Mobile and the Helio Ocean 2, the estimated Ocean 2 launch date finally found it’s first deadline: March 3rd, the first day of the tour. We can now confirm that the Helio Ocean 2 will be coming over 3 weeks earlier, launching on Helio.com on February 12.
I was content with letting this press release slip into my trashcan but thought to give it a quick glance and I’m glad I did. Not because it has anything to do with Britney Spears, but the fact that Virgin Mobile dropped launch details surrounding Helio’s unreleased Ocean 2.
Last month, an eBay auction appeared for a Helio phone that wasn’t supposed to exist. Now, we’d heard whispers of this phone before, but we only really knew two things: 1) It was a Helio-branded and modified version of the Samsung F400, and 2) It was cancelled.
Being the fairly obsessed Helio geek that I am, I just had to play with one – but somehow in the stir of craziness that is December, my intent to bid was forgotten, and the device (known only as the A533) slipped from my grasps. My disappointment was colossal – until I found out that the winner of the auction was a close friend of mine.
It took a few weeks to work out, but the A533 has now spent a good amount of time in my hands – and in my lightbox. Want to know more about the Helio that almost was, but never will be? Read on.
Long before Virgin Mobile acquired Helio, we started hearing whispers that the Samsung F400 was destined for the carrier’s lineup. With its vertically dual-sliding design featuring a number pad on one end and dual speakers on the other, it would have been a pretty snazzy little handset for music fans on everyone’s favorite MVNO. Don’t expect to expect to see this one hit the shelves anytime soon, though.
When I clicked my way through to the image attached to this morning’s Helio Connect press announcement, I couldn’t help but laugh. Not because I find social news site aggregators inherently funny, mind you – but because there’s a little Easter Egg hidden inside and, oddly enough, it’s somewhat related to yours truly.
If you haven’t spotted it by now, take a glance at the second item on the list. “Secret handset”, it reads. Now, before you get too excited that you’re getting a sneak peak at Helio’s next big thing, read on after the jump for the history of this image.
Now that the Ocean 2 has slipped back until January of ‘09 at the earliest, we’ve cruised right by the September confidentiality date of the original FCC filing back in March. As a result, a handful of hardware photos and a pack of details have made their way out.
In yesterday’s press release concerning the relaunching of Helio, there was a brief mention of a new handset dubbed the Shuttle but no details were included. Today we find out that the phone is really a 3G Virgin Mobile branded slider loaded with 1.3 megapixel camera, Facebook app, stereo Bluetooth and Helio’s software suite, including Buddy Beacon. The new phone could be yours for only $99 if Virgin Mobile is the cell phone service you rock.
Helio always had pimp-ass mobile phones and it was kind of sad watching them slowly die, still clenching some of the best handsets in the States. Virgin Mobile picked up the struggling service provider a few months ago and today, launched the new brand.
Today, Virgin Mobile USA unveiled its new branding message to highlight the acquisition: “Helio By Virgin Mobile: Plan To Have It All.”
Right out of the gate, Helio by Virgin Mobile (got to use the right name) is launching a new phone dubbed the Shuttle. It’s just to bad that the press release didn’t announce any more info ’bout the handset including price or manufacturer. Also, the $80 A La Carte plan is bumping up from 1500 minutes to unlimited which is available to both current and future subscribers. Hopefully more good is to come from the Virgin acquisition.
Virgin Mobile, which recently announced plans to acquire Helio, continues to mature while mostly avoiding growing pains. With 5.1 million customers and well over a billion dollars in revenue last year, the MVNO seems well situated to expand. VM has consistently stood apart from the pack by continuing to offer no-contract plans and in the process attracted a lot of younger, no credit or bad credit customers. With Helio, VM plans to grow along with their customer base by being able to offer more advanced services.
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Rumors surrounding the possible merger and/or acquisition between Virgin Mobile and Helio began surfacing in May. Shortly after this rumor circulated around the Web we learned that Helio’s Chairman Sky Dayton and VM’s CEO Dan Schulman met with Best Buy during CTIA. The following day SK Telecom, Helio’s biggest backer, sent out a release stating that they were, indeed, talking with Virgin Mobile. That all went down in May and everyone in the industry has been speculating since with both sides keeping their mouths shut.
Update after the jump
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The call starts at 11am eastern, 8am Pacific. Listen in live as Virgin and Helio describe their new partnership.
Here’s the press release for now. There will be a conference call at 11am EDT that I will broadcast here live. More as we get it.
WARREN, N.J., June 27, 2008 – Virgin Mobile USA, Inc. (NYSE: VM), a leading national provider of wireless communications services, today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Helio, a joint venture between SK Telecom and EarthLink, Inc. (Nasdaq: ELNK) providing highly advanced postpaid products and services with unique user applications. Under the terms of the agreement, Virgin Mobile USA will acquire Helio from SK Telecom and EarthLink for limited partnership units equivalent to 13 million shares of Virgin Mobile USA class A common stock, with a value of $39 million based on the closing price of Virgin Mobile USA’s class A shares on June 26, 2008.
Let’s be honest. We’ve seen this coming for more than a month now and the Financial Times is reporting that VM and Helio could announce sometime this week that the two MVNOs will merge leaving SK Telecom with a 20 percent stake. There have been rumors floating around that Helio stores will shut their doors in an effort to cut costs, which we haven’t been able to confirm nor deny, but we’re pretty sure they’re true. We’re unsure which stores will close, but I’d like to think that the NYC store that’s 200 meters away from me will remain open. We’ll have to wait and see, though. Now that all this merger nonsense is over with, I’d like for Helio to release OZ2.
Reuters is also reporting on this matter. Sources say Helio will be absorbed into the Virgin Mobile brand. Maybe we won’t see OZ2 with the backlit Helio name. :( I guess I’m ok with Virgin.
It seems a video of the Ocean 2 was up last night, but that’s clearly not the case now since we can only provide a screen shot. Not a whole lot to glean from the Heliocity message board, but it appears the d-pad is touch sensitive and the “Helio” is backlit. Looking forward to this upgrade.
Those of us here at CrunchGear who use Helio’s excellent Ocean (which is most of us) are thrilled up at the prospect of the rumored Ocean 2, or OZ2, which is purportedly set to drop on or around June 20. We know the phone has significant upgrades to the OS making it much faster and more responsive that the first-gen version, and we also hear there’s a better camera and in-browser support for Flash, as well as an Opera-based browser included. Other likely additions are integrated YouTube, weather apps, messaging, and true GPS functionality, but until we have one in our hands we won’t know what’s included for sure.
One thing we’ve been hearing a lot about is the new navigation pad. We hear alternately that it’s touch sensitive and non-touch, meaning you gesture above the pad and it reads your movements, which would one-up multitouch as a new technology.
This is apparently what the OZ2 looks like, very much like the current Ocean, which we’d heard, but we’re not totally convinced that’s the final form the phone handset will take. If all of these features are included, the OZ2 just might give the iPhone a run for its money.
If you’ve been waiting to get your hands on a Helio Ocean — we know you’re out there — have we got a CrunchDeal for you.
Helio’s got a special offer right now. A $199 Ocean with a $100 mail-in rebate with any qualifying plan. That’s the best deal we’ev ever seen on the Ocean, one of the CrunchGear staff’s favorite phones. We’ve blogged the shit out of it, and we keep finding new reasons to do so.
If your current plan is up and you’re looking for a serious upgrade, snatch it up now.
There isn’t a whole lot to this one other than a quote from an SK Telecom official regarding the Helio and Virgin Mobile merger rumors. But it leads one to believe that the rumors are true. Make the decision for yourself, though.
An SK Telecom official said nothing has been decided yet, but the two companies are “seeking various ways that would be mutually beneficial.” “What is certain is that SK Telecom will never give up on Helio, our foothold for business in the U.S.,” he added.
Update: Reuters is confirming what was reported by the Chosun Ilbo earlier today.
“(SK Telecom) is currently exploring strategic opportunities for Helio and has engaged in preliminary discussions with Virgin Mobile USA with respect to such an opportunity,” SK said in a clarification statement.
Talks between SKT and Virgin Mobile are said to be in the preliminary stages and that it may not lead to anything in the end. It’s also unclear whether or not SKT will sell it’s stake in Helio to VM or that they would purchase VM.
“SK Telecom has an aggressive stance on expanding its operation in the United States,” said Hyundai Securities analyst Lee Shi-hoon. “They have money to invest. It could be that SK changed its focus to Virgin Mobile after the deal with Sprint Nextel did not work out.”
