Helio has now officially opened for business. The MVNO (Mobile virtual network operator) is a business partnership between SK Telecom & Earthlink. Helio is trying to pull Korean-like mobile technologies into the US market. The company goal is to have 3 million customers by 2009.

Helio will launch two handsets with similar features, the VK Mobile Kickflip and the Pantech Hero both with MySpace capable features. The network capabilities will support EV-DO broadband access and a built-in 2-megapixel camera.

The initial service pricing for Helio is rather pricey, with the cheapest average consumer plan costing a whopping $85 a month for 1000 minutes. This price does include the highly touted "unlimited data access" and messaging. A pay as you go plan without all the bells and whistles that runs $40 a month for 500 minutes of talktime.

Posted by mobilemodo at 10:43 PM | Permalink Posted to Helio Mobile | MVNO | News

The rumors surrounding the speculation of when Apple will launch the "iPhone" media playing mobile received some more juice this week--thanks to the analyst firm Visiongain. The iPhone that Apple is clandestinely working on will also be able to do 3G (EVDO) and VoIP (like Skype) calls according to analysts.

These features will be made available via a deal with a Sprint MVNO preparing to launch known as Helio. Helio is targetting to rake-in over 3 million young, high spending customers in a virtually untapped segment of the cellphone market by 2009.

The odds are extremely good that Apple will launch an iPhone this spring in tandem with Helio's launch in the US." --Pam Duffey, Telecom Analyst for Visiongain.

Apple's only showing to date has been with the Motorola ROKR that will run iTunes. The new phone is rumored to have the look and feel design that mimics the existing iPod media players. Apple recently filed a trademark for the slogan "Mobile Me", thus confirming that they are making future mobile phone plans.

Helio to date has only announced two phones into their lineup known as the "Pantech Hero" and the "VK Mobile Kickflip".

[VNUNet]

In other news--Kajeet is making preparations for launch by posting job positions.

Posted by mobilemodo at 09:29 PM | Permalink Posted to Helio Mobile | MVNO | News | Rumors

Helio announced two new phone launches today, one black and one silver. Helio is planning to officially launch their phone service in the United States this Spring, 2006 as part of a business partnership agreement between Earthlink and SK Telecom of Korea. Helio will use the network agreement they signed recently with Verizon Wireless to provide carrier access to the advanced EvDO network.

The pairing between these technology based companies aims to hook up advanced Korean technology and introduce it to the US market. This joint venture means that Helio will prove to be a big competitor for Amp'd (Amped), Virgin Mobile, XeroMobile, and other hot MVNO's starting this year.

Helio is planning to capitalize on the pre-launch hype by unleashing two phones called the Pantech Hero (black) and VK Mobile Kickflip (silver). Both colors sport high-end handset features-- here's some info:

Black KickFlip
Form Factor - Spinner
Screen - QVGA display w 262k color
Data - EvDO High Speed
Multimedia - MP3-MPEG 4 player
Camera - 2 MegaPixels
Memory - 70MB + T-flash slot
Weight - 4.47oz 4.73oz
Size - 3.88×1.96x.98"

In other news today Helio announced a partnership with MySpace to do an exclusive debut of MySpace Mobile upon service launch. MySpace Mobile will let cell phone users perform the most popular functions that MySpace online provides, which is reading and write messages, viewing and posting photos, browsing profiles, etc.

Continue reading "Helio Releases new launch, MySpace Mobile" »

Posted by mobilemodo at 01:16 PM | Permalink Posted to Helio Mobile | Mobile Content | News