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The follow up to the Helio Ocean, appropriately dubbed the Ocean 2, has already graced the FCC, and has even been leaked in a live action video. Of course, the video was quickly pulled down, but it remained as an (above) image. However, after Virgin Mobile USA purchased Helio, that release seemed to be up in the air.

Well, the good news is that the Ocean 2 will still be released. According to some details coming from Virgin, it is a “work in progress” and will be hitting the market sometime in 2009. Sadly, other than the leaked image that shows off a dual slider handset, the details are still light. So far we can see the backlit Helio logo on the top of the handset which is new, but otherwise the specs are limited to just a few rumored details that include a touch sensitive navigation pad and 3-megapixel camera with video recording capability.

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Virgin Mobile USA has announced the completion of the Helio acquisition. The deal, which was officially announced back towards the end of June was completed for the expected $39 million and has removed ownership from SK Telecom and Earthlink.

The $39 million payment for the acquisition was not in cash, but instead was 13 million shares of Virgin Mobile USA common stock. Also, and in addition to the received stock, the transaction included SK Telecom and UK based venture capital company Virgin Group each investing $25 million into Virgin Mobile USA for which they will receive preferred stock. Finally SK Telecom was also offered two board of director seats on the Virgin Mobile USA board.

Via [Mobile Burn]

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Go figure.  CNBC says SK Telecom is in talks to purchase Sprint Nextel; obviously SK Telecom does not read my “Who’s on Crack” column where I’ve made fun of Sprint a couple of times.

SK Telecom recently dumped Helio on Virgin Mobile at a loss and is probably thinking, “what do I do with all these dollars?“  You sure don’t change them back into euros.  SK made an offer last November that was rejected by Sprint.  CNBC cites sources that say SK is looking for a friendly deal and they won’t be going it alone, they’d secure help from funds with the purchase.

Our own Elizabeth Young noted just last week how well Sprint seemed to be doing, maybe SK reads her stuff…

More as it happens.

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It looks like the rumors have come true, Virgin Mobile has officially announced plans to acquire Helio. The deal is still pending approval, however it is expected to close during Q3 2008.

The deal is not going to be a cash deal though, instead Virgin Mobile is taking Helio from the current owners, which are SK Telecom and Earthlink for $39 million in Virgin Mobile USA stock.

Its also sounding pretty good for current Helio customers, as they have already posted a nice FAQ to answer most questions. It also looks like there are not going to be any quick changes.

It seems to be that current Helio customers will not see any service interruption, and new customers are still able to sign up for Helio service. They do however expect the Helio brand to be integrated with Virgin Mobile in the future. It was also noted that this will not be a reason for current Helio customers to get out of the contract, they are and will remain in effect and any applicable termination fee’s would still apply.

Continue reading to check out the FAQ:

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A screenshot from a no longer available YouTube video is all that we have left, but its a pretty decent image, as far as leaked images are concerned. Sadly there were few details mentioned and what we can go by is really nothing more than this one screenshot.

Keep in mind, that this is a follow up to the original Ocean, and we cannot really expect a dramatic overall change. However this one does appear to have a cool style as the Helio logo up towards the top seems to be backlit. Otherwise it has what appears to be a touch sensitive D-pad.

Of course with the recent trouble that Helio has been seeing, you have to wonder whether the Ocean 2 will really see the light of day.

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It is looking like Helio customers may soon be making their monthly payments to Virgin Mobile. Recent reports coming from a Helio “tipster” are claiming that we can expect to see some of their corporate stores and kiosks begin to close very soon.

It has also been mentioned that Helio and Virgin were looking towards a merger, but it seems that Virgin has backed out of those talks and the merger will not be happening. At least not without some drastic changes first. Those changes are said to be that Helio either considers a bankruptcy claim or a major liquidation. Which seems to fit nicely in line with those stores beginning to close.

Helio, while maybe not offering the widest selection of handsets does at least have a solid group. I would imagine that the customers main change would be who they write their checks to, but I would also hate to see the current selection of Helio handsets to go away, the Ocean for one is a nice, full featured phone at an affordable price. Either way it does not look good for those in the MVNO business, its also pretty safe to say that SK Telecom made a big mistake when they took the controlling stake in Helio.

Via [Gizmodo]

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Helio’s latest promotion has their Ocean for just $99. Of course there is a small catch to get that price, the phone is actually going for $199, and you will get the $100 difference back in the form of a mail-in-rebate. Which would make this a good offer only for those that are good at making sure the take care of the paperwork.

Aside from the mail-in-rebate, the offer requires a new activation which means a two year agreement, and you have to sign up for a plan that retails for $60 or more per month. Of course when you consider Helio has a 500 minute plan for $65, a 1000 minute plan for $85 and an unlimited plan for $99 that should not be an issue.

As you would expect, this latest offer is just for a limited time, the Ocean must be purchased between May 1, 2008 and June 17, 2008, the rebate form must also be mailed in no later than July 17, 2008.

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Helio has just become the first cellular provider to offer Gmail as a push service. Sure other carriers can take advantage of either POP or IMAP access, but push is so much nicer, because what is better than instant gratification. Helio users with an Ocean, Mysto or Fin will now have access to the “ultimate inbox.“

Setting up push support for Gmail is about as simple as it can be, assuming you already have your Gmail account set-up, then all you have to do is go to the Menu and hit the “Send/Receive” button and it will ask you whether or not you want push support activated.

In addition to the push support for Gmail, Helio also supports push for Helio Mail, Yahoo, Windows Live, and AOL. If email is a high-priority and you are not into the BlackBerry then Helio may be worth checking out.

Via [HelioCity]

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You got to give credit to these guys who have such sharp eyes that they can see even the smallest details of approval documents coming to the FCC. These guys must have really sharp eyes or the FCC is intentionally disregarding confidentiality of information with regards to documents submitted to them by manufacturers seeking their approval.  Thus, we keep on discovering information about new devices even before they are released for official announcement by their manufacturers.

The latest of these FCC sightings is an entry bearing the mark OZ2, and the manufacturer happens to be Pantech, who is the maker of the Helio Ocean. The Ocean had the same mark when it its prototype was submitted before the FCC prior to its release as Helio Ocean. Naturally, we can’t help but deduce that this FCC entry is for Helio Ocean 2.

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Helio has finally realized that Opera Mini is the favored browser among its users so they’ve made it official. An improved Opera Mini browser (perhaps optimized for Helio) is now available for download direct from Helio. If you’re checking out their web site and don’t see anything, don’t fret. Helio hasn’t made an official announcement about this yet but the Opera Mini client really is available for download. HelioCity is reporting about this and they’ve included instructions on how to download Opera Mini as well.

How to get it:
  1. From the idle screen, type the jumpcode “67372” (OPERA).
  2. Hit the flamekey
  3. Download, and enjoy!

This makes Helio the first carrier to officially support Opera Mini as an alternative to their very own native browser, and for good cause.

Via [HelioCity]

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