Virgin Mobile aquires Helio
Posted by Justin B. on August 22nd, 2008 at 11:13 AM
Earlier today, Virgin Mobile USA announced via press release that the acquisition of Helio has been completed.
What does the future hold for current and future Helio subscribers? They are saying everything we currently have + more. Hopefully this stands true, and hopefully this means the release of the long awaited Ocean 2 is just around the corner! Don’t disappoint us, VM.
August 22nd, 2008 at 11:55 am
spoke with someone over at helio/virgin mobile this morning. it’s probably been posted in the forum but the highly anticipated Ocean 2 is scheduled for jan ‘09! so close yet so far.
August 22nd, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Yay!!!!!!!
Finally.
August 22nd, 2008 at 1:02 pm
ARE YOU SERIOUS!?
They leaked a video of the compleated product being tested playing video games and stuff…. IN JUNE! It does not take 6+ Months to bring a product to market after it already works.
Even worse, that will mean it will be more than a year that no new devices have been put out. that does not look good.
August 22nd, 2008 at 3:19 pm
lol,they’re just stringin ya’ll along.the oz2 WILL NEVER DROP.just pay the ETF and get it over with,i did,and am much happier
-rip helio-
August 22nd, 2008 at 5:56 pm
i just canceled my helio service about 5 minutes ago. the new sidekick was very enticing plus I can’t tell you how much I’ve missed the OS, best cellphone OS IMHO. it was the fact that helio was too expensive for my broke college kid lifestyle but the biggest reason is that I got bored with my ocean. I was willing to wait half the summer to get my hands on it and pay whatever it cost… but i wasn’t willing to wait the whole summer. hell, i would have stuck around even if we got some ocean 2 coverage…but it wasn;t in the card. fare well helio, I wish you well (as vergin mobile of course)
August 22nd, 2008 at 9:56 pm
forget the oz2 ill come back to helio when their next super device comes out until then ill use me my samsung instinct
August 22nd, 2008 at 9:58 pm
What’s that I hear…off in the distance…oh yeah…It’s the Iphone 3G calling my name. We had a good run helio.
August 23rd, 2008 at 6:37 am
Jan ‘09…
The OZ2 won’t be about the most outdated piece of cell tech to come out that year.
AT&T here I come…Just as soon as the blackberry bold comes out that is
August 23rd, 2008 at 7:18 am
Even with its issues, I still love my Ocean. I’m planning to stay the course, at least until my contract’s up…Ocean 2 better be out by then!
August 23rd, 2008 at 12:00 pm
January is at this point, a rumored release date. Take everything you read from non-official sources as a grain of salt. Why would they want to miss the holidays?
August 23rd, 2008 at 1:07 pm
im waiting it out, and when the oz2 dose come out people are gonna wish they came back!
and who and the hell who trade a ocean for a sidekick! thats a sucka move!!
August 23rd, 2008 at 3:01 pm
lol,sidekicks are a milion times better than a ocean.ocean’s freeze more than window’s mobiles phones(i know,i have/had both).i ditched the ocean and got a sidekick lx tony hawk edition and htc wing windows mobile smartphone and BOTH are way nicer than that ocean pos.lmfao@helio fan boys *shrugs* be some good cult members and keep drinkin that helio kool aid :p
August 23rd, 2008 at 5:39 pm
What’s all this AT&T talk? Gimme a break! As soon as you step one foot out of their coverage area you may as well throw your phone in the ditch. At least with Helio I know I can use my phone where ever.
That being said….I must admit that I’m very skeptical about this whole merger deal. I have a feeling I’ll be jumping ship soon too. Not sure who’ll I’ll go with yet though.
August 23rd, 2008 at 6:11 pm
yea i’ll b with helio until my contract expires im not big on phones b/c the other carriers phones are hot within a minth and then BAM a new phones comes out and ur stuck with a phone the burned out that fast. so far im the only one that i know that has a helio device that other ppl dont have. i have an ocean and everytime ppl c my ocean they are like damn that shits nice, i love showing off my ocean.
August 23rd, 2008 at 6:12 pm
oops i meant month!!
August 23rd, 2008 at 8:45 pm
its funny wen ppl talk hella head bout da oz2 not comin out n how dey switched providers yet dey still here on da HELIOcity site tryin 2 get news on da oz2. hilarious…
August 23rd, 2008 at 11:06 pm
yup, thats what i’m doing…just biding my time to find out about the ocean 2.
and then that logic of the provider putting out new tech at a rate that basically dwarfs all others they put out thus making you regret and or hate yourself for believing the hype to begin with on said device.
I liked my ocean for what it did…But I always wanted it to do just a little more. I know someone, somewhere on the forums posted a comment about the “where” function on his iphone and how he liked it alot. And then One of the moderators brought up how it was on the fin, yet not the ocean. LAME!@!
I don’t live in a world of false dreams and reality. If I wanted to do so I would go pack up my things in live in candy mountain with carley the unicorn and those 2 other unicorn bastards he kicks it with up there.
I am a tech junkie so sue me, I like to know what is coming out for who and when. I never had anyone or any experience of someone saying or “damn that shits nice” except I had to sit and soak up the hoaky joke of how “don’t call of a phone company.” and how heavy and old my phone looked.
I like the plans, like the products they put out…Just saying would it be so hard, SO HARD to just give us some idea of whats up?
I mean this community helped put opera mini out there for the helion masses.
Food for thought.
August 23rd, 2008 at 11:20 pm
I think they should(’ve) realeased the Oz2 by the end of this month, for school reasons…new school year, new phone. makes sense. however, the holidays…i have yet to meet more people who got a new phone on one of the holidays in december. i certainly wouldn’t buy a phone during the holidays for anyone else.
but they DEF. should have more going for them than the anticiapted” more than 3-4 months late” oz2 (based on 1st original est. drop date). shit, they’re still aprt owned by SKT, bring some better phones here!!!
August 24th, 2008 at 8:29 am
ok. i have to say that i’m totally on the fence. i’ve been with helio from the beginning. i have a stack of devices that i love (yes, including the kickflip) and i switch them around all the time. jst cuz i can. but is it really worth it? helio.com has a whole page devoted to the best of both worlds talking about all the great things still to come….but aren’t some of those great things already on other carriers’ devices?? im talking about the sidekick or the iphone. as much as the ocean rocked the market when it first dropped, there’s been some AMAZING new competition out there that puts the brick to shame. even if the ocean 2 came out tomorrow i’m not sure that i’m ready to dump a couple hundred dollars into a new brick. lets face it, the videos of the ocean 2 don’t really give it a better look…just the same old with some new features.
with all that said i think i’m ready to put my helios to rest. i’m thinking about the sidekick with t-mobile. any other options out there or suggestions?
August 24th, 2008 at 11:14 am
i come here because i’m gonna bash helio into oblivion,lol.i HATE them now and think they are the most irresponsible carrier ever(why are they still signing up new members,knowing damn well the companies folding *rolls eyes*)!@kobuu,if you can wait til october-ish the world’s 1st smartphone running the android OS(developed by many top developers,including former members of danger inc,the company behind sidekicks)is dropping on t-mo…it’s called the htc dream
August 24th, 2008 at 11:24 am
also,the pantech duo 2 is dropping this year.remember it’s made by pantech just like the ocean and has the same dual slide form factor as the ocean but is a smartphone that runs windows mobile
i had the 1st one but it was terribly buggy.if they’ve fixed the bugs with this release it will be a nice phone.it’s thru at&t but since it’s a gsm phone it’s relativly easy to unlock it to t-mobile.
August 24th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
Well’s that’s just swell. My contract expires in Feb. I love the coverage and the use of VZ towers when needed, Service lately has been shitty lately at best but I HOPE it’s just because they’ve been merging and combining the company’s into one. They better give me one hell of a deal for the OZ2 to keep me. I usually like to get a new phone every year and I’ve had the ocean since July 07 and it’s getting old for a phone that’s over a yr old it’s still pretty good in terms of apps and usability.
But Jan 09 is still far away regardless, and we have no official pics, or a offical announcement of when it will be annouced or anything. they leave us the loyal community completely in the dark which is completely unacceptable.
August 24th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
FINALLY!! I like many other people have also kind of lost interest in the ocean 2. It’s features are all yesterdays news, whereas if it were released a couple of months ago, it would have been right in there with the competition. Despite that, I still like the phone, and it’s definitely something not many other people have. I’m still hoping they’ll keep the Helio logo, like the sign up there says, “Helio by Virgin Mobile.”
August 25th, 2008 at 1:36 am
I think that if they really want to stay in business and attract new customers… they need to make a splash with a completly different device.
something with
-a 5+megapixel Camera.
-Touch Screen
-Projection VTC
-Built in Bluetooth headset
-Andriod OS
-30+FPS Video Cap.
-Turn by Turn Navigation
-Ultra Capicitor long charge battery (super small battery that lasts for a week and only take 5 minutes to charge)
-AM/FM Radio
-Possibility of any mp3 stored in your phone to be used as a ringtone
-Loud speaker phone
-Full Qwerty keybord.
-Bluetooth adapter for home computer to wirelessly sync up your phone.
-3gb + internal storage.
-Shock resistant
Along with better versions of everything else and a program similar to Verizon’s chaperone.
Another thing is to bring out a kids phone like the firefly and one or two phones that hover at or below “Heat status”
Any good cell service provider brings out at least 4 new phone a year and has at least 10 phones to choose from.
August 25th, 2008 at 11:56 am
yeah.. no new phones for a year is unheard of.. and no new flagship phones since the ocean D: that’s just scary…
August 25th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
No Mention of Helio on Virgin Mobile website?!?! (virginmobile.com) Is this a big deal to them or not?
August 25th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
lol@helio runnin the android OS,why would android tarnish it’s name by associatin w/ helio?plus helio would be to stubborn to offer such a great feature on their phones.why do they/did they label themselves as a company for the tech savy when theirs higher tech phones on the market that run on windows mobile or symbian?lol@helio sayin the ocean is the most advanced phone on the market,when i could unlock a nokia n96 on at&t?helio started off kool w/ the vk mobile kickflip and pantech ocean then they started sellin crappy samsung sliders that’s similar to shjt i could find in any other carrier’s line up *shrugs* they screwed me outta a ETF but it’s kool,ive went to so many different msg boards bashin helio and i know i’ve personally talked AT LEAST 3 people out of gettin helio/virgin so i get the last life,lol!FUCK HELIO
August 25th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
The more they delay it the less bleeding edge I believe it will be. The Ocean was a great phone because at the time it was the latest and greatest, but with the Ocean 2, it seems like they keep stalling and stalling and when it will finally be released it won’t be as great as it should be
August 25th, 2008 at 11:43 pm
how are you people not yet sick of hearing “good things are coming soon!” or “new devices are coming, be patient!”. Ever since I started reading this site that’s all I’ve heard. And what if the Oz2 does launch in Jan ‘09? You guys truly want a phone with a Virgin Mobile OS? If so, that’s pretty sad. Even if it has a Helio OS just branded with Virgin Mobile, that’s even worse. I’m getting out! I’ve waited 2 damn years for the “good things that are just around the corner”. And what is truly sad is there’s people like Justin who either a. are still sorry enough to feed into this bullsh*t they’ve been fed from day 1 or b. actually try and promote this company and keep their customers hanging around as if he were getting something in return!
And P.S. to the couple people who are stuck in the late 90’s and think AT&T service is horrible… There is a reason they are the second biggiest carrier (1st before Verizon acquired Alltel) in the U.S. It’s okay, you’re all still in denial. I understand. Verizon cripples their phones, AT&T has bad service, blah blah blah! You guys really need to try a different company out. Oh and spare the “Verizon and AT&T are so expensive” crap cause again, they’re number 1 & 2 in the U.S.
August 26th, 2008 at 2:36 am
i came to helio from tmo. u guys using tmo have to be full of BS because there coverige is the worst out there. not even joking. it was so bad i left. i think ill stick with helio as much as i can. its brought nothing but good stuff to me (wasnt bad mouthing tmo but no point in getting a good phone that gets no service)
August 26th, 2008 at 5:17 pm
i hear both arguments and it just leaves me on the fence. with my contract up on sept 8th i think im just gonna leave it. not renew, just coast until something GREAT comes along. @g, thanks for the heads up about the HTC! that’s a pretty hot phone from what i can see and my bf will prolly get me in on his tmobile. @chicano, yeah, tmobile doesn’t have great service, but i can freely use their phone for a modem or connect it via wifi to any access point and make totally free phone calls! no min used. as long as i get their data plan which is pretty good at $20 for unlimited. the helio unlimited data is good but only if you can connect. i do have a feeling that things are GOING to get better tho….remember when the ocean was first coming out? there was a lot of talk about failing connections, bad service, network problems. i myself had tons of experiences and called the tech support line more than once. i think that with the merger of virgin and helio, and the development of maybe a stronger network there’s some issues getting everything together. if the oz2 drops tho, and doesn’t at least give the iphone or the HTC a run for its money then helio is going to lose a TON of people. the OS needs a LOT of work, there’s got to be some kind of improvement in hardware and interface and there needs to be an allowance for developers to get in there and make somethng that we can use!
-kobuu
August 26th, 2008 at 6:47 pm
1st to all my fellow helions stay strong thru this time of adversity! HELIO + OCEAN 4ever!!! 2nd to all these crying babies on heliocity, crying abt how helio did them wrong and they hate the ocean, wamp, wamp,wamp….the things that hurts me the most is the fact that i dont have any BABAY BOTTLES OR PACIFIERS TO GIVE U INFANTS…I feel like I’m n a Daycare and I can use all ur sidekicks and i-phones as wipes to change all ur dirty lil diapers!!! If u did more research and less crying you would know the specs 4 the Ocean 2 and if u knew the specs u would know its gonna b one of the first phones to have WiMax 4G capabilities!!! Thats just the tip of the iceberg so while all these suckas kill their service and jump ship!!..ill wait on the new ocean …..and when i get it i come back and spank all of u lil haters for dissing HELIO!!! HELIO,UNLIMITED TXT + DATA ..BESTPHONE EVER THE “OCEAN”…. F.O.R.E.V.E.R.!!!!!!! LONG LIVE HELIONS!!!!! ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
August 26th, 2008 at 9:39 pm
Maybe the Virgin-style of dumping three or four units at once will pass along to the Helio side. Within the past few months (or even weeks) VMUSA launched the Slash, the Arc, the TNT (which is a horrible phone), and probably a few more soon. Fortunately I foresee the Helio devices staying on legacy Helio/post-paid VM or at least total MSRP for legacy VM/prepaid.
I wouldn’t see why anyone would want to use one of their (VMUSA) devices on a post-paid basis. If SK is smart, especially since they don’t have to worry about money troubles now, they would start pulling more devices from Asia for the new entity. We just have to hope that Sprint doesn’t get cocky and try to kill the network for Virgin. They have the motive since their own in-house prepaid service Boost Mobile is coming onto CDMA slowly. Yes, Boost a worse idea than Disney Mobile, but those crazy kids on the Sprint Campus in the OP have done more stupid things (like Sprint-Worldcom, Sprint-Nextel, Sprint-Earthlink, and Claire to name a few).
August 27th, 2008 at 3:37 am
if the ocean 2 is 4g im stayin. period. i’ll just wait it out. anyone know if i HAVE to renew my contract or can i just continue service after my contract is up?
August 27th, 2008 at 11:59 am
somebody over on howard forums(the same forum where our very own justin use to be riddiculed beyond belief tima and time again,lmfa0o0o0)said when their contract was up they tried to make them sign w/ virgin under a completely different contract -sad times- take that w/ a grain of salt tho…they were also speculatin that heliocity is somewhat responsible for the demise of helio considerin how they encouraged and perpetuated modifications on this site(before mofo’s on here figured out how to get custom content and such 25% of helio’s revnue was comin from downloads *shrugs*)if you ask me that was the ONLY thing this site did rite
kool aid drinkers,lol…i miss the OLD helio but move on already!!!
August 27th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
For some of us it doesn’t make sense to move on. I’m just startin the second year of a two year contract, and my service works as good as ever. I am a tech head and love drooling over all the new touch phones and OS’s that come out but my Ocean still works fine and does many things right, so I can be patient for a little while and see what helio/virgin cooks up. It’s tough but I can always leave later and pay the etf if nothin good comes out.
August 28th, 2008 at 1:32 am
kobuu,
My contract has been up for a while… when it expires you basically just go month-to-month.
The good thing about that is the fact that if your don’t sign a new contract you can leave whenever you want but also if a phone comes out that you want to get you have discounts available to you.
http://www.helio.com/support/upgrade
August 28th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Just a comment, but t-mobile is now getting 3G and google is coming out with a new phone called “G1″ or something like that and is going to be powered by google, and i think is going to be 3G also. Its going to be using the android open source operating system. i think if this phone comes out i will switch to t-mobile and see how it works. also if you want to cancel a t-mobile account, their ETF are prorated.
August 29th, 2008 at 10:31 am
But you’d have to deal with t-mobile’s crappy coverage and worthless customer service reps. Goolge should just release the phone to all providers and make it the first open source phone.
August 31st, 2008 at 11:13 am
at Tim, thanks for the heads up. im kinda lookin at the Mysto since i own all the other phones and my fin sucks. i hate it. anyone have better experiences with the mysto over the fin? or should i save my new contract discount and pray for the ocean 2…? i hate my phone now, and the ocean 1 has horrible reception where i live compared to the fin, so im between a rock and a hard place. i can upgrade in just a couple of days and get the mysto CHEAP but i kinda want to hold out for the ocean 2 if it’s going to drop. i’ll be patient i guess but there’s a lot of hot deals out there right now (ahem, HTC) and phones that are amazing that just make me drooooool…..
ugh. cell phones suck. lol.
September 2nd, 2008 at 12:19 pm
My wife relly hates her mysto
September 4th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
So is there any other new devices coming out anytime soon for helio or vm thats 3g that will work with Helio. Does anyone also know if flashing a verizon 3g phone will work on Helio? A V Dare sounds coo.
September 4th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
LOL @ Tim, yeah I’m getting the same message from a lot of people. i’ve asked around. Actually, I recently started using my KickFlip and I have to say that I forgot how much this phone rocked. I can’t use Opera Mini 4 or the Ultimate Inbox, but I’ve got kick-ass speakers and reception EVERYWHERE!! even in the back hills of MA and CT! I was so excited when my bf’s t-mobile was roaming on EDGE and i still had 3G! so yeah, i’ll just wait for the new ocean and if that’s no good it’s off to t-mobile with the sidekick. the HTC dream thing sounds good but it’s a lot of phone that i’ll never use. if the new ocean has 4G cool but it’s gotta be up against that sidekick’s sweet look and slickness. i’ll just have to decide later.
September 4th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
tell me about it.. between the two of us my wife and I have every phone helio has ever release except the ocean. ( a friend had it and didn’t really like it) The Hero and the kickflip, though a little light on certain functions were the most stable phones to date. Best coverage, no freezing, best battery life.
I wish the newer phones could say “we never freeze up” but they can’t…
September 4th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
where can i get a kickflip for cheap
September 5th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
why do you keep talking about 4G? sprint and verizon aren’t doing 4g soon, so that means helio cant. even if it was 4g, you can’t use the internet in korea via your phone. verizon’s wont work on helio..cdma’s arent like gsm’s where you can move the phone to another carrier…
September 5th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
Haltz…i’ll sell you mine for like, 150?
September 5th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
Whats wrong with it? Is it functional and not blacklisted
September 6th, 2008 at 11:24 am
i left this reply earlier but i guess admin deleted it?anywho,ill buy that kickflip if haltz dont…email me lil_gotti@tmail.com
September 8th, 2008 at 10:06 am
haha. for EVERYONE…theres nothing wrong with it… a few scratches…but functionally working good. not blacklisted. KOREAN keypad. I’ll include as many accessories as that i can find that originally came with it..like the headphone adapter. screen wipey thing thats on a strap…
do you mind the korean keypad? for like, 99% of americans, its just extra clutter to look at when youre dialing/texting…
September 8th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
i don’t mind the korean keypad…because i would’nt even be activating the phone(i don’t even have a helio account anymore,and never flash phones,just unlock gsm phones),i just collect phones and would want this 1 for my collection for posterity’s sake(i always regreted not buying a kickflip)…are the menu’s and software in korean tho?…anywho,get@me
September 8th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
do you have a paypal account?
September 8th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
sorry guys…i decided to keep it. its AWESOME to take out among friends and to be just like..’flip’ ‘flip’..ha. sorry.