Helio Ocean

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Helio Ocean PN-810
Screen	2.4" QVGA display, 260K color TFT-LAC, 240 x 320 resolution
Ringtone	Polyphonic ringtone
Memory	200 MB + up to 2 GB extra memory available via microSD, SDHC is not compatible
Networks	CDMA 1xEV-DO 800/1900 MHz
Connectivity	USB, bluetooth
Physical size	4.33" (H) x 2.20" (W) x 0.86" (D)
Weight	5.61 ounces / 0.35 pounds

The Helio Ocean is a dual slider Internet-enabled multimedia wireless mobile device sold by mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) wireless carrier Helio, and manufactured by Pantech Curitel. A distinctive design feature of the Ocean is its dual sliding mechanism - when slid down in the vertical position, it reveals a telephone keypad. When slid down in the horizontal position, it reveals a full 35-key QWERTY keyboard.

Contents 1 Release 2 Features 2.1 GPS 2.2 Multimedia 2.3 Ultimate Inbox 2.4 Opera Mini 2.5 MySpace Mobile 2.6 YouTube 3 Criticisms 4 Miscellanea 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Release

The device became first known to the public on November 24th 2006 from a FCC filing.^[1] Photos released on December 9th 2006 showed the Ocean in test apparatus documentation, ^[2] and later on February 21, 2007 a full gallery depicting the Helio Ocean was available through the FCC website.^[3][4]

When publicly released on Friday, May 11, 2007,^[5] the Ocean was billed as "the ultimate messaging and talking machine" and "the definitive mobile social networking experience."^[6] The Ocean is seen as a breakthrough device for Helio, appealing to a more mainstream audience and not just the "ultra-cool hipsters" the company had previously targeted.^[7] Ironically, Dr. Wonhee Sull, President & COO of Helio, said that work on the Ocean device started "before Helio was officially a company."^[8]

[edit] Features

The Ocean is a prime example of a converged device. In addition, to telephony functions, the Ocean's functions include those of a camera phone and a portable media player. The Ocean device has several advanced features such as stereo bluetooth, a 2 megapixel camera with flash, a MPEG-4 video camera, 3G speed EV-DO network support, built-in GPS, MMS support, and a removable battery.

The Helio Ocean has a considerable amount of features at the time of its release. Standard programs include an internet browser, a calculator, an alarm clock and a calendar. For communication, the device includes caller ID (with support for photo caller ID), a speaker phone, a voice memo recorder, address book (with multiple online syncing abilities), T9 Text, and Korean character set support.

[edit] GPS

The device is location aware with its internal GPS. The Ocean is loaded with a version of Google Maps and the Buddy Beacon application allows friends broadcast their current location to each other, visible via MapQuest.

[edit] Multimedia

The integrated music and video player supports multiple file formats (including MP3, MPEG-4, H.264, AAC, and WMA) and allows for over-the-air (OTA) downloads. The music player runs on a separate microprocessor, an efficiency that allows for an estimate 15 hours of music listening on a single battery charge.^[9] On November 29, 2007 Helio released a file viewer program for Ocean users, allowing the device to be able to read a variety of popular file formats (among them DOC, XLS, PPT, PDF, HTML, TXT) as well as several image types in both landscape and portrait modes.^[10][11]

[edit] Ultimate Inbox

The Helio Ocean also includes several choices of E-mail communication with support for Helio Mail, Yahoo! Mail, Windows Live Hotmail, AOL Mail, Gmail, EarthLink, and two additional user-defined POP or IMAP accounts. Helio began adding support for push e-mail to the Helio Ocean in July 2007 with Push support for Yahoo! Mail, Windows Live Hotmail, and AOL Mail. On April 23, 2008 push support was added for Gmail, along with automatic notifications for POP/IMAP accounts.^[12] For a nominal fee per month, connectivity to Microsoft Exchange has been available on the Ocean since July 25, 2007.^[13][14] There is also instant messaging support for AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, and Windows Live Messenger.

[edit] Opera Mini

On August 2, 2007, those in the Helio community had figured out how to build custom applications (the device is Java-based) - including Opera Mini.^[15][16] Several months later, on March 19, 2008, the Ocean got official software support for the Opera Mini browser when Helio became the first U.S carrier to sign a deal with Opera.^[17][18] It was speculated that Helio had followed the "incredible community response to Opera Mini."^[19]

[edit] MySpace Mobile

MySpace Mobile is also available for the Helio Ocean, leading some to refer to the Ocean as a "MySpace phone."^[20] Helio was the first cellular provider to take the MySpace experience mobile. On July 19, 2007 Helio announced the launch of an improved version of Myspace Mobile that operates nearly five times faster than Helio's original self-developed application.^[21]

[edit] YouTube

On December 12, 2007 Helio announced a more enriched YouTube experience, at the time the "most complete" on a mobile device. ^[22][23] The Ocean is able to do video capture and upload to YouTube as well as GPS tagging of videos. Users can fully log in to personalize, rate videos and use other community features.

[edit] Criticisms

Generally speaking, users cannot multi-task (i.e., have more than one program open at once) on the device; this is one reason why the Helio Ocean may be inaccurately seen as a smartphone. As an example, users can not use the Ocean's music player in the background of most phone functions. For instance, although the music player does have an option for "Surf" (the Ocean's branded web browser program), you can not instant message, text, or anything of that nature while listening to music. However, you do get your notification by vibration for your text messages.

In addition, the interface is not the most user-friendly. There is no ability to skip words or to the end of a line when editing, for example, and no cut & paste. It takes sixteen key-presses to change from a bright display and unlit keyboard (for sunlight) to a dim display and lit keyboard. The forward slash is an alt-key combination with both keys on the right side of the keyboard, which makes web-browsing a two-handed or contortionists' proposition, and keyboard mapping inconsistencies make using some applications difficult - for example, entering addresses into Google maps, when one selects numeric input from the keyboard, the space-bar stops working, so entering 1313 3rd ave requires 5 key-presses to get the space in between the number and the street. Keep in mind that the Helio does not support word-wise navigation, so if you miss something like that, it could take a while for you to navigate back to the right place in the control... If you add a memory card and set it as the default place to store pictures, you have to manually move the pictures to the main memory before they are accessible from a text message. There is a raft of details like this, that a user would be unlikely to discover until using the device for a while.

There are also ergonomic problems - the included headset is very pretty but will not fit functionally in most ears, rendering it nearly useless. and the speakerphone is almost completely useless, sounding not much louder than the earpiece at full volume, and quite tinny. And there is no functional sync app for this particular Helio device available on any machine, nor any mac-compatible music sync app.

The original firmware when released (version 2.160) faced performance issues, many of which have been resolved in the subsequent release (version 2.164), first made available on new devices in September 2007. Phones with the old firmware can only be updated in person at Helio Stores or selected Helio Authorized Retailers.^[24] Unfortunately, some of the retailers listed on Helio's site are out of business, so a follow-up call is pretty necessary to find an actual dealer, and there is not a huge network.

[edit] Miscellanea

• The Helio Ocean has a relatively low digital SAR rating - radiation measurement - of 0.724 (W/kg).^[25]
• Reports of the impending Ocean 2 (the so called "OZ2") were reported at the end of March 2008.^{[26][27][28][29]}
• In order to self-optimize their Helio Oceans, along with other Helio offered devices, many subscribers have found abilities to customize their devices (such as ringtones, games, and applications) more than Helio originally intended, as well as solve problems, spread news, and communicate with other members of the growing company at several community-driven websites, such as www.heliocity.net and www.helioncity.com^[30]

[edit] See also

• Helio
• GPS Phone
• Danger Hiptop (T-Mobile Sidekick)
• LG enV (VX9900)
• LG Voyager (VX10000)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official product page helio.com
• Unofficial Helio community - heliocity.net
• Custom community-maintained applications - myhelioapps.com
• Compare AT&T iPhone to Helio Ocean - helio.com
• Helio Ocean video review - youtube.com
• Internal photographs of the Ocean - fcc.gov