Helio (wireless carrier)
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- The article Helio redirects here, for other uses see Helio (disambiguation).
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| Helio Inc. | |
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| Type | Joint venture between SK Telecom Inc. (50%) and Earthlink Inc. (50%) |
|---|---|
| Founded | January 26, 2005 |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles, CA |
| Key people | Sky Dayton - CEO and Director Dr. Wonhee Sull - COO and Director Todd Tappin - CFO |
| Industry | Wireless Services |
| Products | Code Division Multiple Access and Evolution Data Optimized CDMA 1xEvDO |
| Slogan | Don't call Us a Phone Company; Don't call it a Phone |
| Website | Helio |
Helio is an MVNO wireless carrier, launched on May 2, 2006. It is the joint venture between SK Telecom (a South Korean CDMA mobile telecom) and Earthlink.
On January 26, 2005, Earthlink and SK Telecom announced to the media that they had entered into agreement to launch a new US mobile provider. This provider would operate as a mobile virtual network operator and would lease network capacity from Sprint. The premise of this new company would be to bring advanced mobile devices in service from SK Telecom's home market of Korea to the US wireless market, where such advanced devices had been noted, by many, to be lacking. Helio, as it was to be called, would market itself to the younger demographic, promoting itself using the latest in cutting-edge handset technology. They plan to avoid taking on the major US wireless carriers directly, and instead they intend to carve out a niche for themselves with technology-savvy consumers. Earthlink and SK Telecom agreed to provide financing totaling $440 million US dollars, with each of the two owning 50% of the new company.[1]
Today, in addition to leasing capacity from Sprint Nextel, their devices, in the event that Sprint Nextel isn't available, will go into "roaming" mode to use Alltel and voice-only service from Verizon Wireless.
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[edit] Devices
Since they lease their network capacity primarily from Sprint Nextel, their devices operate using the CDMA 1xEVDO standard. This is also the standard used by SK Telecom in the Korean market. As such, many of Helio's devices are expected to be rebranded and refined versions of similar devices already offered for sale by SK Telecom overseas. At the time, Helio offered two device models at launch titled the Kickflip and Hero. Later these devices were replaced by the Drift slider, which was added to their device line-up in November 2006, and the Heat slider, which was added in March 2007.
Helio's first device received some scathing reviews, in large part due to buggy software.[2] However, more recent devices have been better received[3][4], and PC Magazine has described the upcoming Helio Ocean as "stunning" and potentially "the kind of phone you'd switch carriers for".[5] (The actual device has not yet been reviewed.)
[edit] Drift
The Drift is available in black and a limited edition white pearlescent. The Drift is the first to have Location Based Services bundled with the device. The Drift comes loaded with a version of Google Maps that uses the device's GPS to locate the user on a map and the Buddy Beacon application that lets friends share their current location with each other. It also features a 2.0 megapixel camera. This is Helio's third model.
[edit] Heat
The Heat is available in Onyx (black) and Gold. The Heat has Location Based Services bundled with the device and comes loaded with Google Maps that uses the device's GPS to locate the user on a map and the Buddy Beacon application that lets friends share their current location with each other. The Heat features touch sensitive keys (instead of actual buttons) but has a slightly lesser quality camera than its sister device, The Drift, as it only has 1.3 megapixels. The Heat also does not have a microSD card slot, so 136 MB is maximum memory capacity for this device.
[edit] Ocean
The Ocean is the industry's first dual-slider device, combining a traditional numeric keypad and a separate full QWERTY keyboard in a single handset. Designed primarily as a social networking tool, Ocean merges Instant Messages, text messages, picture messages and emails from all the major portals in one location. Ocean also delivers full over-the-air music downloads, video-on-demand, a 2 megapixel camera, an HTML browser, MySpace on Helio, GPS-enabled Google Maps for mobile, and Buddy Beacon. The Ocean will be available in the spring of 2007.
[edit] Past Devices
[edit] Kickflip
The Kickflip, produced by VK Mobile, was Helio's very first device on the market. The Kickflip is a swiveling device. Some of the features included 2.0 megapixel camera, 90 minutes of video, side buttons, QVGA screen, and 8 day stand by/2.5 hour talk time battery life. Even though the Kickflip was possibly Helio's most popular device at the time, it was discontinued due to VK Mobile filing for bankruptcy.
[edit] Hero
The Helio Hero was Helio's second device. It was a slider, available only in black. The Hero included 2.0 megapixel camera with opening and closing lens cover, QVGA screen, coprocessor chip for enhanced video and sound, duplex stereo speakers, and 8 day standby/3 hours talk time battery life.
[edit] Hybrid
The Hybrid is a PC card which provides ultra-fast and reliable wireless internet access via Helio's speedy 3G technology and Wi-Fi hot spots. The Hybrid is simply a rebranded Sierra AirCard.
[edit] MySpace Partnership
On February 16, 2006, Helio announced it had partnered with MySpace, a popular online social-networking community. Helio has created a wireless MySpace portal which its subscribers can use to access their mailbox, bulletins, blogs, photos, and profiles from their Helio device. Helio subscribers will also enjoy additional MySpace member benefits, such as photo posting directly from a Helio device, additional photo storage capacity, and a mobile online status indicator for use in the user's MySpace profile.
[edit] Device Trade-In
In the past, some cellular service providers have allowed customers to return old cell phones for some sort of credit. In June, Helio went one step further by offering its customers a window of 30 days during which they have the opportunity to trade in not only their old cell phones, but other devices such as iPods, PDAs, digital cameras and handheld game consoles for money.[6][7]
[edit] Soft Launch
When Helio first opened its doors for business in May of 2006, they opted for a soft launch. Most of the promotion was done by word of mouth and promotional events across the country, instead of using conventional advertising.
As of early July 2006, Helio has released revised firmware for its Kickflip and existing users will be able to exchange their Kickflip handsets for a replacement with the new firmware at no cost.
[edit] Hard Launch
On July 13, 2006, Helio began running TV commercials with the slogan, "Don't Call Us a Phone Company; Don't Call it a Phone." Alongside the television commercials, Helio has also begun advertising on billboards and in the print media, specifically in trendy magazines that serve the 18-34 demographic, and very heavily on MySpace.
[edit] External links
- Helio.com, official website
- Helio EV-DO Coverage Map
- [1] PC Mag - Helio Introduces Sidekick Killer
- [2] PC Mag - Hands-On With the Helio Ocean
- [3] PC mag article listing Helio Kickflip as No.1 of the biggest wireless disappointments of 2006
- [4] PC mag Kickflip brief review as part of the worst disappointments of 2006
- [5] PC Mag full review - Terrible
[edit] References
- ^ http://helio.com/headlines/sk_sj_merc.pdf
- ^ http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1965756,00.asp
- ^ http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1965811,00.asp
- ^ http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,2070868,00.asp
- ^ http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2107686,00.asp
- ^ http://www.engadget.com/2006/06/19/helio-letting-new-subs-trade-in-old-gadgets/
- ^ http://helio.tradeups.com/getquote.aspx
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|---|---|
| Major network operators | |
| Alltel · AT&T Mobility (Cingular) · Sprint Nextel · T-Mobile · Verizon Wireless | |
| Minor and regional network operators | |
| Cellular One · Cellular South · Centennial Wireless · Cincinnati Bell Wireless · Cricket Communications · Edge Wireless · MetroPCS · nTelos · Revol · SouthernLINC Wireless · SunCom · U.S. Cellular · Unicel | |
| Mobile virtual network operator | |
| 7-Eleven Speak Out Wireless · Amp'd Mobile · BeyondMobile · Boost Mobile · Disney Mobile · Hawaiian Telcom · Helio · Jitterbug Wireless · Jump Mobile · Kajeet · Net10 Wireless · Qwest Wireless · TracFone · Virgin Mobile · XE Mobile | |
